Many of us have children and hope that they will learn to spend money wisely as they get older. It is therefore really important to teach them a lot about money including loans and saving. Teaching them how to save their money form a young age will help them to get into good habits when they are older. This could help them to be able to afford to buy all of the things that they want but have an understanding that it is worth waiting for items. Just explaining this to them when they are small does not really help as they have no understanding of what sorts of things adults have to pay for and how much everything costs. Therefore, just getting them into a good habit of saving money will help them to start in the right way. There are some different things that you can do to help them.
Give them a piggy bank
When they are very little get them a piggy bank or money box. Then if they get any money given to them encourage them to put it in. Children like playing with coins and when they are very small they think that the more coins they have the richer they are. Therefore, give them lots of small change and they will really enjoy posting it through the slot in their money box and rattling it inside. It will help them to start enjoying having money rather than just thinking about the sweets and toys that they can buy with it.
Open them a savings account
It is also well worth opening them a savings account. They will be able to put larger sums of money into it, if they are lucky enough to get some. They will also be able to pay their pennies in when their money box gets full. It can be a great for them to experience going into a bank and building society and see what it is like and also to start to understand about savings and interest. It can be exciting for them to get their statements and see how much interest they are getting on their money. It will encourage them to want to keep the money in there and want to add to it if they can see that it is earning them more money.
Encourage them to save pocket money
It is wise to encourage them to save any pocket money they get. This could be regular money that you give them or perhaps from grandparents or from other people. Some children might get a lot of money like this and others not so much. Regardless of whether they get a lot or a little it is good to encourage them to not spend it immediately. This not only means that they will have more chance of holding on to it and saving for the future but also means that think more carefully about what they are buying and will not rush into buying things they later regret. They will also have more money so that they can save up for things that are a bit more expensive. This is also a great lesson for when they are older as we often will have to wait to get the things that we really want in order to avoid borrowing money to buy it. Of course, sometimes a loan is necessary and can even be useful but it is important to only borrow when it will really advantage us.
If they are gifted money encourage them to save it
Often when it is their birthday or Christmas children will be given money as gifts from some friends and relatives. This will mean that they have some money that they could save or spend. As it is likely that they will just have had some new things then it can be wise to encourage them to save this money. It can hard choosing things when they have just had lots of new items and so they may be tempted just to buy things they do not really want because they feel they have to spend the money. Saving it means that it will not be wasted and they could end up having a nice chunk of money when they are older which they could spend on driving lessons, a car, a deposit on a home or something like this. It can really add up and go to something that will have a really big impact on them.
It can sometimes be tricky to encourage your children to save. Some people will give them money and expect them to spend it, thinking they will not enjoy the money unless they spend it right away. Some children ill also feel the same way and so you will need to try to find a way to keep everyone happy and that can be difficult, but you will find a way. Perhaps spend half and save half could be a good way to keep everyone happy.