12 June 2020
Making the most of My Money Week at home
My Money Week is a UK-wide initiative aimed at school age children to help them understand the importance of money. While schools may not be open for all children right now, you can still teach your children key life lessons and help them engage with money – while having fun. Foresters Friendly Society has shared four tips to help you to get the conversation around money started in your household.
1. Make a game of it
Coming up with fun games to demonstrate how money is used, and its value is a good starting point for children of all ages. Getting children to set up their own shop or café can help them to learn a range of lessons around spending, savings and even taxes in familiar settings. Board games such as Monopoly, role play and home-made games are also simple ways to inspire some creative thinking and greater understanding of when to spend and when to save.
2. Practice makes perfect
Pocket money or an allowance is another good way for your kids to understand how to budget and teaches them about setting spending limits. Research by Drewberry recently found that almost a quarter of children think a loaf of bread costs more than £5 while one in 10 think the average home costs £1,000![1] While it can be hard for children to grasp true values, simple steps like paying them to do chores round the house will help them understand better.
3. Keep track
A big step forward for your child’s money management skills is knowing where their money is going. Instilling the importance of checking receipts and statements is one example of demonstrating the importance of keeping track of your outgoings. Simply by using an app, or notebook to record their outgoings and money coming in will encourage a more controlled approach to spending for the future.
4. Think long-term
Opening a Junior ISA is a great start to engage your children in what money is, and the benefits of saving. Using a Junior ISA and having open conversations with them about what it means to save for the future will help their understanding. Remember, it’s all about saving little and often, encouraging them to put a bit more in their savings pot instead of spending is one way to think about the long term. The government also announced in March that £9,000[2] can now be saved tax-free into a Junior ISA in the tax year 2020/21, so what better time to start saving than now.
Rachel Webb, Chief Executive of Foresters Friendly Society comments: “As a mother of two, I know how important it is to talk to your children about money and teach them important lessons on budgeting and saving – but I also know that this is easier said than done. Between juggling work commitments and at home education, there can be few hours left in the day to tackle money lessons as well. However, we’ve found turning these lessons into a game makes for a fun experience and helps them remember what you’re teaching. Knowing children form their money habits from seven years old[3], it’s key their money lessons are instilled early on to put them in good stead for later life.
“At Foresters Friendly Society, financial education is something we’re
really passionate about. While we’re staying at home, we’ve been running
our Small Savers campaign to encourage families to teach their children about
money – with amazing results! Keep up-to-date on what parents are getting up to
across the country by using #smallsavers on Instagram and check out our website
to find out how you can start your own child’s savings journey this summer.”
[1] https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11678833/children-think-a-home-costs-1000/
[2] https://www.gov.uk/junior-individual-savings-accounts
[3] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10075722/Money-habits-are-formed-by-age-seven.html