Raise Money Smart Kids with Kids Wealth #kidslearnmoney

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Kids Wealth. All opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours. I will only endorse companies, products and services that I believe, based on my own experiences, are worthy of endorsement.

It was important to my husband and I to teach our son about money matters at a young age. We know how important it is to be smart about money and to have financial freedom. It is our hope that our son grows into a man who is just that… money smart.

I’m always looking for good resources that will help me teach our son about money matters and Kids Wealth is the best tool I’ve found to date.

Kids Wealth comes in age appropriate levels for ages 4 – 12, so even if your child is close to 12, it’s not too late.

What comes with each kit:

• Calendar – a great way for them to keep track of their payday.
• Kids Guide – tips for helping kids to
• Parents Guide
• Kids Pay Agreement
• Stickers
• Money Tracker (age appropriate) – helps keep your child motivated.

My son is 12-years-old and we did start teaching him about money, savings, and budgeting, etc. at a young age, but I think it’s important to reinforce good behaviors. Plus, my son needed a little reminder, not to mention that we needed to be more organized and have a better schedule for paying our son.

One thing that was different with Kids Wealth than any other program we’ve used is that they suggest 5 different ways of allocating your money. We taught our son to save, spend, and give. This program says to allocate your money in these five accounts…

• Wealth 30% – money saved in a bank account for the future.
• Plan 20% – money set aside each month for something bigger you want.
• Learn 20% – money spend on education. Like books, going to the museum, etc.
• Fun 20% – money you spend on the little things you want from time to time.
• Angel 10% – money donated or given to causes/people that is important to you.

We combined “wealth” and “plan” into one, as well as “learn” with “fun”, or in our case, money you save and spend. I like that they separate “wealth” (or money saved) from money you “plan” (money saving for a particular thing).

My son already has a savings account at our bank that he has been putting money into for some time, now. When he wants something bigger, he withdraws the money out to buy it. Now though, he will start keeping money out (Plan) for things he wants to save up for more short-term.

This way he leaves his saving account alone. He says he wants to use it for a car in four years (and I don’t even want to think about him driving in four years). I love that he is thinking that far ahead regarding finances, though.

How it works:

Payday

Pay your kid(s) half what you would normally spend on them each month. This should be an amount that fits into your current budget. Let your child make their own decisions on what they spend their money on… they will learn that their are consequences to their choices. And if they spend all their “learn” and “fun” money early in the month, they won’t have anymore money until payday.

Also, don’t make a habit of letting your child borrow money from you. There could be a situation that would warrant it, but don’t make a habit of it.

Allocate

Then help your child allocate how much money goes into each of their five accounts.

Our son and I signed the Kids Pay Agreement, in which we agreed to pay him $100 a month on the 28th of each month. He is getting paid $48 for an allowance ($12 a week) and $52 for doing things above and beyond his expected chores (he actually does work for me on my blog, too). This totals $100 a month.

He will be allocating his $100 this way…

• Wealth – $30
• Plan – $20
• Learn – $20
• Fun – $20
• Angel – $10

My son is not only becoming more smart about money, but having fun, too.

If you want to teach your kids about money — from saving money, how to budget, spending it wisely, and more… I highly recommend Kids Wealth.