How much do your kids understand money matters?

A recent poll by bestloans.net was done to see how informed both adults and children are about personal finance matters. The poll revealed some startling facts:

More than half of those people who replied to the survey, 55% in fact, reported that they thought the responsibility was multi-faceted for educating their kids regarding finance. Most considered it a shared responsibility between; Government funded campaigns, the banks, schools, the parents or guardians, or various education charities.

When asked to go into more details about who held most responsibility, it was said by 37% of respondents that it was parents or other family members (or legal guardians) who should really be ensuring that their children understood about money and finance matters.

Less than 10% of those surveyed agreed that it was down to schools to educate kids on money and only 2% of those surveyed said that education charities or other organisations were responsible. Zero % thought that the banks or government had the sole responsibility to teach children about financial issues, instead believing it to be more of a family issue.

The national curriculum in the United Kingdom has had maths and citizenship on it since late 2014 however some schools that don’t follow the NC are not duty bound to educated children on the pitfalls and fundamentals or money and finance. This is despite a recent research survey done by charity mybnk that discovered over 50% of parents wanted extra time in the curriculum devoted to the subject and they would agree with a reduction on study for core subjects to facilitate this.

A few ways to help teach your kids about money

Turn chores into a learning experience

Instead of just taking your kids shopping with you, give them a small list, a budget eg £10 and ask them to try and get all the items as cheaply as possible to stay in the budget. Then, if they manage to do so (make it a challenge) say they can keep the change as a bonus!

Buy your own meals!

Depending on the age of your child, but ideally 5-7 ish or once your child gets the concept at least. Give them a pot of change (just a plastic box with say £2 in change in). Then, make them pay for their own tea, treats and so on. For example, thats 45p please, and they have to work out the correct coins and then pay for it. You dont charge them of course, you put the money back in the box ready for the next spend!!

The best rewards

The best way to reward your child for anything is usually with a shared experience rather than money. for example a joint trip to the cinema, a trip to the park and an ice cream etc

Charge cards

For older kids, it is a good plan to get a pre paid charge card, to put them in charge of their own money, while still having an element of control over it (eg. you know the balance and monitor it). This can prevent wayward credit card spending and the like when your kid grows up into an adult by showing them that its better to have the money, before spending it.