As summer winds down and families gear up for the back-to-school season, it’s a perfect time to equip our grandchildren with essential skills for a financially savvy future. I think we can all agree that starting early with smart money habits sets a strong foundation for lifelong financial well-being.
Here are my top 3 money tips for middle school through college students:
Spend Less Than You Earn
If they have any income from allowance or part-time work, help them learn to think about and even track income and expenses to understand where their money goes. Learning to spend less than they earn is a habit that will serve them well throughout life. It can be as basic as talking about totals (allowance per week vs spending with friends per week) or more advanced like playing with or actually using an app or online tool.
What was allowance like when you were a kid? Or was it non-existent in your home? I remember doing chore charts to earn quarters and of course the more you did, the more you earned. I also remember watching a little girl in the local grocery store decide that she was going to just take what she wanted (without paying) from the candy display.
She was wearing a one-piece swimming suit and grabbed a large handful of penny candy (remember those days?) and shoved it down inside the front of her bathing suit! I remember being so shocked at what she did but also almost laughed out loud as she walked out of the store with all of the candy wrapper points poking out of the front of her suit.
Save for a Rainy Day
Encourage them to start saving a portion of their earnings for unexpected expenses. This is the “rainy day” fund conversation that you may have a story to share about. Maybe your parent or grandparent always saved a little or never saved anything. Kids especially love to hear stories about their family so if there is a lesson to be learned, now is the time to share!
Or maybe your grandchild is tempted to spend all of his/her birthday money and a rainy day conversation can plant the seed for the concept of delayed gratification as well as the fact of life that unexpected events will always occur.
If we think about it, this saving some money for later habit is also good practice for starting to save toward retirement. Too often young folks feel like retirement is not something they need to be concerned about yet, so no action is needed. Declining to participate in the employer 401(k) is such a known mistake that the current trend now is for employers to offer plans with automatic enrollment.
Employees can still opt out, but at least the employer is trying to help employees help themselves with this feature. The magic of compounding is never more important than at those younger ages. Sending a percentage of your paycheck to your employer’s 401(k), for example, can be a similar feeling if you’re already used to saving some of your income for an emergency fund.
Set Financial Goals
Adults recognize that using money wisely is a life skill that everyone needs. You can help make learning that skill fun and even get them to practice by playing games. Maybe help them set one money goal, write it down, and brainstorm ways to achieve it.
Help them recognize that life is full of opportunity costs: what is the trade off to gain something later by giving up something now? For every purchase, can they ask: Is this a need or a want? If it is a larger dollar amount, can they sleep on it and delay a decision until the next day. Maybe the cash envelope system is something to share about.
Resources for Parents
Perhaps none of these subjects feel like an opportunity for you with your grandchildren. Or your comfort level is just not there for a variety of reasons. Then sharing a resource that you found interesting with their parents might be another approach.
I recently purchased a book for parents called The Art of Allowance that I will share with my adult children who have young school age children. Or maybe sharing a link to my Youth Bundle (still 50% off through August!) of checklists might be another way to help parents encourage your grandchildren’s financial literacy.
A Time to Refocus
Sometimes back-to-school season is a time to reset routines, get back on track, and start again on habits that can get away from us during the summer/travel season. Why not add financial wellness to our focus, both for ourselves and our extended family? We all have room for improvement.
Let’s Have a Discussion:
What money talk experiences have you had with your grandchildren/nieces/nephews? Has anything surprised you about what children know or don’t know about money these days? Do you have any tips for other grandparents?
