How to teach your children to save
One of the best ways to teach your children to save from a young age is by creating a simple yet enticing system for them to follow.
The system should include incentives and goals and evolve as they get older.
As your kids learn to manage money better, you could give them more freedom by increasing their pocket money while giving them more responsibility to pay for the things they need.
Start small
Teach your kids to manage money in small steps. For example, give them two weeks’ pocket money and tell them to save half for the next week.
You can offer an incentive like eventually receiving their pocket money for the whole month and choosing how and when to spend it.
You and your child could use the FLX App to manage their savings. You could transfer your child’s pocket money from your Flexischools account to their FLX App. Your child can then set a savings goal and transfer leftover money at the end of the week to the savings goal. The savings goal would constantly remind them how much money they should save.
Reward them for saving
You could offer a reward like a small bonus if they saved part of their pocket money.
You could also offer to match the amount your child saves if they don’t spend their savings for at least two months.
Vary the lengths
Your child may lose interest if it takes too long to save for something. One way to solve that problem is to tell them that if they save the first 10%, you’ll pay the balance.
Another way is to encourage them to set several goals with different time frames. That way you keep them excited about achieving the short-term goals and keep them interested in waiting for a bigger reward down the line.
Give them choices
If your children are saving for something like a bike, show them a selection of bikes and prices.
Then help them work out how long they’ll have to save for the bike they want and let them compromise if they don’t want to save that long by choosing a cheaper model.
You could give them the freedom to change their minds because this will force them to evaluate their choices and rewards.
Make it easy
An easy way to teach your child how to budget is with the FLX App. This app lets your children manage their own finances while you oversee their spending.
The FLX App comes with a prepaid Mastercard that can be used where prepaid Mastercards are accepted. Inappropriate merchant categories are restricted, giving you peace of mind.
Your children can set savings targets and the FLX app will show them how much they’ve saved towards the target. It’s a constant reminder of why they’re saving.
Once they reach their targets, they can transfer the money out of the FLX savings account and use their prepaid Mastercard to purchase the item they saved for.
Because parents are notified when their children make a purchase, you’ll know when and where your children are spending their pocket money.
The FLX App is linked to your Flexischools account and helps your children save by letting them set and reach their own savings goals. You can set up a FLX account here.
This is general advice. Read the PDSs & TMDs at www.flexischools.com.au/legal before deciding if FLX is right for you. The FLX Services & Flexischools are provided by InLoop Pty Ltd ABN 27 114 508 771 AFSL 471558 (trading as Flexischools). The FLX Prepaid Mastercard is issued by EML Payment Solutions Limited ABN 30 131 436 532 AFSL 404131 pursuant to license by Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte. Ltd.