Second generation FI

Here is a fabulous booklist compiled by librarians that breaks out finance-oriented books by age group:

It's part of the American Library Association's "Thinking Money" partnership with FINRA, which also offers their "Thinking Money for Kids" program kits to libraries across the country to teach financial basics to kiddos.

Thinking Money for Kids

Before our oldest turned 5 last year, he started showing an interest in money and how it works. We decided to start paying him every two weeks just like we get paid. He decorated three containers with stickers and paint and labeled them "Spend", "Save", and "Give". We talked to him about the importance of generosity and giving to those in need, the need to save for unexpected things, and the joy of spending on things that you value. Since then, we have been paying him $5 every two weeks. 10% goes to the give container, 30% to save, and he gets to spend the remaining 60%. I keep track of the totals on my phone in case we don't bring the containers with us. There have been instances where we bring the containers because we know he will want to buy something, say at Legoland, and then he gets to make the transaction himself. We want him to get the feel for allocating money to those three categories and then seeing the money leave the container when he chooses to make a purchase. We plan to pay him his age every two weeks and introduce him to other habits like investing and avoiding debt sometime in the future. We got this approach from the book titled "The Opposite of Spoiled" by Ron Lieber. Definitely recommend!

Saw something neat recently that I might implement when my little one is older. When a vacation is coming up, to help the kiddo pay for trinkets and souvenirs they start moving chore money to a 'fund' where they match the funds. Then similar to most normal ideas, they let the kids choose what they want, explaining gently along the way how much is left after each 'would be' purchase.

We started a dry erase chore chart that hangs on the fridge when my kids were 5 and 3. They earn $2/week. When they want to buy something at a store I'll just ask them "do you have enough saved?" They mostly buy stuffies but my son is currently saving for a toy he saw at Walmart.

Occasional I'll take them to Goodwill, after we look up how much they saved if they had bought it new.

I'm still waiting for them to have buyers remorse but it hasn't happened yet. Trying to make them learn these lessons when the stakes are small.

In the same boat with early on in the process with a 4 year old, but similar plans here. We also try to communicate when we buy things it's because of something specific that we value, to start to show that there is a rhyme and reason to what we do and don't spend money on in our family. Hard to say how much sinks in at this point, but with everything else at this age, repetition is the most important. Curious what ideas others have as well!