Lessons From the Field: Kids and Money

Evan is proud of his new accountability.

by Janis Bookout

Kids are naturally curious about money. A while back, my husband and I were talking to our 7 year old, Evan, about chores. He said, “Can I get paid?” My immediate reaction was to say, “Well, chores are a natural part of being a family. We all pitch in because we all live here.”

Unexpectedly, my son’s eyes filled with tears. “But mom” he said, I want to buy something for myself and how else am I supposed to get money? I don’t want to have to ask you for it. But how else am I going to get it?”

It hit me like a brick. My son wanted to be responsible for creating and using income. What an opportunity and I was just about to miss it! All my training from the work I have done with The Money Academy came rushing to mind. I could hear Gayle’s voice in my head. “Give them something to be responsible for.” I don’t want my son thinking that money comes from me. That would not set him up for life at all.

So we talked about it and we came up with three ways that he could get money: 1) He could start a business; 2) We could give him an allowance; 3) He could be paid for doing a job at home. Personally, I was hoping he’d start a business. He’s done that once before and it was awesome! (Sold 20 CD’s of his music, netted $80, paid me back my loan of $35, and learned a LOT about money.) But this time he wanted to earn money through chores. But I still didn’t want him to get locked into doing a task for money. That’s not the future I want for him. So we made him the Living Room Manager. He is accountable for making sure the living room is clean by the end of every day. And he isn’t allowed to do the job by himself. The position pays $5 a week. He has agreed to put 10% in savings, and he has a bank bag and a ledger to keep track of his money. (Anyone who has done The Money Academy will find some of these things every familiar.)

What an opportunity I almost missed!  As a parent, it’s so easy to stop listening. But then when I do listen, there are these crazy-great moments in time where my kids ask to be developed in something. Money is one of those areas where kids just naturally want to step up and learn—if we let them.

Evan will be doing The Money Academy summer camp for the first time at the end of the summer. I’m really looking forward to hearing about what he’s learning and accomplishing. Oh, and my five year old, Ryan, is the car manager. It pays $3 per week. He loves telling us all to take our trash out of the car. And the car and living room haven’t stayed clean this long in years!

*Janis is a staff writer and registration manager for The Money Academy.

Five Things to Consider When Choosing A Camp for Your Kids

There are so many options for summer camp, the best of which are filling up quickly. Registering early means more choices, but how to you possibly decide among all these great camps? First of all, make sure your kids are on board for whatever choice you make together. No one wants to be stuck in a place they don’t want to be. However, you may want to narrow the choices ahead of time so that your child doesn’t fall in love with a summer camp that you won’t be sending them to. You may also want to include exciting options that they haven’t even considered. When making your selections, here are some guidelines that we hope will help you chose a camp:

1. Balance Their Interests With New Experiences. A great match is a summer camp that addresses topics your child is interested in, but also gives them access to experiencing things they don’t have access to learning anywhere else.
2. Look for Just-In-Time Learning Opportunities. What is on your child’s horizon? Will they be entering a new level of responsibility? Will they need new social skills in the coming year? What will they be dealing with next, that this summer camp could give them practice with?
3. Choose A Camp That Honors Kids as People. Considering that you’ll be leaving your child with a group of people they don’t know, it’s critical that the camp leaders respect and honor kids. Of course, this includes safety measures. But it should also include the way adults talk to kids.
4. Give Them Real-World Experience. Whatever the topic, a great summer camp gives kids real world experience that challenges their problem solving capacity and strengthens their courage to try new things.
5. Give Them Great Memories. Is this camp the kind of extraordinary experience that your child will never forget? While you can’t predict with certainty that your kids will remember this experience, you have a good idea about this one. Trust your gut.

The Money Academy gives your child an unforgettable, challenging and fun experience that leaves them making powerful choices about money and with a new level of confidence and leadership. Kids learn money in an extraordinary experience they’ll remember and build on for a lifetime. But whatever you choose, we hope these tips make the process just a little easier, and that your child’s summer camp experience is one to remember!

