Take Advantage of Opportunities to Teach Your Kids about Money

One of the biggest benefits of beginning money talk with your kids when they are young is that there seem to be endless teaching opportunities or "teaching moments" afforded to us by them. Kids love to ask questions and providing them answers to such things as...

• "Why can't we go out to dinner again tonight?" (discuss the family budget or the cost of doing so)
• "I really want that American Girl doll. Can you buy it for me?" (talk setting goals and saving)
• "Why do I have to put money in my Share jar?" (it's time donate those dollars - make it tangible for them)

...will help them feel more comfortable with money and money choices. Money is a tool with which kids should be comfortable. Talking to them about it will keep it from becoming a "taboo topic."

By not talking to your kids about money, you'll miss the chance to engage with them in these ultra-important teaching moments. It will increase the chance that money will move into the realm of "taboo topic" and that can lead to misunderstandings and, worse, financial illiteracy when they get older. Talking to them about money doesn't guarantee money smarts, but not doing so carries tremendous risk.

Are you worried they might not understand? You'd be amazed what they can understand at a young age. Check this out:

Choose to Save

Thrive by Five

-John

Guest Post - Kerrie Davis of Rogue FCU on financial literacy and families

I am very excited to post our first guest blogger, Kerrie Davis, the Community and Education Outreach Coordinator at Rogue Federal Credit Union. Kerrie is an incredibly talented woman with whom I have worked to develop The Money Mammals Saving Money Is Fun Kids Club. Kerrie has been involved in youth financial literacy for kids of all ages (as well as adults) and she brings a unique perspective to the importance of involving families in the process.

So, here's Kerrie...

Many people don’t equate sharing as a money management concept. However, it is an essential part of money management. In order to share you need to save or give of your time. In light of today’s economic fallout, I can not agree more that we need to teach our youngest kids the concepts of money management. There is a direct connection between those that are financially savvy and their awareness of basic financial concepts. Granted, this economy has thrown many people off track and in many cases certain financial institutions added to the financial burden that they are experiencing. There are so many factors that have created the perfect storm for so many folks. Between the sub-prime loans, cheap and easy credit, the rise and subsequent fall of home values, the declining economy, increased unemployment and questionable lending practices affected many families who were not prepared for what lay ahead. However, I recently received an email from a young adult that has a college degree, his dream job and is trying to save his home in the foreclosure nightmare. He stated that “he did not know that an interest only loan was the worst method to pay his mortgage.” We have gaping holes in our financial knowledge that has had a direct affect on the financial success of individuals especially in this economy.

Kerrie presents @ Building Hope foreclosure seminar

For the past year, we have been helping our middle class and upper middle class families with their financial struggles. Lack of savings combined with the loss of jobs and industry declines have affected the majority of families living in the counties we serve. Many of them looked at their homes as a source of borrowing. I often ask myself if the majority of folks had been taught financial concepts from the time they were 2 or 3 years old would we have as many families in trouble as we do in our nation. Recently a father said to me that his 16 year old did have the competence to understand how to handle money! If we start at the high school level we are too late. They have already formed habits and they have been watching their parents and relatives struggle with their own money issues. How different would it be if everyone at age two were taught the very basic of sound money management concepts? They would grow up to understand needs vs. wants, how to set goals, saving, sharing with others and how to be a smart consumer. Kids need to learn about saving for goals, giving back to others and using common sense in their spending decisions. I think we would have fewer families losing their homes, using all of their savings and retirement money to “stay afloat” and more prepared for rough times that they are experiencing today. The affect on our families, our communities and our nation would be much brighter and we would have a more stable financial future. My question is how long is it going to take for us to understand that financial literacy is a life skill as important as looking both ways before we cross the street?

-Kerrie

Visualize - What Superbowl MVP Drew Brees can teach us about goals

Everyone now knows Drew Brees.

Being inches shorter than your average Joe NFL QB, performing for a once moribund franchise, and playing for a city that was almost completely destroyed, Brees is now on top of the world. And he used one tremendous tool to overcome all of those shortcomings to take himself and his team to the top - visualization. I read and listened to numerous interviews leading up to the Superbowl and I was struck by how many times he attributed New Orleans Saints' success to visualization.

While I've talked a lot about goals in this blog, I haven't really talked about or really focused on the need to "visualize" those goals. We are going to focus on this with our girls and their goals. Kids are incredibly good with imagination so I think this will be easy for them - likely easier than for we adults.

Here's an easy way to get started. If you haven't done so already, create a Save jar, find an achievable goal (start with something that will take 3-4 weeks if you're just starting and a bit longer if it's your kids' second or third goal), paste a picture of that goal that they want on the Save jar and then encourage them to visualize having that goal as much as possible. If you haven't started an allowance program, I highly recommend the book, Allowance Magic, which is available in our store.

Visualization is a tool they'll take with them forever. If Brees in any indication, visualization can help you achieve pretty much anything you or your kids can dream up. Good luck.

