Money Smart Children: Teaching Children to Be Money Smart

Children grow up to be adults. The lessons they learn as children will be carried with them as they become students, employees, husbands and wives, parents and grandparents. If they learn the lessons when they’re younger, the mistakes in adulthood are less frequent and less disastrous. Some of those lessons learned in childhood relate to love, work, and values. You teach your child the things that are important to you and the lessons you want them to learn to be successful, happy, and productive. Unfortunately, one lesson that’s often neglected is the lesson of money. Whether it’s because parents don’t feel confident talking about money or they don’t think it’s important, many children grow up without money skills. This isn’t a lesson that you want to learn when you’re an adult. The consequences are too significant. They include financial stress, which can cause illness. Other consequences are debt, no savings, living paycheck to paycheck, and a life that’s more difficult than it needs to be.