Children and Savings

 Most children’s view of savings is sort of a downer, as children generally crave instant gratification. If savings is spinach and spending dessert, which one would your kids choose? Banks can be scary places which seem to gobble up their $10 bill and not give you the same one back when you need it.

To teach them that thrift is a virtue you can start with the latest piggy bank. There are many which talk, move or have hidden rewards.

Sometimes all it takes to get kids to save is a system which helps them to curb their spending. Try dividing their allowances into different envelopes for spending and saving. Or when they go out with friends suggest they take only what they need to buy lunch or that pair of jeans. What they don’t have, they won’t spend.

Source: Bodner, J. (1999, April). If saving seems like spinach... Kiplinger’s, 120.

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