SPEND, SAVE, SHARE

Money Lessons: Teaching kids about money.

TEACHING KIDS ABOUT FINANCIAL LITERACY

Teaching your kids about money from an early age is a great way to set them up for success in the future. At Envision Financial, we believe in the importance of helping our children learn about financial literacy, but it’s not always easy to know when to start and how. With our Spend, Save, Share model, we can help.

HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?

Some people believe money is a “grown-up” concern and want to wait until their children can fully understand it. The reality though, is that children are learning now, whether or not we are actively teaching them about money. They observe how those around them handle money and copy behaviours. So starting young will only reinforce good attitudes and comfort towards, and with, money.

You may not always use the same language, but the concepts of spending and saving money are important too.

Quite often, children learn through visuals. Our hands-on tool will help you teach your kids how to spend, save, and share – all important aspects of financial well-being.

With the stackable coin banks, your child uses one for each of the three financial actions - spend, save and share. When they receive money for chores or gifts, they can deposit that money into their coin banks.

SPEND

Use this bank for something you want!

It enables your kids to use their money practically. Again, coming back to the visual learning, they need to have money in order to spend it, so they can watch their collection grow and experience the emotional excitement and sometimes disappointment of delayed and immediate gratification.

Basically, you can’t spend money that you don’t have!

My SPEND Bank is full!

This means it’s time for your child to take the money they've worked hard to save, and spend it on that special item!

MONEY LESSONS TIP:
The SPEND bank works well for short-term goals. Depending on the age of your child, this could be a $10 comic book or a $15 toy.

SAVE

Use this bank for something big!

Saving teaches kids the importance of goal setting.

Give them ownership over a small amount of money and encourage them to set goals and allocate dollars to different goals that are attainable with their money. It teaches kids they may have to wait and save up to buy something.

The concept of delayed gratification will reduce their dependency on credit later in life. This teaches them the value of money and helps them understand that if they do not have enough money they won’t be able to buy it.

My SAVE bank is full!

It’s now time to bring your child to the closest branch to add this hard-earned amount to their savings account. Involve them in the account opening, and regularly bring them to the branch to deposit their savings, whether it be weekly or monthly, find what works for your family.

MONEY LESSONS TIP:
The SAVE jar is a piece of the bigger savings puzzle, but seeing the coin bank fill up over and over again is a great visual representation of long-term savings!

Use this bank to give back to the community!

As a credit union, we’re big fans of this one.

We believe in the importance of giving back, building our neighbourhoods, and making a meaningful difference in our communities. The Share bank teaches your kids about the importance of giving back and supporting something that aligns with their values.

Letting your child choose where his or her donations end up will get them thinking even more about the act of giving back.

My SHARE bank is full!

It’s time to talk with your child about what’s important to them in their community. At Envision Financial, we are passionate about raising food, funds, and awareness for our local food banks through our signature cause program, The Full Cupboard.

MONEY LESSONS TIP:
Making a donation to a non-profit or community organization in person, is a great opportunity for your child to gain an understanding of the local community and the importance of giving back.

HOW MUCH MONEY GOES INTO EACH BANK?

It’s hard to know how much of the money your child receives should go into each bank. Sit down with them and talk about goals before starting. The ratio could change each year depending on their goals and the ways they earn their money.

Here are some examples to get you started.

Scenario 1:
Your child’s goal is the brand-new $80 Lego toy that everybody at school is talking about. He or she receives $20 as a birthday present, here's a sample coin bank division.

SPEND $5 | SAVE $10 | SHARE $5

Scenario 2:
Your child’s goal is to buy a $10 comic book to read for your upcoming road trip. They’ve recently completed an entire list of chores. With $10 ready to go into the bank, here’s what that could look like.

SPEND $5 | SAVE $2.50 | SHARE $2.50

Scenario 3:
Your family just adopted a puppy, and your child wants to continue to support the shelter by making a donation. They have $15 to deposit in the three banks, here’s how a split could work.

SPEND $1.50 | SAVE $1.50 | SHARE $12

MONEY LESSONS TIP:
Just remember that whatever you do, at the end of the day it’s about building healthy behaviours with money that will help kids become financially savvy when they grow up.

GET YOUR MONEY LESSONS COIN BANKS TODAY

Visit our teams at any Envision Financial branch, and when your child opens an account, they will receive a set of Money Lessons Coin Banks to kick start their understanding of financial literacy.

Some conditions apply to junior member account opening. View our accounts here, or talk to us in branch. Money Lessons Coin Banks are available at all Envision Financial branches while quantities last. Pick up yours today!