Welcome to Morningstar’s new video series, where we look at some common personal finance questions. Today we’re asking how do you give financial advice to kids?
Talking about money can be hard, especially when talking to children. Therefore, it’s important to make sure kids leave home with the proper tools to achieve financial wellbeing. So, Morningstar’s experts have devised five tips and techniques that you can use.
Number one. Start as soon as possible. It’s important to lay a foundation early, and a great way to begin is to focus on basic concepts like saving over time.
Number two. Simplify, repeat, simplify. Repeating concepts again and again helps reinforce the message.
Number three. Workshops are better than lectures. People learn the most about financial transactions when they need it, not when they’re just being told the theory of it, so if you’re buying a house or saving for a holiday, involve your kids!
Number four. Pros versus cons. It’s important to discuss spending choices and explain that just because you can afford something, doesn’t mean you necessarily have to buy it. Patience usually pays!
Finally, number five. Create savings buckets and goals. A favourite at Morningstar is the bucket-approach to retirement, and this might work well for children too. You can teach your kids to have one bucket for short term savings, another for medium-term goals, and a third for long-term investments.
But the bottom line here is to create a safe place for children to learn about money, with room to fail. After all, there’s no teacher like experience.
This has been the personal finance minute. For Morningstar, I’m Sunniva Kolostyak.