The post Tips to Teach Kids About Family Finances appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

There are so many life lessons we want to teach our children when they are young, unfortunately, money savviness does not always make the list.  But keep in mind, teaching your kids about money from an early age will set them up to be better money managers when they are adults—better at saving, less inclined to use credit cards, and knowledgeable about smart spending. Here are a few tips to start the conversation and educate your kids:

1. Give an Allowance. It is wise to give your children an allowance and teach them how to save as soon as they are able to conceptualize the value of money and how much dollars and monetary coins are worth. This will give them an early start in learning about spending wisely, and budgeting.

2. Consider a Savings Account. Setting up a savings account and a joint checking account can provide teachable moments about balancing accounts and the act of physically going to the bank to make a deposit into a savings account. This will help instill the long-term permanence of that habit.

3. Set a kid-friendly 401K plan. Set up a 401k plan where you match a percentage of however much your kids save at the end of each month. This will definitely encourage the kiddos to keep an eye on their spending!

4. Model Smart Money Practices. Your own choices with money can make a great impression on your kids. Clear your credit card debit and let your kids know how important this is.  Look for deals whether it comes to back-to-school clothes or furniture.  Have your children watch you price check to learn how it’s done.  Practice menu planning for your family and let your kids know why you do it and how you save hundreds of dollars a year at the grocery store.

5. Use the Cash System.  Many young people are sent credit cards the minute they leave the nest and head to college.  It’s very tempting to get these cards and use them for things that don’t involve their education.  It’s looked upon as “free money” unless they are taught differently.  Make a point of using cash yourself and teaching them that it’s not wise to spend money you don’t have.  If you can’t pay for it in cash, you probably shouldn’t be making the purchase.

6. Teach Them to Give Back at a Young Age.  Start talking to your kids while they are young about the importance of giving back, both monetary donations and volunteering.  Ask that they give up a small portion of their savings to give to their favorite charity.  Make giving fun by setting up a lemonade stand with all proceeds going to help give to the needy. Volunteer together at the local soup kitchen or participate in a fundraiser at the neighborhood park.

7. Invest in a Modern Style Piggy Bank.  Old piggy banks with one slit do not teach money management.  Check out the Money Savvy Pig Bank which is clear and has slits for save, spend, donate, and invest. With the Money Savvy Pig, kids learn that money isn’t just for buying things.

8.  Get Help From Technology.  The Internet is full of age-appropriate money games for kids. For example, PNC Bank and Sesame Street teamed up to create fun videos and games that teach kids about money. This will teach kids about money in a fun way.

Good luck!

Daddy Nickell

Parenting Expert and father of 7, Robert Nickell (aka Daddy Nickell) offers his “5 cents” worth of advice to expectant and new parents.  Daddy Nickell is the founder of Daddy & Co., delivery room duds and daddy gifts and apparel for every stage of fatherhood, and the Daily Daddy Blog.  He is also the creator and producer of “My Life as a Dad,” the groundbreaking new web series that showcases celebrity fathers offering their personal experiences and parenting tips.

The post Teaching Your Kids Money Savviness appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

New York, NY [September 5, 2012] – There’s no arguing that having a good grasp of how to handle money is one of the most important life skills a parent can help foster in their child. According to the National Financial Educators Council, over 92 percent of parents agree that developing good habits around money is an important element to having a successful life.[i]

However, parents struggle with imparting strong financial know-how to their kids. In a recent survey conducted by T. Rowe Price, 39 percent of adults disagreed when asked if their parents did a good job educating them about money and 59 percent felt their own kids were not equipped to manage their own money. [ii] How can parents give kids a head start in developing the right childhood money habits so they become successful adults?

Here are some tips from personal finance expert, dad, blogger, philanthropist and successful entrepreneur Doug Lebda to help support adults and kids of all ages in the mission to build a money smart world: 

1.       Change “I want!” to “How do I earn?”: Parenting is tough but it gets way tougher when kids don’t get what they want. Instead of saying no or yes during the next demand-driven fit, try diverting your child to think about what they can do to earn the things they want so they start developing a strong work ethic.

2.       See like a bird but save like a squirrel: Encourage kids to take a bird’s eye view of the money they have coming in like allowance, reward for tasks accomplished or birthday gifts. Then discuss the portions of any income they will put towards saving, giving and spending. This helps your kids develop healthy patterns and plans around money that they can carry with them as they get older.

