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Money is essential. We need it for necessities, luxuries, and it’s power can’t be denied.  This week we’re talking about how to teach your kids the value of money, earned money, and what to do with that money once they have it. It’s probably one of the most important life lessons they will learn.

 

My guest this week is Gregg Murset the CEO of BusyKid, a website designed to help parents teach kids the value of work ethic through chores and allowance.  April is Financial Literacy Month and Gregg is giving me some ideas about a topic that’s dear to my heart.

I grew up with two very different views on finance. My mom was a “you can’t take it with you” spender and my sweet great-grandmother was more of a “hide your money in the mattress” saver. And now I find myself somewhere in the middle. I want to save, but if I have any savings I’m likely to blow it all on a trip or new dress. That being said my mom made me get a job the minute I turned 16 so I could have some spending money. She also made me work through college to pay my bills. But my outlook might have been a little different had she started teaching me about money a little earlier.

Gregg tells me that by the time kids are in their teens, their financial habits are already set in place. He recommends teaching kids as young as 4 or 5 the value of earned money. His website allows parents to set up a chore schedule and assign an allowance value to each completed task. We’re not talking about hard labor for little kids, but there are things you can do to get them learning early earning concepts at an early age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While some parents still debate whether or not chores are good for their kids, studies show that having responsibilities around the house can teach kids a good work ethic and help them to be more successful later in life. To stay organized, many parents have turned to chore charts on the fridge or digital versions to track what jobs their kids are assigned and have completed as well as rewards. Some parents reward their kids with new toys while others dole out cold hard cash, and digital chore charts give kids stickers to use for in-app games and rewards. But, while the work might be teaching kids a lesson, most parents don’t think about what their kids could be learning from their chore rewards as well.

Gregg says BusyKid fills in this gap by offering parents a digital chore tracker that teaches kids about pay day, the value of a dollar and even gets their feet wet in investing by allowing them to purchase stocks from favorite well-known companies for just a few dollars instead of thousands.

To learn more about how BusyKid works you can visit their website, BusyKid.com