All in Kids and Money
I’ve been interviewing people for my podcast and every time I do this I learn something new from each and every person I speak with. But a recent conversation really had me thinking because it presented a completely new and different view on how I could help my daughter (or you could help your child) through her tertiary study once she finishes school.
Those of you who have read my blog for a long time have been on a journey with me as I teach my daughter, now 11 years old, about how money works. Like every parent, I’m just making it up as I go along and I’m slowly working on her education around how money and life interact. So far, I’m pleased with how things are going and the time has come for her very first bank account.
Every week I receive one or two emails specifically asking about how to help children invest and there are often comments on various social media about whether you even should help your kids and if you do, whether you should tell them about it. Over the years we’ve evolved an investment methodology for our daughter that appears to be working so I thought I would share with you what we do in our own whare and that might give you some tips for what you can do in your own household.
Once WE as adults become better with money then it’s natural that we want to enlighten our kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews so this book is a must read in my view because it guides you through the steps of how to do it WITHOUT annoying the hell out of the child.
My 16 year old nephew needed a bank account, so I said I would help him out if he wanted me to. An aunt who loves anything personal finance related could not bear leaving a 16 year old in charge because I knew that absolutely NOTHING would happen. So I devised him his very own “master banking plan”.
I don’t subscribe to the view of “leaving my daughter to it”; that when she is old enough she can earn her own money and save for herself and she will miraculously become wealthy. In my view starting young, learning how money works and investing over a long period of time is the way to get ahead.
KiwiSaver is one of many investment tools you can put in your little kiddies tool box. I have a daughter who is now ten and I signed her up when she was born. It was darn hard holding her little cute pudgy hand and getting her to sign the paperwork I can tell you, but we got there in the end!
I’ve blogged before about ways I teach my daughter to be good with money and it remains a regular topic in our house. I’m always looking for opportunities to teach her more and I thought if you have children of your own then you might like to see how I go about it?
Olivia spent the school holidays working hard and she has found herself with that wonderful problem, too much cash sitting in the bank. In this blog post, I detail a strategy to show her how to make her hard earned money work for her and create a strong financial future for herself.
