Financial Facts

FINANCIAL FACTS BY DEIDRE DAVIS HOW TO HELP CHILDREN BECOME FINANCIALLY SAVVY

Teaching children about money early in life can help them learn healthy financial habits that will last a lifetime. Research shows that children benefit from learning about how money works – and the more knowledge they have, the better financial decisions they will make, whether it’s budgeting to buy a toy they want or saving for college.

Start the Conversation There are many ways to share money management strategies with children. Teaching them about sharing, spending and saving is a good place to start, and it creates habits to help them manage their finances as adults.

One way to get started is to set up three jars labeled “sharing,’’ “spending’’ and “saving.’’ When children receive money for birthdays or chores, have them divide the money equally among the jars. Sharing money should be donated to a charitable organization, spending money can be used to purchase items of their choice and saving money can be deposited into savings accounts to earn dividends. You may consider matching their savings as an extra incentive.

National Credit Union Youth Month One of the ways Michigan State University Federal Credit Union promotes learning money management skills is by celebrating National Credit Union Youth Month each April. This year’s theme of “Money Magic! Share, Spend and Save at Your Credit Union” encourages children to develop healthy financial habits by making sharing, spending and saving fun, as well as exciting.

This year, MSUFCU will sponsor contests to encourage youth members to save. Also, each youth member who visits any credit union branch in April will receive a free gift.

Youth Savings Accounts Many financial institutions offer accounts for children to help them begin saving. MSUFCU offers youth accounts that provide the tools and resources to start the savings process and make learning financial basics fun and interactive. There are five youth account levels offered at MSUFCU:

• Sweet Pea (0-2 years) • Dollar Dog (3-6 years) • Cyber Saver (7-10 years) • Money Club (11-13 years) • CU Succeed (14-17 years) After opening an account, each youth account member:

• Receives a free gift • Can participate in contests designed to make learning about money fun • Enjoys access to free gaming apps

New youth account members receive one virtual coin for every $10 deposited into their accounts, encouraging them to save. These coins can be redeemed for items in the Youth Store available in ComputerLine, MSUFCU’s online account management system.

Money management strategies for sharing, spending and saving are all important life lessons you can teach children in your life about today. ■

Deidre Davis is the chief marketing officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. MSUFCU’s headquarters are at 3777 West Road, in East Lansing. Contact Davis at deidre.davis@msufcu.org or (517) 664-7877.

"Butter Makes it Better "

For this year’s community reads project, we’re encouraging people to read There There, an award-winning debut novel by Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange.

MEET THE AUTHOR Tommy Orange CHIPPEWA MIDDLE SCHOOL 4000 Okemos Road, Okemos Wednesday, April 22 • 7 p.m. RSVP at cadl.org/events or 517-367-6355 WOODLAND SKY Native American Dance Troop HOLT JR. HIGH SCHOOL 1784 N. Aurelius Road, Holt Saturday, April 18 • 11 a.m. WILLIAMSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL 3845 Vanneter Road, Williamston Saturday, April 18 • 3 p.m.

For more information, visit cadl.org/CAR 3003 E. Kalamazoo St. Lansing, MI 48912 (517) 337-CAKE