By Ashlee Ogrzewalla, CFP®, Vice President and Manager of Financial Planning & Marketing
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As we enter summer and the season of relaxation, we will feature several “Summer Savings Strategies” to help you feel more at ease financially. Looking for new strategies to consider when saving for retirement, highlighting ways to save more tax efficiently, and setting a financial foundation for your children in both their early and young adult lives are all topics we will highlight for you this summer.
To kick off the summer, let’s focus on the little people that make summer adventures so much fun. Every year, the second Sunday in June (June 11th for 2023), the US recognizes it as National Children’s Day. This day offers parents an opportunity to celebrate and honor their children.
Parents’ entire lives tend to gravitate around doing what’s best for their children– each and every day! Many parents celebrate by showering their children with fancy toys and writing elaborate Facebook posts about them. It’s also a great time to teach them a new skill they can carry for the rest of their lives. One skill that can help set them up for success is money management. You can start teaching your child about money at a young age. The more they learn directly from you now, the less they’ll have to learn on their own later in life.
Consider gifting your children some of these essential money lessons and experiences this summer:
Open a Bank Account
Take your children with you to a local bank/credit union that offers a junior savings program with tons of fun incentives for kids to save. Many programs offer the ability to earn interest on their savings accounts and don’t require them to maintain a minimum balance.
Fun incentives for kids in savings programs often include: small toys on their birthdays, invites to summer events, and coupons for ice cream when they make deposits. Even if the incentives offered are small, the excitement of exchanging coins from their piggy bank in the coin machine and then handing the slip to the teller to deposit the funds into their very own account is sure to put smiles on everyone’s faces.
These savings account programs don’t replace college savings, of course. Still, it’s a great way of teaching kids about money and how to save it in a bank account that earns interest.
Play a Financial Education Game
Playing a financial education game is also a great way to celebrate Children’s Day and teach your child some valuable lessons about money. If you like playing board games together, you’ll love games like Life, Monopoly, Financial Peace Junior, and CASHFLOW, to name a few.
The video game version of “Life” is a great game that can teach kids how to manage money when “life” happens. It even teaches how the decisions made when you’re young can affect your finances and income in the future. This version of the game allows you to purchase insurance to save money when emergencies occur and to decide what type of house you can afford. It even factors in the cost of having kids when you get to the point of the game where you can grow your family.
Create a Dinner Budget
For older children, try to find a fun way to teach them how to create a realistic budget. If you plan to prepare their favorite meal for Children’s Day, allow them to help you budget and shop for the items needed to prepare the dish. You can prepare a small celebration and decorate the house. Show your kids how to shop for quality deals and work within the budget you set.
National Children’s Day is what you make of it. Consider using this day as a reminder to create memorable traditions that will make a huge impact. Kids will only be kids for so long. Given that, it’s important to take the time to teach them valuable personal finance lessons. This way, they can have a positive relationship with money as they grow older.