At the grocery store, Jamie Corum sets a two-minute timer for her 10-year-old daughter to browse the aisles. Then she resets the clock to 10 minutes, giving her daughter the chance to pick one item — factoring in her budget and the tax she’ll need to pay.
Corum and her wife have made financial education a cornerstone of raising their three children, using hands-on activities to spark interest in topics like saving and budgeting.
“My goal is for them to have a healthy relationship with money and not have insecurities,” said Corum, a cybersecurity professional based in Austin, Texas.
Not every parent feels that confident tackling the subject. Money can be a tough topic — especially for adults who aren’t fully comfortable with it themselves. But Jennifer Seitz, director of education at Greenlight, a family personal finance app, says attitudes are shifting.
“This generation is really committed to doing better for their kids even though a majority of parents don’t feel equipped,” Seitz said.
A growing number of banking tools are now available to help families plan for their children’s financial futures, including kid-friendly debit cards with parental controls and apps that turn money management into a game.
Some parents are learning right alongside their children. Naseema McElroy, a nurse who became a money content creator, was inspired to tackle personal finance when her oldest daughter was just a year old. Her goal at the time was to pay off debt. As she gained knowledge, she began sharing it — first with friends, then with a much larger online audience.
“I started just from wanting to share the lessons that I was learning about money with my friends because I felt like we learn so late in life and then we all had daughters,” McElroy said.
Many parents are motivated to have these conversations precisely because they never received financial education growing up, Seitz added.
Here’s what experts recommend if you’re ready to start talking about money with your children:
Make money a normal topic at home. Financial conversations can feel awkward, particularly if they were off-limits in your own household growing up. But Carrie Joy Grimes, a personal finance expert and founder of WorkMoney, a personal finance nonprofit, says openness is essential.
“Have conversations about money in front of your kid to normalize it,” Grimes said.
In Corum’s household, money is woven into everyday life. “We talk about how we have a budget for the house, that everything that their mom and I bring into the house has an assignment, a job,” she said.
Use everyday moments as teaching opportunities. Courtney Pettway, CEO and founder of KidVestors, a financial literacy platform for children, recommends starting by discussing the cost of things. Ask questions like: What does this item cost? Why do you want it? Is it a need or a want? And if your child gets an allowance: How long would it take to save up for this?
Dinner conversations, trips to the store, travel, and clothes shopping can all become informal money lessons.
Let kids make their own spending choices. One of the most valuable personal finance skills is knowing how to make decisions with money. Grimes suggests giving children small amounts and letting them decide how to use it.
“I gave (my daughter) enough money that she could make choices with it. So she learned early on that she had enough she could save up for something, so she could say no to things and say yes to other things,” Grimes said. “Learning to say no, learning to hold money to yourself for long enough to get the thing you want, it’s a really hard skill.”
Bobbi Rebell, a consumer finance expert at BadCredit.org, a personal finance website, cautions parents not to pass judgment on how their children spend. Framing decisions as personal preferences rather than right or wrong will help build their confidence, she said.
Parents can also find free financial literacy worksheets for children through Hands on Banking, a free educational service provided by Wells Fargo.
Set savings goals and celebrate progress. For many kids, an allowance is their first real experience with money. Helping them set a savings goal — whether it’s a video game or a new bike — teaches the value of patience and planning.
“Recognizing the progress, seeing how close they’re getting to the goal, visualizing the end goal, and then really celebrating when they achieve that goal can help them learn that when they can make small financial goals a reality,” Seitz said.
Pettway suggests using tip jars as a simple, hands-on way to track savings. Encourage kids to divide any money they receive into three jars: one for saving, one for investing, and one for giving. Watching the jars fill up can motivate them to keep going.
Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a financial therapist and founder of Mind Money Balance, a financial wellness service, also recommends involving children in bigger financial goals. If a child wants to attend an expensive summer sports camp, for example, encourage them to contribute a portion of the cost from their allowance or a summer job.
Treat mistakes as learning moments. Kids will inevitably make financial missteps — and that’s okay. Rebell says these moments are valuable teaching opportunities, but only if parents resist the urge to step in and fix everything.
“If you constantly bail them out, they’re not gonna learn to manage it,” Rebell said.
Bryan-Podvin adds that reacting with anger or frustration can damage trust and make children reluctant to come to their parents when things go wrong. Instead, she recommends a calmer approach: “Help them learn how to manage their emotions, help them think about how they might do things differently.”
Keep it fun and engaging. Money doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Corum, for instance, lets her daughter decide which school supplies to buy within a set budget, and gives her a portion of her allowance to spend on toys or non-essential items.
Corum also gave her children debit cards connected to a family personal finance app, which she uses to distribute allowances and keep tabs on spending. The kids have their own app portal where they can track purchases, save, invest, and explore personal finance topics at their own pace.
Among the most popular family finance apps currently available are Acorns Early, Greenlight, and BusyKid.
