Hello! I am Mauer. My mom (Charlotte) has been paying me to do work for her while I wait to go back to school. Lately, she has also been teaching me about money, finance and investing through books, podcasts and more. She told me that some of her clients have asked questions about how to teach their kids about money. She asked me if I could do a blog post on the site about what resources I found useful. So I’m going to tell you about what really helped me understand the complicated world of money.
One of my all time favorites on this list is a podcast called Million Bazillion. You can get this anywhere you listen to podcasts. Kids from ages 6 - 12 will love listening to this podcast. It covers all kinds of money related topics including, the stock market, investing, saving money, taxes, income, and so much more! Million Bazillion teaches even the most complex ideas in a simple and fun way that kids can understand. I love this podcast and would highly recommend that you listen to it with your kids if you hope to teach them about money.
Next up, there are some great books I want to share with you. First is Finance 101 for Kids. This book, by Walter Andal, teaches kids all about the history of money, ways to earn money, saving, investing, credit, and the stock market in a fun, easy to understand way. I would recommend this book for kids ages 7-13. This book also has illustrations to make it easier for younger kids to understand.
Another good book is Investing for Kids by Dylan Redling and Allison Tom. Regardless of the title, this book teaches much more than just investing. It dives deeper into the more complicated parts of finance so I would recommend this one for ages 8-15. Unlike Finance 101 for Kids, this book focuses less on what kids can do now to make money and more on what kids can do to make money when they are late teens or adults.
A great method my mom used on me was giving me my own savings account and debit card. She did this by signing up for the Verizon Family Money app, which allowed her to establish a Vault and Digital Wallet for me and transfer money from her checking account into each. It comes with a debit card that I can use to spend the money in the Wallet. This helped me keep track of my money and save it better than just keeping it in a box in my closet. She can use the Family Money app on her phone to see my progress, put money on the card (when I get my allowance or finish a job she’s paying me to do), or in a savings account called the Vault. Three things about this method: 1. It works best if your child has an allowance, and 2. It’s good to start with a debit card and when they get good at saving and learn more about handling credit, you can make the switch to a credit card, and finally 3. You can use a bank account instead of the card and it works the same way.
That's it for this post. You might see more of these come later as I explore some new resources but for now, I’ll add links to the things I mentioned and more below. I hope you found this list helpful. Bye!
Here are some links to the things I mentioned in this post and some other information my mom suggested I look at but I haven’t gotten to yet:
Video about saving and investing from the Council for Economic Education
Explanation of compound interest at MoneyGeek
Compound interest calculator at Investor.gov
Video on compound interest at Khan Academy
Video on budgeting and money management from the Council for Economic Education
Online games and apps that teach kids about money from the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
Class on saving and budgeting form Khan Academy
Money Tips for Young People in America from the Institute of Consumer Financial Education
The 10 Commandments of Personal Finance for Young People from the Institute of Consumer Financial Education