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This story first appeared on moneysense.ca as a part of their “How not to raise money monsters” package.
During the ages 7 to 12, the money questions become more plentiful?and more challenging. And just as you want them to learn household skills like chopping veggies and eating healthily, you also want them to understand basic concepts about saving and spending money. ?I?ll go to the store with my young daughter Abby and do a lot of what I call, ?browsing without buying,?? says MoneySense columnist Bruce Sellery. ?We?ll go to the store just to look much of the time but I?m clear with her that we?re not buying, we?re browsing. That?s important.?
It?s also an ideal time to take them to the bank and open up an account for them to replace their piggy banks. In a survey of more than 200 MoneySense readers, fully 92% had opened up a bank account for their child by the age of 12. You can either deposit their piggy bank savings into it or simply open one with a few of your own dollars to get them started. ?Teach them they can spend all that money on new shoes or music downloads now, or you can save something for university, or you can do both,? says author Kira Vermond. At age 9 or 10, they?ll likely to be open to the concept of budgeting to manage their money. Show them the monthly household budget. (Mine is in a written journal while my husband keeps his in an excel spreadsheet. We keep both handy and available.) They?ll see right away that certa...