Comments on: Kids and Money – It is Never too Early to Start

By: Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:35:13 +0000

Your wife has a great idea Kyle! My son is only 5 months old, but once he’s able to start asking for toys, candy, etc. he’s going on an allowance. Even if itâ€™s very small, heâ€™ll learn about money management and weâ€™ll be able to end any of him begging for things before it gets out of control.
Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog´s last blog ..A Quick QuickTax Online Review

By: Christina

Christina — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:58:22 +0000

I opened an account for my daughter, she’s just 2 actually but I really plan to teach her to save and know how to spend them wisely when the right time comes, probably at age 5. I thought it was an odd move to start an account for a 2 year old baby girl but then your article somehow proves me right.

By: PT

PT — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:21:32 +0000

Cute story, Kyle. Get some work out of that little SpiderMan.

I like the 3 jar idea as well. Teach him that with his allowance he needs to give save spend.
PT´s last blog ..Question of the Week: Who Does Your Car Service?

By: Jason @ One Money Design

Jason @ One Money Design — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:28:56 +0000

Kyle, great story. Normally, I would think 3 would be too young for a child to understand earning and spending. But in this case, he seems to be a bright young lad. Why not give it a shot is my thought. I suppose providing little financial nuggests of guidance and coaching to children can never start too early. He may not quite comprehend it all, or he may do quite well. Either way, you gotta start sometime. Great job to you and your wife!

By: Jason @ MyMoneyMinute

Jason @ MyMoneyMinute — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:39:23 +0000

Not every 3 year old can comprehend it, but you’re doing the right thing. I would add some sort of work/benefit reward rather than a straight allowance. That teaches him that money has to be earned. Not sure what all a 3 year old can do, but even stuff like picking up toys or “helping” clean up dinner can be good chores to reward him with an allowance.

By: LeanLifeCoach

LeanLifeCoach — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:52:15 +0000

Ditto Revanche – Great point!

Kudos to the wife! It is never too early to teach kids. What you haven’t seen those commercials with kids learning to read at 18 months?

I’d go ahead and step it up to saving too. My kids learned they should always save 20% before they learned their table manners…. we’re still working on that!

It does make a difference.

By: Money Reasons

Money Reasons — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:07:15 +0000

You got me beat! I started my son at 5 years old, and my daughter at 4 (my son insisted that since he got an allowance, so should his sister… I caved on that one). Initially I planned on starting both at 5 years old.

Great story, we should have linked to each other page earlier in the day! Both are similar, but also different enough… I think we could have added “cross site value”

By: Revanche

Revanche — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:13:27 +0000

I’d like to point out that at the age of 3, your son is already better at negotiating than most people are as adults. He doesn’t hesitate to ask for what he wants, which many adults are loathe to do. In this case, he gets the other person to offer solutions to the obstacles/objections/arguments he puts up instead of simply shutting him down. Of course, clearly Mom knows what she’s doing too and is teaching him a valuable lesson about earning what you want. Kudos to both!

By: Kate Ashford @ HerTwoCents

Kate Ashford @ HerTwoCents — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:51:03 +0000

I don’t think it’s ever too early, although I’ve heard conflicting things about how much allowance is appropriate. I spoke to an expert once who recommended a dollar a week for every year of age. So in theory, a 3-year-old would get $3 a week. I’m wondering how far that would get anybody, though, in terms of actual Spider Man toy buying power. In any event, it’s an excellent idea to start teaching the concepts of saving and spending and the idea that you’re not just going to hand him everything he wants.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:32:19 +0000

Add that to the fact that he is getting a “secret allowance” behind the scenes too and he very well may be..