30 Aug

HOW , WHEN and WHAT to teach your kids about money

most kids learn the maximum between the age of 1 to 6 .. they are like sponges … you can start teaching them about money ..

how to teach ..

here are some examples – value v/s price

  • you show them an item , what is it’s cost .. and then ask them to find similar items for a lesser price – eg food , shoes
  • instead of buying books or movies , you could take up a local library membership – which can give you a lot of movies and books for almost free

how to generate money ( some examples )

  • when kids grow up , they can sell their older clothes , toys , cots – to someone else
  • doing the lawns , taking care of pets , babysitting , fixing cell phone problems for elders
  • take the older people to the digital age ( set up google chrome stick , fix internet issues , install amazon prime , spotify , digital payments , etc)
  • delivering newspapers , magazines , groceries , food from restaurants
  • when you buy a new toy for the child , tell them what the cost was .. when they sell it .. they will know what they sold it for .. this will teach them the concept of depreciation ( how the value of things go down over time ..)

difference between needs and wants

  • groceries is a need , food is a need , a new pair of shoes when you have three pairs already is a want
  • a want can wait , a need has a higher priority

the need for emergency funds

what is an emergency fund ? how much should they be ?

are the premium colleges worth the cost ?

do you really need a college like Harvard , Yale , Wharton , Stanford ? Can you do your education at almost 10 % of that cost at a community college ?

discuss the income , expenditure of the family with your kids

most people think they should keep the budgets away from the kids .. but we think you should encourage it .. use a pizza like diagram ( a pie chart ) to explain – where the income goes – housing , car , groceries , education , fun, entertainment , savings , investments

do offer the kids pocket money – see how they spend and invest

  • offer the kids money per month / week / daily as pocket money for doing things around the house – like loading the dishwasher , cleaning the dishes , cleaning the room – it shows them the value of money
  • here is something new – create an excel file with the amount they have earned as pocket money and offer them a decent investment rate of , say 10 % per year .. this will teach them the concept of investments , savings .
  • show them their daily earnings in the income excel file whenever they want to , returns percentage every 3 months .. invest the money that they have earned in the stock market – low cost , index funds , nothing complicated …
  • if they want to withdraw some of the money they have earned , subtract that amount from the excel file , pay it from your bank
  • open an account with their name and you are the joint account holder , please monitor this account closely .. their own account will teach them responsibility
  • as they grow older , teach them about the stock market – fundamental and technical analysis – let them open a trading account and trade on their own
  • let them learn about income , profits , fixed costs , variable costs of a business , what drives up the price ..
  • the difference between appreciating assets ( stocks , bonds , real estate ) v/s depreciating assets ( electronics , car )

good movies to watch about the stock market

  • wall street
  • wall street 2 – money never sleeps

biographies of famous persons and businesses

  • as the kids grow older , introduce them to the biographies of great business people and companies – it will help them to start their own business
  • introduce them to startup magazines like inc and entrepreneur
  • introduce and encourage them to have regular startup business meets – will encourage them to share and grow their ideas – eg in india , there are incubator websites :
  • small and medium business create a lot of future jobs
  • it is better to be a job creator than a job seeker

more information about up to date ideas on startups , businesses

introduce your kid to podcasts by famous people some of them being

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