Spring, 2007, Abbey Newsletter

Who's Teaching Your Kids to Save?

How do kids learn to handle money? One survey says that 94% of kids point to their parents as a source of information about money.

So how do you instill healthy money management in your children? One way is to start teaching them how to save while they are still young. Many experts on the topic say that if children start saving while young, it will become a lifelong habit that will see your them comfortably into retirement.

Of course, kids can't see that far into the future, so you'll want to start with something more immediate - and more tangible. Here's one idea. Say your child wants a new bicycle. Get some sort of container they can use to put their savings in, then find a photo of the bike they want and tape it to the container. This will give them a visible reminder of their goal.

You will also need to make it possible for your child to have a way to make contributions to the savings fund. Allowances are a very common way to do this. You might also want to "hire" your child for odd jobs around the house.

You might also consider opening an account for them at Abbey Credit Union. We offer our Kidz Club for children under 12 and our Xplorers Club for children 12 to 17. These programs are a great way to introduce your children to financial institutions and to teach them how interest works.

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