“It’s not how much money you make that’s important. It’s how much you keep.”

It is your decision whether to give your children an allowance or not. Assignments can be a good thing or a bad thing. It all depends on how you use it…and what experiences your child has.

Let me ask you this question…

What do our children learn if we just give them an allowance and don’t associate it with lessons like responsibility, decision-making, or self-sufficiency?

Absolutely nothing! So, let’s help our children discover and establish meaningful money habits that they will adopt as adults.

“Okay, what approach could you use, Terry?” you may be wondering

Let’s read on and look at three approaches.

1. Do chores

Let me tell you from the beginning… I don’t like this approach at all. Our children should contribute as part of a family, right?

There are certain duties and responsibilities that children must do, such as making the bed and keeping the room tidy, helping in the kitchen and garden, or feeding the family pets.

2. Rewards for good grades and good behavior.

Isn’t this teaching our children that education and behavior are only good for the material rewards they can get?

I would prefer our children to know what they are good at and develop a desire to continue learning AFTER leaving school.

What do you want your children to focus on: being rewarded or enjoying and improving their learning?
As for the practice of rewarding your children for good behavior…do this and you’re in for trouble.

3. No assignment at all

If your reason for doing this is to help them find creative ways to buy what they want, then this is fantastic. Yet some parents say, “I didn’t get an allowance when I was young. Why do my kids need it?”

That kind of thinking can reinforce the idea that in order to have money, our children must trade their time for money, right? Could our children then grow up thinking that you have to work hard to earn money?

By contributing, we all share the load and we are all valued.

Well, what can you do now?

  • Give your kids an allowance where they can practice managing their money: saving, investing, budgeting, donating, and spending wisely.
  • Encourage them to become entrepreneurs.
  • Let your children make mistakes with a small amount… this is much better than making a big mistake later in life that has serious consequences for them.
  • START NOW if you haven’t already!

When you follow the steps above, do you think your children will have a better than average chance of growing up to be more responsible with their money than children who don’t? Yes or yes?

So, let’s empower your kids with vital financial information and thus increase their financial intelligence. Give them the ‘tools’. Give them the responsibility to learn how money works. Model and encourage them to develop some simple and powerful money habits.

This makes sense?