Years ago, I had the privilege of teaching 2 classes created by Money Savvy Generation. One class was targeted towards grades 2-3 and the other was for teenagers. I taught these classes in a local school as well as through our park district.
For the teens, it never failed that their parents had signed them up and they had no interest in being there. Luckily, I knew many of them since I was a Mom at the school, so they remained politely bored.
However, once we started to talk about compounding interest and how money grows, they started to do their own calculations. They started getting interested in savings and investments.
We then talked about spending and creating budgets. I encouraged them to add up what they or their parents might spend on them in a month. It took a little work on their part, but it was enlightening for them. I encouraged them to ask their parents to give them money in larger chunks at one time and let them manage their own spending. They loved that idea.
I used that method on my own son by asking him about what he would need for his clothes and other items that I would usually pay for. He calculated his number (which was surprisingly low) and we discussed it. I then gave him the amount in August and January that I would normally have spent anyway. It created a totally different spending behavior. Once he was in control of that money, he made choices that suited his needs. He spent more on shoes than I would allow but would do thrift shopping for clothes. Those are amazing skills to teach. I have had clients use this same process with their own children with great success.
The budget sheet I used with teens can be found on the Money Savvy website. Click here to get a budget sheet
The site also has other good resources to encourage your kids to Save, Spend, Donate and Invest.
http://www.moneysavvy.com/downloads/msgen_reading_list_2018.pdf
http://www.moneysavvy.com/downloads/allowance_contract2.pdf
http://www.moneysavvy.com/downloads/clothing_contract.pdf
The most gratifying part of teaching those classes has been that several of the teens that I taught have come back to me as young adults asking for advice on saving, budgeting and Investing now that they have jobs and money. How awesome! I am a true believer in financial literacy for kids creating financially literate adults.
The discussion above is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice nor legal advice. Links to external material are for informational purposes only, were created by an external party, and are subject to change. Aspire Planning Group does not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content. There are no assurances that the techniques and strategies discussed herein are suitable for all investors or that the predicted results will occur. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.