How to teach your children about money

Children may not learn much about managing money at school but there are important financial lessons you can teach them at home. 

Research by University of Cambridge academics shows that children as young as seven can "grasp the value of money, how to count it and what it means to earn money and exchange it for goods", said MoneyWeek. 

Personal finance lessons aren't compulsory in primary school though so you can't rely on teachers to help your kids with this, the financial website added, so you will need to "take matters into your own hands" to make your child financially savvy. 

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It is a "scary thought", said Good Housekeeping, that parents and carers are seen by children as the main source of advice about money. 

Teaching your children about money can help make them more financially confident in the future, said The Times Money Mentor plus "it might even motivate them to help around the house". 

Here are some tips to help your child learn the basics of budgeting and managing their money. 

Keep it age appropriate

Toddlers and young children can be introduced to the "idea of money" with toy cash registers and playing shop at home, said NatWest’s My Money Sense blog. 

But they start to develop a "deeper understanding of numbers" from age five and six, said MoneyHelper, making it an ideal age to start teaching "good money management". It will still need to be fun – but you can start integrating more money-related skills into everyday life, the financial guidance website said, for example, saving for a new toy or turning shopping into a learning experience. 

By age seven or eight, children will be starting to learn the difference between "'wants' and 'needs'", explained Unbiased, and it's a good time to talk about getting what they want through "earning and saving". 

From ages nine to 12, children will want to "demonstrate their independence", so responsibility can shift to their own "spending and saving choices", the financial website added. This could include helping them see that spending on one thing means they won't have money for something else and illustrating the "impact of impulse buys" by getting them to wait an extra day before buying expensive items to check they really want and need it. 

By the time they reach their early teens in secondary school, children will have "more responsibility, more choices about their lives, including their own money", said Good Housekeeping, and they will be "learning from their mistakes" through tools such as managing their own mobile allowances, prepaid cards, money apps and current accounts. 

The pocket money debate 

Giving kids pocket money helps "slowly build financial skills", said GoHenry, to help them become "savvy about spending and saving". 

But don't just hand over cash, said Unbiased, as "children who are just given pocket money are much less likely to save".  

This is a chance to introduce the idea of "earning and learning", said Barclays, by rewarding your child for doing chores around the house and encouraging them to save for what they want. You could make an "appropriate reward" depending on the chores being completed. 

Rather than just focusing on earning money for tasks, parents should also help build a "healthy money mindset", said the Daily Telegraph Emma Gosling, financial coach, therapist and mum, told the newspaper, "When our eight-year-old gets money for birthdays and Christmas, we explain to him he needs to save up for bigger things he wants. It's important to be open with children about money, and to model good habits."

Also consider how kids spend money these days, said The Guardian. Many have "little contact with cash" and there are various payment cards and apps with pocket money and budget tools "that have emerged to serve this market". 

Money lessons never end  

Just because a child leaves home or becomes an adult, that doesn't mean money lessons have to stop, added MoneyHelper. 

Your adult children may still be living with you to save for their own home or pay off debts, so money is a "topic that often needs revisiting", whatever the age.