How to Talk To Your Kids About Money

It is never too late to start the conversation about money with your kids. My advice is to start young and at their level and adjust as they age. As they age and ask for the things they want, now is the time to model financial independence and have them purchase it with their money.

This is how they will find out if something is a need or just a frivolous want because it is simply at eye level. When I say start young, starting with something like a simple chore chart when they are old enough is great way to start them on the savings journey. This way they can work to save the money they need to purchase the toy they may want.

My daughter, Devann, says these are her earliest memories of learning about finance and the value of saving your money for something you truly want. And now, Devann is instilling this in her two-year-old. She found a penny on the sidewalk during their daily walk and she encouraged her to put it in her piggy bank to save it for something she may later want. This shows that simple topics and happenstances throughout our day always provide an opportunity to talk about money.

Another great method is the .99 cent rule. Teach them that something priced at .99 cents is $1. When they are saving and budgeting if something is $24.99 they will need $25 + tax to cover the purchase. The more we talk about it, the more comfortable we become which makes it easy to grow the conversation as the kids age and more difficult questions regarding family finance.

For instance, a two year old does not understand or need to know the family budget is too small to pay for college, but a 16 year old can handle the problem solving of this scenario to make choices about money solutions.

Again, it is never too early or too late to being discussing money with your children. It is up to us to create a comfortable environment around finances and set them up for success later in life.