(WHTM) — It’s back to school time and along with all the lessons your kids are learning in class, it’s also important to teach them about managing money.
“I think the number one thing we all want our kids to learn is how to save money,” consumer expert Elisabeth Leamy said.
It’s a life lesson that’s never too early or late to learn.
Leamy says getting your child a bank account is a great way to start.
She is a big supporter of the “set it and forget it method,” arranging automatic transfers from checking to savings.
“Since they’re not making the transfers manually, they’re not tempted to spend the money and that’s the beauty of it,” Leamy said.
These transfers can be on a set schedule or a set amount, whatever works best.
Leamy says it’s a good idea to start this when your child is a young teenager.
“We can really start with young teenagers and the account that we all interact with most is a checking account. So actually young teens can even get a checking account, especially if it kind of grows with them as they age,” she said.
Leamy says a checking account is a good place to start because it’s so fluid.
“A checking account is sort of that basic account. Often times in this modern age they’ll be using a debit card a lot more than they’re actually using checks, but we still call them checking accounts. And this is sort of the basics of money flowing in and out.”
With these accounts comes another key lesson: money management.
Leamy says a written budget is key.
“When I say written budget I’m talking about all sorts of apps, computer programs, websites that make it super easy. But that act of inputting their income and their expenses helps them really see where their money, how fast it’s going and start to differentiate needs from wants. An incredibly valuable life lesson,” she said.
She says this works with her own family.
“My 16-year-old daughter, I taught her to check her budget before she buys yet another pair of jeans or something. And she feels really empowered knowing when she has enough money to splurge.”
Leamy urges people to take advantage of the technology, like account text alerts and money apps.
“These kids, they live their lives on their phones. So if we parents are smart, that’s where we will them to teach them about managing their money,” she said.
The bottom line is to teach kids these tools now, so they can continue to grow these skills for the years to come.
“We want them to be set up in life so that when they’re out there in the real world they have some of these fundamentals down. And yes our schools are doing some work to teach financial literacy. But really it’s the job of the parent. So to model really good habits for your kids and to directly talk to them and teach them these good habits,” she said.
It’s also important to make sure you’re keeping an eye on your kid’s use of these payment apps, many are instant, so be sure they’re not sending money to strangers or scammers.
