Goals for Kids – 11 to 13 years

As your child gets older (essentially Junior Secondary age), his responsibilities when it comes to money should increase. Your expectations of his money skills should also increase at this point.

Here are some things you should expect of your child at this age:

• Setting up a savings program – As your child grows older, he or she is able to set goals that are more long term in view. For example, save for a long awaited summer experience or holiday. Encourage your child at this point to have goals that he or she can aspire towards. No matter what the goal is, the lessons learnt are what is really important. Better he or she learns now than later.

• Setting up a savings account – The old piggy bank may have been okay in primary school; it is now time to open a savings account in a bank or any other commercial institution. It will help to keep the money away from your child and yourself so that the money can grow. Also a worthy lesson to be learnt now. Let your child learn now that his savings should be safe from him.

• Giving to charity – If the child is yet to learn to give, it’s about time to learn about giving to worthy causes, even if it’s only a little money. Help them to identify such causes and begin to train them to give to them voluntarily.

• Shopping wisely – Children at this age may spend time at the mall or store on their own so ensure they know about shopping for value. Help them also understand the difference between needs and wants.

Goals for Youths – 14 to 18 years

By this age, your child is in the higher secondary school or in the University and he or she already has one foot out of the door. I am sure, by now, you want him or her to have a steady hold of certain money essentials because it will be only a matter of a few years – or even months – before he or she is away from your watchful eye.

Here are some money skills that should have been perfected for a child in this age group:

• Saving for University education – This is an investment worth making as going to the higher institution is just around the corner for your child. Even though you can afford it it still makes sense to share this responsibility with your child.

• Getting a job – Nothing teaches about the value of a Naira as fast as working for it. Let your child experience what it is to work and get paid. It’s worth it even if you can provide for your child’s needs. Research shows that success is higher in adults who worked as children.

• Learning about investments – Your child may not yet have the money to buy Treasury bills or 10,000 shares of any company, but it’s important that he or she understands at this age how these investments differ and what investing in general can do for her. One of the ways to help teach this is to let them play games such as monopoly, cashflow for kids, etc to simulate investment.

• Understanding what a budget is all about – Money isn’t infinite except you’ve been supplying it without restriction. Let your child know how to make a budget and allocate the money she has to spend among the things she needs.

• Learning about credit cards and other debt. Whether your child is ready for her own credit card is not the criterion for teaching about debt and how to handle it. It’s never too early to learn the perils of having too much debt and how that can happen. Use teachable moments and other people’s experiences to drive home these points.

• Understanding about the different kinds of taxes. If your child already had a job, she knows that personal income taxes are withheld from her paycheck. When shopping in most states, she has paid sales taxes on things she has bought. And if she earns enough or has investments, she’ll pay income taxes as well.

– Gbonjubola Sanni