Financial Education for Kids: Simple Ways to Teach Money Management

It’s never too soon to introduce financial education for kids. Preparing your children for a bright financial future when they are young is a great way to ensure they have a good grasp on finances, including the importance of savings and budgets throughout their lives.

Essential Money Principles for Kids

Providing an early financial education for kids enables them to make informed money decisions that will allow them to achieve their financial goals with fewer mistakes. Here are some of the essential principles for kids to learn more about and what financial lesson each principle teaches them.

Saving

Learning to build a savings account for things you want and need teaches delayed gratification by learning how setting aside money for future goals adds up quickly to get the things you want. Using a piggy bank or jar for savings allows kids to more easily visualize accumulated savings and get excited about reaching their savings goals.

Spending

Learning to keep a balanced budget is a special kind of superpower! Understanding budgeting basics at an early age using real-life examples will prepare your child to easily create and maintain a budget as an adult! An easy lesson in financial education for kids is a trip to their favorite store. Teach cost awareness by showing them how to compare prices of the things they want in order to get the best deal and save the most money.

Earning

One must first learn responsibility to understand the rewards. Assign small household tasks to kids to instill this trait and to show them what is expected of them – along with rewards and punishments as applicable. Learning the value of a dollar means that you must first earn a dollar! Start to reward the completion of simple tasks with an allowance to reinforce the value of their work ethic.

Sharing

Encouraging and nurturing a giving attitude in children helps them to become good humans. Create a family plan each year to make donations or contribute to charitable giving opportunities within your community so kids learn to share with those less fortunate than they are. It is important to teach our kids how to share and give back to the community. Learning this at an early age will create a spirit of community support throughout their adult lives that they will pass down to their kids and that will be rewarding to them and their hometown.

Fun Ways to Teach Good Financial Habits

Get creative when it comes to financial education for kids! Making learning fun and interactive is the key to success, so being involved in teaching your kids good financial habits will help them be successful with finances in the future.

Role-Playing Games

Set up a pretend store or marketplace and allow your kids to choose their own items and shop using play money. Let kids make “purchases” within their budget with their play money and be sure that they have to make hard choices between things they want and things they need. A happy bonus is this also teaches them how to count and recognize money!

Money Challenges

Create a fun family piggy bank competition to see who can fill theirs to the top first offering the winner a cool prize that will motivate other family members to work harder to win next time! Having a fun reward chart to highlight meeting savings goals is a great idea for kids. It allows them to keep track of their goals, rewards, and future ambitions and reminds them that they are often rewarded for their good money habits!

Goal-Setting Charts

Use visual interactive family progress trackers to chart the progress together towards a specific item the kids are saving for. Be sure to celebrate and recognize reaching goals and achievements each step of the way to teach the kids that they can meet their goals and to keep them motivated to continue saving.

MPCU Has a Rising Teens Account for Your Future Savers

A great way to start an amazing financial education for kids is to open them a MPCU Rising Teens Account created for teens between the ages of 14-17 are eligible to open this account with a parent or guardian as a joint owner. Come into any MPCU branch, and open a Rising Teen account with a couple of quick steps, this bank account teaches kids good financial habits that will last a lifetime by focusing on saving, sharing, spending, and earning.

Benefits of the MPCU Rising Teens Account

• Allows a safe environment for children to save and grow their money
• Gives kids access to early exposure to financial responsibility
• Teaches kids about credit unions and the services they offer members

Ready to Open as Account for Your Child at MPCU?

It’s easy to open a Rising Teen Account for your child at MPCU. Simply contact your local MPCU branch today to get started! This is a great way to explore all the additional financial education resources we have available for your family and an amazing way to start a great financial education for kids in your local community.