We’ve spoken about this - it’s never too early to start saving. But how early is too early? According to a survey done by Assocham - ‘Trends of pocket money in urban areas’, the average child gets a monthly pocket allowance of ₹ 1600 in metropolitan cities. If you compare this to that of 1998 which was ₹ 300, you’d notice that kids these days have a lot more scope to understand the importance of saving.

Here are quick ways you can get your child into the habit of putting that money back into the piggy bank!

1. Don’t let taxes be like aliens! Just as it is important for you to speak to your spouse about finances, it is also important to include your children in some of the discussions. Don’t stress them out with roping them into the details, but the talk around expenses, budgeting, taxation should be one that they get to hear about.

2. Alohomora that bank account! Giving them that safe space is important. Once you have spoken to your children about savings, they’ll need a place to stash their cash. For younger kids, this could be a piggy bank, but if they are a little older, you may want to open up a savings account for them and tell them about how the account works. Here, they can track their savings and understand how their money can compound over time as well!

3. Saving like a treasure hunt: What better way for kids to learn than by having a chance to earn money? Give them chores around the house and when they complete it, reward them with the cash. Once they know the value of money, they will be cautious to make sure that the money they earned doesn't go to waste. Another interesting thing you can do is to offer them additional bonus incentives. Like for example, if your child has set a goal of saving a certain amount of money by the month-end, when they reach that goal, give them an incentive of an additional amount of money. This will make them feel good about saving money.

4. Wants versus Needs: This is an important one. We, as adults still haven’t mastered it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t help out our kids with understanding the same. The next time your child wants to buy a new toy, sensitise them to whether that is actually a need or a want and explain to them how expenses work, chances are they will grow up to become a lot more aware with money in the future.

5. Lead by example and leave room for mistakes: We all stumble, but we get up stronger. Part of putting kids in control of their own money is letting them learn from their mistakes. While it is always tempting to want to steer them in the right direction, when the mistakes are smaller, it is okay for them to discover and learn on their own. This, of course, will only work if you, too, are careful with your money and admit to them every time you make a mistake, so they don’t follow your lead in this matter.

Bonus Tip!

Since you’ve reached till here in the article, we have a bonus tip that we want you to know.

LET YOUR CHILD HAVE THEIR CHILDHOOD!

No, we’re not screaming, but seriously. Don’t make them run from tuition classes to violin classes to coding classes to whatever. No. Stop. Let your child play little in the sun, get to discover what they like!

Bottom Line

We all want to raise our kids right. Even though this is the responsibility of both the parents, we as women, tend to take on most of the responsibility when it comes to children. When that happens, it is important to make sure that what we teach them is what we want them to learn. But as we do so, it is also important to not take away the fun of their childhood.

Investing doesn’t always just mean money, it can be investing in experiences, spending time with the people we love and cherishing each other as a family!