Make Your Kids Money Managers

Try these exercises from Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad."

More on:

• Smart Banking
• Parenting Teens
• Budgeting
• Generation Y
• Money
• Parenting Kids
• Ways to Save
• Frugal Shopping

When you teach children the basics of money management, they're less likely to become financial burdens when they're older. Try these exercises from Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad:

Balance a Checkbook
Give children a blank checkbook register and create a stack of make-believe checks. Put a monthly total in the register and have them write you "checks" whenever they need cash. "Agree that you will audit the checkbook once a month," says Kiyosaki.

Control Debt
Many credit card companies will give a prepaid card to teens under 18 if a parent funds the card and is responsible for payments. If you give kids a card, be sure they know the amount you've deposited and that they match receipts against monthly statements before you pay the bill. "Parents whose children get into credit card trouble didn't review their bills or hold them accountable," Kiyosaki says. "Sloppiness makes you poor."

Save Three Ways
Set up three piggy banks or savings boxes -- one for long-term savings (for investing), one for short-term savings (for purchases) and one for charity, says Kiyosaki. With three pools, teens learn there are multiple ways of looking at savings.

From Reader's Digest - March 2005

 

• 16 Ways to Save $100
• Simple, sensible ways to save money.
• 
• 35 Hot Tips for Summer Savings
• Whether you're planning a vacation or staying at home this summer, have we got deals for you!
• 
• How to Get Out of Debt and Get Rich
• With the right attitude and a little credit know-how, anyone can climb out of the hole and stay debt-free for life.
• 
• How to Stop Bickering Over Money
• Expert advice for keeping the financial peace.
• 
• MoneySpeak: The Fluctuating Stock Market
• Check out our chart of the ten most influential economic indicators and find out how and why they affect the market and your finances.
• 
• Streamline Your Financial Life
• Spend less time managing your money and more time enjoying it with these expert tips designed to help you reclaim your desk and your sanity.
• 

“ It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper. ”

— Rod Serling

See More Quotes

Sponsored Links