As parents, we strive to teach our children life skills and help them be ready for the real world. A vital component of that is financial literacy. From budgeting to personal financial management, financial literacy is understanding and applying various financial skills.
Experts now agree: It’s never too early (or too late) to teach kids about money. Money is an excellent teaching tool. Kids will learn about money whether you take an active role in that education, or not.
The great news is that the daily routine of managing budgets, paying bills, and finding that balance between working hard and spending time with family, can all become great teaching opportunities. Each task and each decision can be used to help teach your children about the value of money, the need to understand spending and saving, and the importance of giving.
Here are some considerations when teaching your child about money:
- Partners in finance: While parents don’t always see eye to eye, money is a conversation that requires clear communication and compatibility before you talk to your child.
- ABC’s and 123’s: Start the conversation with your kids early. It’s never too soon to show them the value of dollars.
- Make it relatable: Use real-life ‘teachable’ moments to kickstart lessons in financial education. With assistance, let your child buy their own candy at the grocery store to help them gain confidence with their transactions.
- Pennies to profit: Teach your kids the long game. By providing small allowances and exploring spending goals, your kids will learn the importance of budgeting at an early age.
- Continue the conversation: Financial lessons won’t be digested in a one-time talk. Keep checking in with your kids and encourage them to learn.
If you’re looking for a helpful app to get started check out Mydoh, powered by RBC. It is a helpful tool to educate and show your children the comings and goings of their money while learning how to make smart money choices. It’s a money management app and Smart Cash Card (which includes a digital and physical Visa Prepaid Card ) that helps kids make their own earning and spending decisions — instilling values that help build a strong foundation for the future. Kids can learn responsibility, earn money through tasks and allowances, and spend responsibly using the Smart Cash Card.
How does Mydoh work?
The Mydoh app and Smart Cash Card make it easy for kids to gain real money skills. Your kids learn money basics through Play, earn their own money through Tasks, and spend it wisely using their Smart Cash Card. And, it all starts from your Parent Account and using the tools provided.
Tools to help you manage everything
Tasks and Allowance
- Allows parents to easily set up tasks and get their kids involved
- A way for kids to learn the value of earning their own money
- Parents can track whether tasks are complete or overdue. Once they are marked as complete, kids get paid on Pay Day (every Saturday)
Smart Cash Card:
- The Mydoh reloadable Smart Cash Card helps kids gain a better understanding of the true value of money as they learn to take responsibility for their own
- Comes with a money management app designed for kids and parents
- Kids can make purchases – online and store – up to allowable limits, anywhere that Visa is accepted
- Parents have a clear view of all activities – it allows them to give guidance and encouragement to kids
- Kids learn the value of money through hands-on, real-world experience
Play:
- Makes learning about money easy – kids get some money basics and start building financial literacy through trivia
- The content is designed for kids and easy to understand. Starting financial literacy early can help set the foundation for your kids’ financial future.
- Parents learn fun facts about money every week and it can also help parents introduce the topic of money in conversations as a family
Accounts
Once you install the Mydoh app both parent and child become account holders and they can get their preferences set up. You can also add a second parent to your Mydoh account at no extra cost, with just a few clicks within the app. Adding a second parent means you can share the responsibilities and tools to raise money-smart kids. Each of you can set tasks for kids, pay them when they’ve completed the tasks, set a weekly allowance, and add funds to your kids’ accounts. You can also track goals and spending together – getting the whole family involved!
Parent’s Accounts can view and manage all activities, including:
▪ Setting up tasks and allowance
▪ Sending your kids money instantly
▪ Tracking earning and spending
▪ Reacting to transactions with emojis
▪ Locking and unlocking kids’ cards
Kid’s Account where kids will do all of their learning, earning, and spending. They can:
▪ Manage their tasks
▪ Mark tasks as complete
▪ Spend with their Smart Cash Card up to the allowable limit
▪ Track earnings and spending, and see the balance
▪ Learn money basics through play
Mydoh believes in giving children the ability to learn healthy and sustainable earning, saving, and spending habits helping them develop important financial values while instilling confidence in their ability to manage their own money for life. While backed by the security and trust of RBC, Mydoh is also available to customers of other Canadian banks. To help get your child managing their finances download the Mydoh app at www.mydoh.ca
This article was sponsored by Mydoh
