KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Financial Literacy for Kids

With inflation and the current recession, more and more families are cutting back.  Experts say parents should use this time as a teaching moment for their kids.  Most teenagers and kids know how to spend money, but experts say they don't know how to save money.  April is National Financial Literacy month and seven out of ten kids say they learn the most about managing money from their parents.  They say their parents teach them how to earn money, save money, live on a budget and stay out of debt.  One of the first lessons parents need to teach their kids is how to learn the difference between a need and a want.  They also need to show their kids how much money it takes to run a household.  Those lessons come from modeling good financial behavior and talking with kids at a very young age.  Experts say even young children can benefit from seeing something as small as one bill.  When asked, kids say they value spending their own money more than they value spending their parent's money.  Once kids start working and managing their own money, they start to see first hand how to prioritize their spending.  Financial experts agree that before a child leaves home after high school, parents need to sit down with them and teach them how to manage a checkbook, pay bills and most importantly save.