3 Tips to Teach Younger Children to Save Money

We have 3 piggy banks in various spots in our house. After slowly filling them to there capacity we took all of them to our local credit union and used the coin counter to see how much we had saved. To our delight we had help JaMonkey save over $80 that we then put into a child’s savings account. Instead of having a meltdown that we took her money, she was excited to learn that she had saved so much.

It’s important to teach your children to start saving money when they start to understand the concept that things like toys and snacks cost money. We started by teaching her about cost, everything has a cost and what it means. We also explained that Daddy goes to work in order to make money. Once she learned those two things we were able to explain about the benefits of saving money.

Here are three tips to teach your preschooler about money.

1. Buy a Piggy Bank - You can start causing excitement around putting money into a piggy bank. The way we started this was allowing her to pick out her own bank. It was something she was proud to display on the shelf. Every time change fell out of our pockets on the couch. The dollar we got back from the gas station. Even a random quarter on the sidewalk. It was picked up and saved to put into her piggy bank.
2. Give Logical Examples to Teach - If you want to get this bicycle you will have to save $100 of your money. To put it into terms for a preschooler you can use an expensive toy as an example. If your preschooler is counting up to 100 it will be easier to explain. Pulling this math into the conversation will add another level of education.
3. Set Goals and “Jobs” - After your child has set their sights on something they want set tasks and chores for your child to earn extra money. This will motivates them to work hard for it. You will be instilling a life lesson as well that when you work hard you are rewarded. Teaching your child to give is also just as important. Whether its in the form of money or other methods.

Information contributed by Genworth Financial