| From a young age, most consumers are taught the | | | | 1. Money Jar |
| value of a dollar, either through allowances, birthday | | | | Setting up a clear money jar somewhere in the |
| money or small jobs. However, the sage-like financial | | | | house is a great way to teach children how to save. |
| education tends to stop at that point. Children are far | | | | If the children are given an allowance, they are |
| more inclined to spend their money on superfluous | | | | instructed to "deposit" a pre-determined amount, |
| purchases rather than open a savings account. | | | | maybe 5%. |
| Mostly, this is an accepted practice as children aren't | | | | At the end of the month, the family decides what to |
| expected to have an understanding of the financial | | | | do with the "savings account" |
| market. The problem occurs when these children | | | | 2. Prioritize Expenditures |
| grow up and continue to practice these spending | | | | Most children, when given $5 will immediately opt for |
| habits on bigger ticket items, ultimately landing | | | | either a trip to the toy store, or will wait patiently for |
| themselves in thousands of dollars of debt. | | | | the ice cream man. Teaching children to prioritize their |
| For years, parents have been guilty of allowing | | | | purchases in terms of importance, will teach them a |
| children to skate through without no knowledge of | | | | valuable lesson. |
| financial responsibility, however, with a rapidly | | | | Deciding not to pay for your 12-year olds movie night |
| ascending number of young adults in debt, steps are | | | | will encourage children to think more in-depth as to |
| being taken to educate children and families on how | | | | how they would prefer to spend money.When |
| to wisely manage money, planting a seed that they | | | | parents scale back slightly on what they spend on |
| hope will grow with time. | | | | children, the children can then get a feeling of financial |
| Though complex financial strategy is probably not the | | | | independence, helping to prepare them for life after |
| best route to getting youth interested, there are | | | | childhood. |
| some simple ways parents can teach their children | | | | 3. |
| how to manage their money. | | | | |