KidsWealth – Teaching Kids About Money and Success

I grew up in a home, where there was no such thing as an allowance. My parents theory was, they provided food, shelter and clothing for us, it was our duty to help out. We never lacked because of it. We still did fun things, or bought small toys, it was just with birthday money or we simply asked mom or dad to buy it for us.

Because of the way I grew up, and Hubby in a similar environment, we never paid Genius an allowance either, we just expected her to make her bed, clean up her toys, and put away the dishes, with thank you being her only payment.

However, just this past year, when we began homeschooling, we decided that we should give her an allowance. We made this decision because we wanted to teach her how to handle money and make good decisions using it. We all know it’s easier to spend other people’s money on junk, then your own!

Just in time, I was given the KidsWealth Kit via the TOSCrew to review. This kit designed for 4 -12 year olds, really is a great springboard to help kids learn wise money management.

Whichever way your children get their money, whether it be from a job, a home allowance, or money just given to them for gifts, this kit will help them decide the priorities they have, and teach them to save for long term goals.

The kit comes with 5 envelopes for the children to store their money in.

Wealth – this money will make its way to their bank account, if they don’t have one, Mom and Dad will need to set one up for them.
Plan – the money in this envelope is for a long term goal, the Nintendo DS they’ve been coveting or that new guitar they want.
Learn – save or use the money in this envelope for books, a globe, microscope, telescope, etc.
Fun – this is money that can be used for gumball machines, trading cards, cotton candy at the fair, you get the idea. This is the money that they can just blow on silly things if they like.
Angel – all of this money should be given to charity, in our home it is Genius’s tithe money.

Benefits of this program:

The kit comes with an easy to read book that explains and encourages kids about wealth. How much money they need to purchase things, including tax! How interest works. It gives scenarios, on children going to the store, and looking at things and then contemplating the wisdom of the purchase. It even comes with a handy calculator so the kids can figure out how much that product is going to cost them at the store, before they check out at the till.

The envelopes are perfect for saving. We personally have eliminated the “Learn” envelope in our home, simply because we are of the mind that Genius’ education is our responsibility, if she needs something for school, or wants books to read to learn from, that is money we’re more than willing as parents to dish out. The “Fun” envelope and “Angel” envelope sit next to her bed though and in the few short weeks we’ve had this program, she has put the money she has earned or been given in the appropriate envelopes, without being told.

The only con to this program that I found is the wide spread financial theory out there of “pay yourself first”. The biggest percent of the money the child has, is to be put in the “Wealth” envelope for growth. We as a family believe that the first money earned should go in the “Angel” envelope for tithing or charity giving. After the first 10% or more has made its way into that envelope the rest of the money can be allocated. It was an easy fix with Genius, we simply showed her Bible passages that underline that truth. We would like her faith to be strong enough to know that she needs to honor God first, and He will supply the rest of her needs (not necessarily how she think He will, but that He will!).

The KidsWealth Kit is available at their website, for $39.95, and is available in Blue or Purple. It has won awards from Dr.Toy. I believe that this would be a great start for a family who has been meaning to teach their kids about wealth management, but have no idea where to start.

Is one of your New Year resolutions to teach your children money management, or even to get your own finances and budget in order? If so tell us how you plan to do it.

Tammy’s blog is located at Three Different Directions. Click on the review button on her left side bar to see more reviews on homeschooling products.