It is known that parents have the mission of educating their children to be good people or to have a good professional future. However, education goes much further, encompassing all aspects of life, including the economy and personal finances.
From Fin tonic they have thought of some tips on how to guide children to better understand what money implies and so that they have basic notions of great relevance on these aspects. And it is that children, to whom everything catches their attention, have a more inclined profile to fall into "capricious temptations" when it comes to seeing shop windows, stores, and so on. That is why it becomes extremely important to provide them with a proper economic education.
Children are the most dangerous when it comes to knowing and controlling what they spend or ask for since they are not aware of concepts such as "money", "work" or "effort". Surely those who are parents have had to make a real effort to say no to their child when they have asked for a toy with eagerness and enthusiasm, or have fallen into the temptation and have ended up buying it. This situation can be avoided, especially as the years go by, if a good education in the economic field is carried out.
There is a tendency to think that there is an age to start talking to our children about money, that until they start to use it it does not make sense, but that approach may not be the most appropriate. Economic and financial education must begin as soon as possible, from a young age, so that they know and internalize from the beginning what money is and how it is obtained.
Basic principles of economic education in children
Economics education begins with the explanation of simple concepts that children can come to understand. An effective way is to explain to our children what work is and why it is so valuable. They have to understand how hard it is to earn money and why it cannot be spent lightly. You can understand this explanation perfectly, but you will not know what we mean if you do not live in your own skin what effort is. For this, we can offer you a game: if you do your tasks and obligations, I will buy you that game that you love so much.
Another principle is to promote autonomy in money management. Children cannot and should not handle large amounts of money but they do have their own savings to spend on their whims. But how do children get money? Parents can reward them with money if they behave well or if they pass all the subjects at the end of the year, for example. Another option is to give them a small weekly or monthly allowance so they can learn to organize themselves and manage their own money.
The next step is to let them use it as they please for a specified time, as an experiment. They may waste it at first, but then they will realize, on their own, that they will not receive more money until a special occasion arrives and that they will therefore have to manage it better.
Once the children have understood these aspects about money and finances, we can move on to the next step: promoting savings, that is, realizing that everything they have they do not have to spend. Children need to know that they can stop receiving more money at any given time and that if they do not have savings they will not be able to buy toys or trinkets. We can buy them a piggy bank so they can keep their own financial accounts.
The basic principles that we have just mentioned may seem very easy at first glance, but when it comes to facing this issue, doubts arise. It is common that we do not know how to talk about money to our children or what aspects we should tell them and what not. The idea is not that they are aware of the real economic tuition situation of the family, but that they understand why it is so difficult to get money and why you cannot always have what you want, and all this must be linked to financial savings.
Next we are going to see certain behaviors that we must take into account when talking with our children about money.
1. Lead by example. First of all, we must be an example to follow for our children. We cannot tell them not to waste money and then be the ones who spend all day spending on clothes, on trips, on dinners, and so on.
2. Treat children like adults. We have to be prepared to respond to children if they ask us unforeseen questions and we cannot resort to the typical phrase of "I'll tell you about it when I'm older." We must provide credibility and show confidence in our children.
3. Know your audience. We must not sin when it comes to providing information to children, as an excess of information could saturate and confuse them even more. The main thing is to be honest with our children and explain the most basic terms.
4. Explain why. All information or argument must be explained. We cannot tell children: "You must save" without telling them why. We must explain the principles and reasons behind each statement and make sure they understand it, so they will do so of their own free will.
5. Comment on your own experiences. In order for children to better understand what we are trying to explain to them, we can draw on our own experiences that have happened to ourselves. Children will empathize and will be reflected in our experience.
6. Show them that their savings benefit the family. Children should feel that their actions or expenses can affect the whole family. Being a key player will make them more alert and show that they can be trusted. This is a good trick to boost savings and for children to understand what are the necessary expenses and what are the expenses for capricious.
7. Be their maximum support. Once we have brought them together to explain the economics, we cannot leave them alone. They will make many mistakes at first, but we must be there to help and support them. Learning with their parents will be more useful to them.
8. Teach them that being wrong is not bad. Surely our children's piggy bank reaches zero because they have spent everything on whims. Instead of just scolding them, it would be better to teach them that mistakes are learned and are necessary to better understand why we should save.
9. Let them learn for themselves. We cannot pretend that children learn if we are behind them all day telling them what to do or not have to do. We should leave them a little free when we see that they are able to handle their own money.
10. Show them the Fin tonic app. Children use new technologies more and more, so it is not surprising that they know how to handle mobile phones and tablets better than adults. It will not be difficult to teach them the operation of this tool so that they can control their expenses and can establish budgets.
It is very important that a child knows from a young age the importance of money and the effort that must be made to get it. This will make you a hard-working, responsible and humble person (whatever money you have). Do not wait until they are 16 years old to talk about saving, from an early age it is highly recommended to start educating them in the habit of saving.
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