Mystery Shoppers Wanted for Kid Business Camp

In the Money Academy Camp, we don’t tell the kids how to run their business.  We let them make their own mistakes and learn from the experience.  This creates an environment where they take complete ownership of the experience and get to fully enjoy their accomplishments for themselves.

This is where you come in.   There will be two campers outside the business location with a table set up selling their wares.  You will pretend to be a customer for the kids’ camp business, just as you would at any place of business.  Immediately following your shopping experience, you will meet and consult with the team of young business owners as they evaluate their approach.

Steps to the process:

1.       From a distance where the campers won’t notice you, observe how they are set up, how they are behaving, their appearance and interactions with customers.  Inconspicuously record your impressions. 

2.       Visit the camper business establishment and pretend to be a customer.  When you approach, notice how they engage you.  Ask the kinds of questions you would ask if you were a customer who happened to be coming to the host business establishment.  You can make a purchase or not, it’s up to you.

3.       Notice the Money Academy Staff and how they handled themselves in relation to the Campers.  Their role is to support the campers in being safe and help them notice their presentation and interactions.  The Staff is not there to make sales or answer questions about the Campers’ Business.  They will have information about the Money Academy to share, if there are customer questions about the program. 

4.       Proceed to the Camp meeting room, where you will be greeted by our staff and they will prepare the Campers to meet with you.

When should you start talking about money to your kids?

Another great article from The Economic Times:

Money Academy Camp, CEO for the day leading financial analysis of product

“Teaching kids to count is fine but teaching them what counts is best.”   Bob Talbert, American columnist.

This quote lies at the core of the philosophy behind teaching fiscal responsibility to children.  Parents and teachers focus on math and other artistic skills, with kids as young as four years old being enrolled in esoteric classes to get a head start in life.

But amid all these classes, we forget to impart an important life skill-financial literacy. How many of us realize that when our kids enter the real world, the first thing they confront is money?As a wealth adviser, I have seen that when it comes to money, smart people commit blunders, whether it is in dealing with banks, taking loans or making investments.This is the reason one should begin teaching money management to kids at a very young age.

The best time to do this is between 5 and 12 years, which is not to say that those above 12 years do not appreciate this concept. They do when the content is interesting, but it takes a little more time for them to understand the importance because they have developed deep-rooted habits and have turned into consumers.

As they enter the teenage or beyond the sixth grade, they become hardwired because of peer pressure and external environment. So it becomes difficult to get them to adhere to a financial literacy program. At this stage in their lives, they are keen to buy mobile phones, gadgets, branded clothes and do things that their friends are doing. Telling them to act sensibly and responsibly might be a tall order if you have not inculcated good habits from an early age.  In fact, it is a good idea to introduce financial literacy as a subject in school from Class I itself.

Many of you probably give your children pocket money, but what you don’t realize is that this does not teach them the value of money or how to manage it. Most parents do not take the initiative to teach their children about money. They may touch on the concept of piggy banks and savings early on, but are usually reluctant to discuss money and family finances with their children.

The best way to teach kids about money is to let them deal with money early on for they need to understand its power and the consequences of their decisions.  It’s far better that they commit mistakes at a young age with smaller amounts of money than financial blunders when they grow up.

By starting early, you can give your children a strong competitive edge for their future financial success. The key learning points for kids should include having healthy values about money, setting goals and priorities, making prudent choices, delaying instant gratification and understanding the virtues of hard work.

Also, don’t forget that even though you might not teach your kids directly, they are learning by observing you.

(The author is Financial planner and author of The Art and Science of Teaching Children about Money, Amar Pandit)

Money Academy Camp at two locations this week!

This week, June 20-24th, camps are going on in two locations:   Book People and Brick Oven-Arboretum!   The kids have come up with a business product and start selling tomorrow.   Stop by and check out their unique products and watch kids getting “Money Smart”.

NPR’s “All Things Considered” speaking with a Money Academy graduate

Listen to what a Money Academy Graduate Jonathan Gonzalez  told Mose Buchele in an interview on KUT.

Austin Camp Teaches Financial Skills.