Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't give allowance, we make them work around the house.

We give an allowance that is not attached to chores. Everyone has to do chores because that is how families work. Don't want to do your chores? OK, you just lost a privilege.

They get an allowance to learn how to handle money. I once read that families that don't give allowance end up giving their kids just as much money, only it's not predictable. My kids know what's coming in: how much and when.

And they choose to donate to charity, which I am happy about. But it's their choice.

+1 If you are paying to do regular chores, then that seems to give the kid the option to say I don't want the money so I'm not doing the work.

We do pay for the occasional above-and-beyond job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't give allowance, we make them work around the house.

We give an allowance that is not attached to chores. Everyone has to do chores because that is how families work. Don't want to do your chores? OK, you just lost a privilege.

They get an allowance to learn how to handle money. I once read that families that don't give allowance end up giving their kids just as much money, only it's not predictable. My kids know what's coming in: how much and when.

And they choose to donate to charity, which I am happy about. But it's their choice.

Anonymous wrote:We don't give allowance, we make them work around the house.

Anonymous wrote:I disagree vehemently with a hands-off approach that passively says kids will learn to save on their own without explicit structures put into place by parents. This comes from me spending every paycheck to zero until I was nearly 40. Yes, some kids are just natural savers, like the one above who wants to be a millionaire. But many of us will spend whatever we have available to spend, always. I never had impulse control with money modeled to me, and while intellectually I knew I needed to save (I'm as book smart as they come), it me we translated to action. I have no habit of self-denial.

We do 2 things: we talk a lot about budget and finances. Our kids know how much things cost. They see us making financial choices in front of them.

Two, structure the behaviors with money that we hope will become habits. One is the YNAB principle of giving every dollar a job. We don't use percentages b/c that message for your allowances. So for a 7 year old, we say 2 dollars are for saving and 5 are for spending. We figure $20 spending a week is pretty high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree vehemently with a hands-off approach that passively says kids will learn to save on their own without explicit structures put into place by parents. This comes from me spending every paycheck to zero until I was nearly 40. Yes, some kids are just natural savers, like the one above who wants to be a millionaire. But many of us will spend whatever we have available to spend, always. I never had impulse control with money modeled to me, and while intellectually I knew I needed to save (I'm as book smart as they come), it me we translated to action. I have no habit of self-denial.

We do 2 things: we talk a lot about budget and finances. Our kids know how much things cost. They see us making financial choices in front of them.

Two, structure the behaviors with money that we hope will become habits. One is the YNAB principle of giving every dollar a job. We don't use percentages b/c that message for your allowances. So for a 7 year old, we say 2 dollars are for saving and 5 are for spending. We figure $20 spending a week is pretty high.

I would argue that telling your child exactly what to do encourages them to be far more passive than encouraging them to think and make decisions for themselves about their money.

My kid has had the experience of spending all his money and then having to turn down an opportunity he would have enjoyed. He's also had the experience of having saved up every penny for almost a year to buy something that turned out to be a dud, because he got sucked in by some TV advertisement. Once I let him plan a substantial amount of our budget for a family trip to Florida, and he made some really weird choices, some of which turned out to be great, and some of which he turned out to be weird. But all of these experiences are learning experiences, that wouldn't have happened if I'd taken the control out of his hand. I wasn't passive about them, there was lots of talking, and strategizing I just wasn't controlling about them.

To me the "habit" I want my kid to have is thinking carefully about money, and making deliberate rather than impulsive choices. I don't see how your kid is learning that through your method.

Anonymous wrote:I disagree vehemently with a hands-off approach that passively says kids will learn to save on their own without explicit structures put into place by parents. This comes from me spending every paycheck to zero until I was nearly 40. Yes, some kids are just natural savers, like the one above who wants to be a millionaire. But many of us will spend whatever we have available to spend, always. I never had impulse control with money modeled to me, and while intellectually I knew I needed to save (I'm as book smart as they come), it me we translated to action. I have no habit of self-denial.

We do 2 things: we talk a lot about budget and finances. Our kids know how much things cost. They see us making financial choices in front of them.

Two, structure the behaviors with money that we hope will become habits. One is the YNAB principle of giving every dollar a job. We don't use percentages b/c that message for your allowances. So for a 7 year old, we say 2 dollars are for saving and 5 are for spending. We figure $20 spending a week is pretty high.

Anonymous wrote:Why make them give to charity? I don't know if they will see it as giving freely to something they believe in if its a chore. I always resented being forced to give at church, though I also hated church. Do you have a plan for them to choose a charity or is it something at school?