A Guide To Teaching Your Children How To Invest and Save at Any Age—Part 1

Children and teenagers often do not receive adequate financial education and guidance throughout their formative years. It’s no surprise that many young adults graduate high school or college without the financial literacy skills they need to support themselves. According to a report by Next Gen Personal Finance, around 75% of high school students in the United States do not have access to personal finance education.^[i]

As a parent or grandparent, you can help lay the foundation for good financial management habits for your children or grandchildren at a young age. A Cambridge University study found that children as young as seven years old have the ability to grasp the fundamentals of money management.^[ii]

Are you looking for ways to introduce financial concepts to the young children in your life? Below are four helpful ideas to provide you with some inspiration.

1. Normalize talking about finances.

Many people grew up in households where money discussions didn’t happen. In some families, talking about money may be considered impolite. According to a recent survey, 31% of Americans have never talked about household finances with their children.^[iii]

Yet talking to your young children about the values that have guided your own financial success matters a great deal. As you share your experiences with earning money, investing, entrepreneurship, budgeting, and saving to accomplish big financial goals, you can empower your children to do the same (and hopefully improve upon your results).

2. Take the mystery out of the stock market.

For many young people, the stock market can seem intimidating. According to Gallup, 42% of Americans reported not owning any stock in the spring of 2022.^[iv] As a parent or grandparent, you can help in this area by trying to demystify the stock market early in a child’s life.

Elementary-aged children may not be able to fully grasp most aspects of the stock market (although some children might surprise you). Nonetheless, most children can understand that owning a stock means owning a small part of a company—just like the businesses they see advertised on television and mobile devices every day.

3. Take advantage of outside resources.

There are plenty of books about finance and the stock market you can use to make financial education fun and entertaining for young children. Here are a few to consider.

• CFPB's Money as You Grow Bookshelf
• CFPB's Money Monsters Story Books
• FDIC's Money Smart for Young People
• SEC's Saving and Investing for Students
• American Library Association Book List

4. Make financial lessons fun.

Financial literacy can be serious business. Find ways to make learning about finance and the stock market fun for young kids. If you can help your children or grandchildren enjoy their financial education, the important lessons you’re working so hard to teach them might be more likely to make a long-term impression.

Search for board and card games that you can play together as a family. Many interactive tools can give young kids an entertaining introduction to concepts like entrepreneurship, budgeting, and other complex financial topics.

You can also find financial literacy games that young children can install on mobile devices for added reinforcement, such as the options below.

• MyCreditUnion.gov Activities and Apps
• U.S. Mint Coin Classroom

Next Steps

It's important to prepare the next generation for financial success. And you don’t just want to leave money behind for your children and grandchildren either. Passing on financial knowledge can be even more valuable in the long run than leaving an inheritance.

Confused about where to start when it comes to teaching your children how to invest and save? Reach out for a meeting with a Santander Investment Services Financial Advisor to help you discover how to reach your vision of prosperity for your family.