3.       Be consistent about expectations and rewards: Make sure your kids know what they’re expected to do before they get their allowance. Be consistent in rewarding a job well done as well as withholding rewards if they don’t fulfill their responsibilities. 

4.       It takes a village, so get it involved: Inform extended family and friends about your mission and get them involved! Work together to teach and encourage your kids to save and get rewarded for achieving milestones. Consider having family matching their savings for birthdays or treat kids to non-cash rewards like a special family outing for good financial planning.

5.       Make learning fun: Make it a fun family project to teach your kids how to make money by starting a lemonade stand. Turn saving money into a game by celebrating and rewarding kids for meeting savings goals. Lastly, don’t forget the Internet! 85 percent of kids say that an online game would be helpful for them to learn more about the basics of money. [iii] With today’s digitally savvy kids, it’s important to meet kids where they are already. Apps like Tykoon.com help parents use the powers of virtual gaming for good and streamline the workflow of instilling healthy financial habits early.

Doug Lebda is the cofounder of Tykoon.com and founder and chairman of Lending Tree and the LendingTree Foundation, which empowers individuals in their personal financial lives through education, action and support by matching clients with personal financial coaches. He’s the Chairman of the Board of Recyclebank (recently named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world) and is an active mentor, angel investor and personal finance blogger for The Huffington Post. In his free time, he enjoys time with his three daughters, is an avid runner and enjoys an occasional round of golf.

Tykoon (www.tykoon.com) is an online rewardbank for kids and parenting tool (Web & iOS) that makes it easy to apply all the tips above. It turns chores and parent-assigned tasks into an engaging virtual experience that helps kids learn about money by playing. Kids play by completing tasks to earn both virtual and real-life rewards.

About Tykoon

Based in New York City and founded in 2011, Tykoon is a fun online kid rewardbank and parenting tool (Web & iOS). It turns chores and tasks into an engaging virtual experience that helps kids learn about money through real life experiences.  Kids engage by completing tasks to earn both virtual and real-life rewards, developing strong financial values and practices. Built for parents and kids by parents and kids, the platform introduces the core concepts of earning, saving, giving and spending so families can build a money smart world, one kid at a time. For more information, please visit www.tykoon.com.

The post TIPS FOR PARENTS ON HOW TO FOSTER GOOD MONEY HABITS IN KIDS appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

As a parent, we’ve all been there.  You’re walking down the aisle when your child spots a $200 toy they can’t live without.  When you say “No” they crumble into tears screaming to the heavens in anguish and suddenly all eyes are on you as the worst parent in the world.  It’s that awful moment that you ask yourself:  “Why me?” It’s an inevitable situation for just about every single parent.

What if you could avoid this embarrassing situation and make that trip down the store aisle truly enjoyable. Sound too good to be true? Not necessarily. With patience, discipline and the use of innovative new online educational tools available to your kids it’s not impossible to transform your kids into ambitious money savers who work hard to earn the things they want.  Help might just be on the way.

For starters, according to the National Financial Educators Council, over 92 percent of parents agree that developing good habits around money is an important element to having a successful life.[i]  However, many parents struggle with imparting strong financial know-how to their kids.  A recent T. Rowe Price survey notes that 59 percent of respondents said they felt their kids were not equipped to manage their money. [ii]  Is there any reason then to doubt that the stomping of a kids feet in a store aisle isn’t inevitable, particularly if parents are not proactive in addressing these issues early on.

Many parents say making their kids ‘money-smart’ has no price tag and that they dream of days when their kids skip the temper tantrum and strategize about how to reach their goals.  Luckily, personal finance expert, dad, blogger, philanthropist and successful entrepreneur Doug Lebda recently launched Tykoon.com, a free parenting tool and rewardbank that rewards kids for good work, helping to  streamline family workflow and making it fun for parents and kids to work together to become smarter about managing their finances.

Here are some quick tips from Doug on how to best use Tykoon to get started teaching your kids about money while making it fun and engaging:

1. Change “I want!” to “How do I earn?”:  Parenting is tough, and it gets much tougher when kids don’t get what they want.  Instead of saying ‘no’ or ‘yes’ during the next demand-driven fit, try diverting your child to think about what they can do to earn the things they want so they start developing a strong work ethic.  To help jump-start the process, Tykoon enables parents and their children to set and track toward achieving their goals.  Families can set-up allowances and pay for specific tasks or accomplishments.  Tykoon then helps complete the money conversation by showing kids how their earnings can be used to get what they want.

