3 Tips to Teach Children About Money and the Financial Markets

May 2nd, 2008 · No Comments

Hi,

We’ve got something we wanted to get off our chest. Last time I checked, very few elementary schools — or even high schools, for that matter — were teaching kids anything about finance. And that’s a real shame.

Few students will ever use their knowledge of frog anatomy. But every single student will have to make major financial decisions for the rest of their days!

So, if you have a child or grandchild in your life, we encourage you to do all you can to help set them along a path of financial independence. Today, we’re going to focus on 3 ways to teach children about money and the financial markets.

#1. Get them started on an allowance early.

When it comes to money, I think it’s important that kids get their hands dirty. The personal connection with the exchange becomes far more real this way.

#2. Help them establish a budget.

This dovetails with the idea of an allowance. Have them write down a future purchasing goal, and then help them track their progress toward that end.

#3. Give them an investment of their own.

Plenty of kids know about Disney, Nike, and Coca-Cola. So why not let them “own” a little piece of the firm, and explain the benefits, especially the importance of dividends!

You may have your own approach or various ways to tweak my suggestions. That’s great — every child is different and every person has their own teaching methods.

The important part is showing our kids how to make sound financial decisions before they come asking to borrow our credit cards!

To your investing success,

InvestingInDividends.com

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