When is the right time to teach a child financial literacy?
From my previous experiences, counting money is a very good beginning to start learning about financials. However, that does not guarantee the success of its investment or savings.
We all have had piggy banks: some that allowed us to take the money out safely, and some that had to be broken. From my early rememberance, these little banks were prompting me to save my coins, so I could spend them later. My piggy banks fattened up and thinned down in their yo-yo diet mode. And they were more of money holders that were available to me when I needed it most.
What those piggy banks did not do was to contribute to my early understanding of how money could be saved in a more solid way that gurantees retunes on investment, if it’s done with thought and practice. Learning about finances came to me much later in life.
My strong belief is that we should start investing into our children by giving them a gift of learning about basic concepts to start their financial literacy. Piggy banks are still vital in doing so. Look at this Money Savvy Pig!
What’s different about this piggy bank is that it introduces short- and long-term saving, and also addresses such an important concept as Donation.
My toddler already knows that those coins which he puts into an Investment compartment of a money Savvy pig will stay their for a long time to be used when time for this investment would come.
With daily guidance and using this money savvy pig, my child gets excited when he drops his coins into a compartment of his choosing. I also ask him to explalin why he chooses this chamber vs. any other. His answers serve as a greatly invaluable practice of sound money management techniques that would become more sophisticated as my child gets older.
The time to learn about money and the flow of how to save, to spend, to donate, to invest and have confidence in doing all of that is now. My 5-year-old is already learning not only the count of money, but also the accounting for what he puts into that money savvy pig.
So, what would be your answer to a simple question of when it is the right time to teach a child her financial literacy?
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