   
   

2. See like a bird but save like a squirrel: Encourage kids to take a bird’s eye view of the money they have coming in like allowance, rewards for tasks accomplished or birthday gifts. With Tykoon’s help, parents and kids can easily organize the portions of income they will put towards saving, giving and spending. This helps your kids develop healthy patterns and plans around money that they can carry with them as they get older.
   

   
   

3. Be consistent about expectations and rewards: Make sure your kids know what they’re expected to do before they get their allowance. Be consistent in rewarding a job well done as well as withholding rewards if they don’t fulfill their responsibilities.  Using Tykoon encourages parents to sit down with their kids and outline exact responsibilities around the house.  The system is designed to let kids easily track chores they have been digitally assigned by mom or dad and identify the compensation associated with each accomplishment.  As kids adapt to the program they themselves can even suggest ideas on how to pitch in around the house.  The easy-to-use platform supports the development of a strong work ethic by more concretely structuring household rewards. 
   

   
   

4. It takes a village, so get it involved: Inform extended family and friends about your mission and get them involved! Work together to teach and encourage your kids to save and get rewarded for achieving milestones. Consider having family match their savings for birthdays or treat kids to non-cash rewards like a special family outing for good financial planning.  Luckily, the extended family feature on the Tykoon platform makes understanding and discussing money management easy for the whole family.
   

   
   

5. Make learning fun: Make it a fun family project to teach your kids how to make money by starting a lemonade stand. Turn saving money into a game by celebrating and rewarding kids for meeting savings goals. Lastly, don’t forget the Internet! 85 percent of kids say that an online game would be helpful for them to learn more about the basics of money. [iii] With today’s digitally savvy kids, it’s important to meet kids where they are already. Apps like Tykoon.com help parents use the powers of virtual gaming for good and streamline the workflow of instilling healthy financial habits early.

Tykoon (www.tykoon.com) is an online rewardbank for kids and parenting tool (Web & iOS) that makes it easy to apply all the tips above. It turns chores and parent-assigned tasks into an engaging virtual experience that helps kids easily learn about money.

The post Every parent’s dream come true: Turning “I Want!” into “How do I Earn?” appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Should you reward your child for keeping a clean room or getting good grades at school?
By Scott Reeves, Minyanville

Rewards are intended to encourage good behavior, but require a little thought to get right. First, be careful what you wish for. “If you reward certain types of behavior, you might end up getting that behavior all the time – and it might be something that you only wanted once in a while,” says Linda Leitz, founder of Pinnacle Financial Concepts in Colorado Springs, Colo. and author of The Ultimate Parenting Map to Money Smart Kids.

If you reward your child for extra help on an unusual or one-time task, make it clear that it’s a singular opportunity and won’t be repeated for a long time, if ever. Underscore that rewards aren’t a routine event and aren’t something that can be counted on each week. If you don’t, your child will seek to build on the one-time event and, when there is no reward, may wrongly conclude that receiving money depends on the whim of others. This undercuts your efforts to link hard
work with money and the wise use of money with personal responsibility.

Don’t reward your child for things that you’d require or praise as a matter of course. It’s a mistake to reward your child for keeping his room clean or for getting good grades at school. Make it clear  that good behavior is expected, including study habits that produce good grades and picking the comings-and-goings of growing off the bedroom fl oor. Leitz offers a deft suggestion on eating out that will save you money now and may save your child money as an adult. It can be easily adapted to other family activities.

If your family eats out too often and runs up a huge bill, have your child assist in the planning and preparation of meals at home. Make it the kid’s responsibility to start the meals at a set time and help with the cleanup. Next, compare the cost of meals prepared at home with restaurants, even fast food. Calculate the difference to be sure your child understands the cost of eating out. Then pay your child 10% of the weekly savings. That rewards frugal behavior and hard work. It also teaches your kid a valuable lesson – and saves you money.

This makes no sense if you regularly eat meals at home and your kids routinely help in the preparation and cleanup. In that case, make the reward more oblique. Out of the blue, ask your children if they’d like to go out for breakfast on Saturday morning. The answer is almost certain to be a resounding “Yes!” especially if you make the offer just once in a while. The meal will provide a great time to talk – and (eventually) will teach your little one that standing on a chair and reaching across the table to grab a handful of your omelette isn’t a good idea. Talk about life’s rewards, eh? VISIT MINYANVILLE.COM for more on business, finance and markets.

The post Teaching Kids About Money appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.