PARENTING
IMPARTING FINANCIAL WISDOM TO YOUR CHILDREN
WRITTEN BY T.E. CUNNINGHAM
T
here are many lessons to teach in your child’s journey to adulthood, but an important one that is often overlooked is teaching your child how to manage money. Our desire to not have our children “want” for anything sometimes impedes the practical necessity to learn the basics of living on your own as an adult.
ident of First Federal Savings in Olathe, encourages you to also “start working with kids at a very early age to help them learn and understand how to count change. With the increased usage of debit cards, credit cards, swipes, and taps, it has become more of a challenge for children to know how to make and verify change, as well as truly understand the value of money.”
It’s never too early to teach your child positive money lessons. Here are ten lessons to help you get started.
2. Give them a job, not an allowance. Your first message to your child should be that money is not given; it is earned. Instead of a weekly allowance, send your child a paycheck once a month. Write up a “job description” and review it with them. Explain that the job has to be performed consistently and well, and then pay them monthly via check or direct deposit into their account. Doing this monthly is a good lesson in balancing money demands over a more extended period of time.
1. Open a checking account and a savings account for your children with you on the account. Order a handful of checks. Open joint accounts and set them up for online banking. Teaching your child at an early age how to read a bank statement and understand deposits, withdrawals, and compounding interest will serve them well. It is also a precursor to some of the following lessons. Mitch Ashlock, chairman and pres-
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3. Teach them to save a percentage of earnings (at least a third). Skip the piggy bank jar and have
