Teaching our children how to manage money well has a lifelong effect

Whether it's new trainers, a smartphone or a packet of sweets - children come into contact with money at an early age and find that they don't get everything they want. This can be frustrating. We all face the challenge of resisting the offers of our consumer society.

Parents have the challenging job of handling their own finances well and teaching their children how to do so. It helps to talk to your children about money from an early age, to be aware of your own role model and to give them an opportunity to practise in everyday life.

A look at the most important aspects of the topic shows how and where we can provide meaningful support:

Education

Parents and schools should promote financial education to teach children the basics of saving, budgeting and investing.

Practical experience

We should give children the opportunity to manage pocket money at an early age so that they learn how to handle money in a safe environment.

Communication

Open discussions about money in the family can help children to develop a healthy relationship with finances.

Savings behaviour

Children should understand the importance of saving money for future needs and emergencies.

Budgeting

Children should gradually learn to draw up a budget and keep their spending under control.

Consumer behaviour

Understanding the difference between needs and wants can help to avoid impulsive spending.

Other possible areas that we can model and teach our children are debt avoidance, investing and financial goals. It is more promising if we combine these topics with fun and games and also live a healthy culture of making mistakes.

Recommendable

In the PostFinance Podcast, PostFinance employee Dörte Horn and Patrizia Laeri, CEO of ellexx, explain that our first habits in dealing with money are formed at the age of five. Over time, two images have emerged: Girls are told to save, while boys are encouraged to invest and spend their money.

MoneyFit

For more than 20 years, PostFinance has been supporting schools in the financial education of children and young people with its free «MoneyFit» programme.

Money blog from PostFinance

How much money should I give my child? | PostFinance
Youth wage instead of pocket money: Calculation | PostFinance