Share The Gift That Keeps Giving
Share The Gift That Keeps Giving
Here are a few ideas to share with family and friends to help promote financial literacy this holiday season.
There are plenty of great reads for kids five and under who are just starting to formulate a concept of money. Among them are The Berenstain Bears’ Dollars and Sense, by Stan and Jan Berenstain, in which Mama gives her cubs an allowance and guides them through the consequences of impulse spending.
Another book for teaching kids about money is Benny’s Pennies, by Pat Brisson. In story and in rhyme, the book is about Benny, a small boy, who uses five different pennies to buy gifts that are meaningful to him – a rose for his mother, a cookie for his brother, a paper hat for his sister, and so on.
Kids aged seven to 12: Give games
Board games such as Monopoly provide great doorways into the discussion of money. They provide teachable moments, where kids learn about taking risks in finance, even if it’s with play money. They also learn that sitting on the most cash doesn’t mean you’ll win the game. That taking risks and trading pays off for all the players involved.
For older kids in this group, between the ages of nine and 11, you might consider a more complicated board game such as Settlers of Catan, which involves building colonies, cities and roads by obtaining and trading resources and materials such as brick, lumber, wool, grain and ore.
Tweens or teens: Give an allowance on plastic- First Debit Card
An allowance on a debit card that attached to your own bank account, allows you to transfer money as an allowance. This can teach kids financial responsibility. You can give them a card with an extremely limited amount on it. Generally for children under 16, the student debit cards have no additional banking fees.
The card will teach them the connection between plastic and physical cash at an early age. It will also teach them budgeting. For example, if a teen tries to splurge, he or she may find they hit their balance too soon and they will have to wait to earn more.
Movie Pick – Moneyball This movie follows the Oakland Athletics baseball team’s strategy of using economics to recruit B-list players, with winning results.
The movie uses the concept of baseball players being valued in terms of dollars paid for bases. The key is to keep learning about money fun, so kids don’t feel like they are learning at all.
Christmas Hours:
During the holidays our office hours will be 9am-3pm starting Dec 21st. We will be closed Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.
Regular hours 9am-5pm resume Jan 2nd.
