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Five Things You Can Teach Your Elementary School Kid About Money
Earn, budget, save and invest, spend and give
Your child’s relationship with money starts early, whether you realize it or not. Even before they hit those teen years, they’re aware that money is an important topic.
Depending on the child — and your financial situation — they may be aware of how much money your family has in relation to their friends’ families, and they may already have the sense that money is a stressful or controversial topic in your family.
Proactively teaching kids about money is one way to ensure they have a healthy relationship with it.
It’s never too early to teach these basic principles.
Money Is Earned
This may sound obvious, but most kids get given money for the strangest things, like losing a tooth, or maybe just because they ask for it. That’s fine, of course, but kids also need to learn early on that most of us will need to show up, work hard, and expend effort to earn money.
You don’t have to force your kids into the labor market, or even pay them for chores unless that works for your family (because there are pros and cons to paying kids for contributing to their household).