-John

Share Jar - Your Kids Can Help Haiti

If you've been following this blog and my advice about having three jars for your kids - Share, Save and Spend Smart - you're likely to have a kid with a sizable amount in his or her Share jar. If your kids have some money saved up and you haven't done so already, the awful events and desperate need in Haiti present you with a teaching moment that will help them make a difference. Have your kids donate the money they've accumulated in those Share jars to Haiti relief. I read today that relief is starting to fade, so now is a great time to help.

The girls and their jars

Most schools are discussing what happened to the tiny island nation and have collection buckets so it's likely very simple for kids to just bring in their money to donate. We even told our girls that we'd match their donations (and include a little more) with our own donation to the Red Cross.

Helping Haiti

Relief dollars for Haiti from a 4-year-old

-John

PS My wife gets the credit not only for coming up with the idea, but also getting it done AND taking pictures.

Back to American Girl

In keeping with my belief that the point of an allowance is to allow kids to make mistakes and learn from them, I said yes to my daughter's request to save for an American Girl doll. She's set her goal and pasted the exact doll she wants on her Save jar. Big bonus - she immediately shifted all of her money from the Spend Smart jar into Save, once again proving that an "owned" goal is just as powerful for 6-year-olds as they are for grown adults.

My hope in this experiment is that she'll earn at least a trickle of appreciation for how expensive the dolls are when she is finally able to purchase one in about two-and-a-half months. It will be interesting. I'll keep you posted.

-John

My American Girl

"Can we just stop in the American Girl Doll Store?" These are ten words that really, truly scare me.

Now, before you get all "what do you have against dolls?" on me, let me explain. Although I can appreciate the theory behind American Girl (learn about history) and the strength of the brand - the colors, the numerous dolls, the consistency (the hair salon? the cafe?), American Girl dolls are first and foremost about one thing - consumption. And those prices? Your entry level fee (doll and costume) is about $100 (the "starter kits" hit you with two bills, including tax). These aren't dolls - they are status symbols.

My question is, "what type of status are you trying to show?" That said, I think it's important in the process of teaching kids about money to let them spend the money they've earned via their allowance in their Spend Smart jar with a reasonable amount of autonomy. So I answered yes when my daughter asked me to go in. For those who know me at all, that was a big step. Also, she had brought only six bucks with her, so I knew there was no real chance that we'd purchase anything at an AG store.

I quietly walked around with her as she pointed out various interesting features on the dolls (she of course knew many of the names). It's a testament to their marketing machine that even someone as jaded as I am gets drawn in by the brand (that just screams to be parodied in Warholesque style for it's impressive sameness). Finally, Quinn asked me the price of the Chrissa doll (which she calls, "Little Eileen," as it bears a striking resemblance to my wife). As objectively as I could, I told her that the Chrissa (who apparently took home 2009 AG "Girl of the Year" honors) was priced at a cool $95. I explained that it would take her about four months to save for the doll, and that was accounting for the fact that she had already saved over forty bucks in her Save jar. She stared at the doll.

This wasn't our first conversation about AG dolls and I have consistently tried to steer her toward other, less expensive dolls. See, I'm not anti-doll! I think dolls are a natural part of a girl's development, just like Han Solo in Bespin outfit was for me (I kid, I kid). I mention that this wasn't our first conversation because, without prodding from me, she looked up and asked to leave. I imagine this won't put an end to her AG fascination (the fact that so many of her friends have them is a big driver), but it's part of the process. I'll keep you apprised.

-John

A $10 Gift Card? A Coupon Teaching Moment

"Dad, look, here's a $10 gift card to Toys R Us. Can we go?"

"Well, honey, that's not really a $10 coupon. It's $10 off if we spend $75. We would have to spend $75 in order to save $10."

"Ok. Let's go."

The world of children is often described as very black and white (I want this and if I don't get it, I am going to die), but it's the nuances of gray that most often challenge us as parents. Some coupons are good, some coupons are not so good - white and a slightly grayish-black. Our neighbor gave our 6-year-old a coupon organizer filled with various coupons that would seem to both of them to be a very noble gift.

I will say this - it led to a teaching moment. We were able to explain to our daughter that a coupon for something you intended to buy or something you actually needed is an excellent way to save money. Because she now somewhat grasps the basic idea of marketing and advertising - to get people to spend money - we explained to her that the coupon she thought was a gift card, "$10 off if you spend $75 at Toys R Us," was really just an invitation to spend $65 or more dollars. Granted, money spent at Toys R Us would likely yield something she wanted, but we were able to turn the conversation back to her Save jar. Because she's currently saving for a $79 item (one of those folding chair/bed combos), and she was aware of how much time that was taking her, we were able to explain the purpose of that coupon a little easier.

Teaching moments are terrific and the more context you can provide for your child, the more relatable to her experiences, the more valuable it will be. This lesson certainly doesn't mean she wouldn't love to go on a $65 shopping spree at Toys R Us (she would...heck, I would), but it does help her to understand the concept that the money spigot must be turned off regularly in order for it to provide money when it's turned on.

Oh, and we're going to go use a 40% coupon at Aaron Brothers to get some canvases we planned on buying for an art project this afternoon. Teaching moments rule.