How to Teach Your Children About Money at Home

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Understanding money and being smart with money are two of the most important things people should strive to do. However, trying to get on top of this as you get older can be a lot more challenging than if you begin to get a good grasp on things while you're younger. 

Although children will learn about math as they go through the education system (in fact, they'll probably even get a dose of economics at some point too), some state standards don't necessarily translate into class offerings or individual requirements - that said, it's important for parents to take on the role of teaching their children about money at home. Here are a few things that can be done:

Work together on budgeting. 

You'll need to create a budget for yourself in order to keep your family in good financial standings anyway, so why not let your children sit in on the process? After they watch you tackle your budget, it's a great idea to work with them on their own budget, especially if they have an allowance or if they've just started their first part-time job.

Encourage savings.

The sooner children start saving and understanding the importance of saving, the better. The best place to start is by opening up a savings account so that you can stash away money they receive from certain milestones such as graduations or major birthdays - from there, you can further encourage them to save a portion of their allowance or a percentage of their paycheck if they have a job.

Show examples of interest.

Once children are introduced to topics such as percents and fractions, it's time to apply it to money by teaching them about interest. Since it may be confusing just to talk about, you'll want to come up with some examples, such as having your children borrow something of yours and then have them give that same item plus something else back to you.

Be willing to talk about it.

Children are going to have a ton of questions about money - especially as they get older and start to become responsible for things such as buying their own clothes or using their own money to go out to dinner with friends. So, you need to be prepared to answer them, and most importantly, be willing to offer advice and insight before they even approach you.

As financial planning professionals who have been in this field for quite some time, we truly understand the importance of getting your children familiar with money and the best financial practices as soon as they are able to understand them. That's why at American Investment Planners LLC, we help the entire family with their financial planning efforts.

To learn more about our services and how we can help your family next, please give us a call at (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Above information courtesy of Emerald Connect, LLC.