"I was raised by a single mom who was a teacher. We didn't have a ton of money, but we always got by. As a kid, I noticed that my grandparents' house was bigger than many others, and that they'd give me Christmas presents I'd be longing for. There was never a conversation, but over time, I realized that my grandparents were our financial safety net."
"I learned by watching that "it will always work out somehow." Yet, I didn't have the knowledge to understand how - especially for people who didn't have family backup, like we did. As an adult, this led me to some financial mistakes, including taking on credit card debt. When I became a mom eight years ago, I knew I wanted to take a more proactive approach to teaching my son about money."
"We decided to give our son an allowance - $1 a week for each year of his age - that was not tied to chores. For starters, we wanted to establish that as a member of the household, he was expected to contribute, without pay. In addition, if we tied allowance to chores, I'd be constantly tracking what he did and didn't earn. I wanted allowance to be a tool to teach him about financial management."
Meg Wheeler is a certified public accountant, financial educator and founder of The Equitable Money Project. She grew up with a single mother and grandparents who provided a financial safety net, and lacked explicit financial instruction. Early adult credit-card debt motivated a proactive approach to teaching her son about money. She and her husband give their eight-year-old an allowance of $1 per week per year of age that is not tied to chores. They expect household contribution without pay, and they avoid tying allowance to chores so the allowance can function as a clear tool for teaching budgeting and financial management without tracking earnings.
Read at Business Insider
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