IN AUSTRALIA, financial literacy is deemed extremely low, with only 48% of women demonstrating at least three basic financial literacy concepts.
Wild, huh?
At Serenity Financial Planning, one of our core values is starting conversations about money early in families to make finances easy. While money can often be a taboo subject with older generations, our mission is to remove any restriction and misconceptions around money to create strong financial literacy in future generations.
Why do we take this new, holistic approach? Talking about money with children in an age appropriate fashion helps our littles develop trust, respect and understanding for finances, helping them to navigate their dollars and cents as they get older without fear and more self-regulation.
NEED SOME HELP AT HOME? Shop the children’s picture book by I.S Maddox: Dino Dollars to help guide you through age appropriate money chats.
Here’s Serenity Financial Planning’s top tips into starting age appropriate money conversations early with your little ones.
Tell kids how you earn money
To start with, children might not know where money comes from at all. It might be a great idea to start with that – are you self-employed, employed by a business, or earn via another source? It is important for your kids to understand that the work you do pays for the essentials you require to live such as food, housing and clothing.
Show them what needs vs wants are
Talk about how you prioritise what you spend your money on – for kids, they might have a vision in mind of spending money on all of the fun things. Help them understand the cost of all the needs in your life, and the money left over is for the ‘wants’.
Show kids prices & how you spend money in store
Love when kids just throw anything and everything in the trolley (because money is endless, right? *laughs*)? Show your little ones the different prices of things in stores, or how items go on special sometimes. It can often be helpful to show how you spend money – for example, when you tap your card, explain to your children that your card & phone talk to the bank, and money actually leaves your account that way.
Give kids pocket money (if possible)
While this isn’t possible for every family, giving kids pocket money (even the smallest amount) in exchange for help around the house can be a great kickstarter for developing a great work ethic and understanding the value of money. Also, it helps them to have skin in the game – everything they contribute to the home leads to something at the end!
Encourage your kids to save (with goals)
Teaching children about saving is really important. For example, your child might be looking to purchase a new toy or iPod. It can be really valuable to show them through an age appropriate budget how long that will take to save for with their pocket money, and how much they’re required to contribute to their savings each week or fortnight.
NEED SOME HELP AT HOME? Shop the children’s picture book by I.S Maddox: Dino Dollars to help guide you through age appropriate money chats.
Ready to book in with a qualified financial planner for some personalised advice? You’re in the right place! Simply book your time at the link here.
