{"id":409742,"date":"2026-01-15T23:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409742\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T23:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:53:13","slug":"how-to-teach-your-kids-about-budgeting-according-to-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409742\/","title":{"rendered":"How to teach your kids about budgeting, according to experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around two-thirds of Americans are tracking their income and spending, according to a 2023 research review<\/a> from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.<\/p>\n

So while making a budget doesn\u2019t appear to be a challenge for many, teaching your kids<\/a> the same skills is a different matter. More than half of parents say they have a hard time talking about money<\/a> in a way that their kids will understand, a 2025 study<\/a> from Wells Fargo found. <\/p>\n

Parents often struggle to balance controlling their kids\u2019 spending and letting them make their own money mistakes<\/a>, the study found. In the end, though, parents were decisive on the importance of monitoring their children\u2019s spending, as 87 percent believed that \u201cmonitoring my kid\u2019s spending helps me guide them toward better financial habits.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

While parents tend to agree that monitoring their kids\u2019 spending builds good financial practices<\/a>, teaching about budgeting can be intimidating. Remember, though, that your kids will learn about budgeting and financial literacy<\/a> regardless of whether you offer advice – so lead the way, said Victor Wang, CEO at family-focused investing platform Stockpile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith money, as with any tough topic, when we stay silent, kids fill the gap with advice from friends or social media,\u201d Wang told The Independent in an email. \u201cThose sources aren\u2019t necessarily bad, but they can conflict with your values or even be harmful. One way to look at it is that you, as a parent, should be your kids\u2019 first money influencer.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\u2018With<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

\u2018With money, as with any tough topic, when we stay silent, kids fill the gap with advice from friends or social media,\u2019 one expert said (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Talk at their level<\/p>\n

One of the key steps in teaching your kids about budgeting is to adapt your approach based on how old your child is – advice given to a five-year-old needs to be presented in a vastly different way to a 15-year-old. <\/p>\n

Visual aids for little kids<\/p>\n

For kids five and under, keep the advice concrete and tactile, Wang said. Start by letting your kids hand cash to the cashier while you\u2019re shopping. A savings jar is another important technique, as it gives your little one a visual way to understand saving. <\/p>\n

Yet savings is just part of budgeting; spending also plays a role. Wang says parents need to remind small children what they\u2019re saving for. <\/p>\n

\u201cUse simple language like, \u2018We\u2019re saving these coins for ice cream later,\u2019 to show what money is and what it can do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

A weekly allowance for elementary-age kids<\/p>\n

If your children are in elementary school, consider a $10 weekly allowance to show your kids how taxes and expenses work, said Larissa Adamiec, a financial economist and clinical associate professor at Purdue University. <\/p>\n

However instead of giving your child the entire $10, take $1 or $2 out for taxes, $2 for long-term savings of at least 10 weeks, and $4 for short-term savings of at least four weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest of the money [would have] no restrictions,\u201d Adamiec said in an email to The Independent. \u201cThis technique then demonstrates how to view saving for an item and the appreciation of that purchase.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Keeping<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Keeping things simple is an important step in teaching young children about budgeting (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Challenge your older kids and give them freedom<\/p>\n

As your children grow older, you can introduce more advanced financial and budgeting concepts. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they probably already know the basics of what money is and how it works, you can start with topics like paying bills, investing for future goals, what taxes are and how they work, or the difference between debit cards and credit cards,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Additionally, it\u2019s important to give your tween or teenager the space to make mistakes with their money, Wang said. Yet, 65 percent of parents admitted it\u2019s hard for them to take a step back and allow their kids to make money mistakes, Wells Fargo found. <\/p>\n

Frame budgeting as a positive<\/p>\n

For cash-strapped families living paycheck to paycheck, a budget can feel like another stressor amid an already stressful situation. For those who enjoy a significant gap between how much they earn and spend, budgeting can feel unnecessary. <\/p>\n

But when you teach your kids to budget, emphasize that budgets are a way to achieve your goals, not limit them. In doing so, kids learn how to be conscientious about their money management. <\/p>\n

\"Elementary-age<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Elementary-age children are old enough to understand concepts such as a paycheck being divided up into taxes paid, savings, and discretionary spending (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen teaching kids budgeting, frame it as something that helps people create a plan for their money, so they can reach their goals, instead of something restrictive,\u201d Wang said. \u201cThat way, kids learn it isn\u2019t about keeping yourself from spending at all costs, but prioritizing your money for different purposes and spending responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get them involved in the day-to-day<\/p>\n

There are plenty of ways that parents can get their kids involved in day-to-day money decisions that impact the whole family. For example, schedule monthly family budgeting meetings where you can review the past month\u2019s spending and make adjustments to your budget, said Stoy Hall, CEO of wealth management firm Black Mammoth. Additionally, make sure your kids have a budgeting app that you can review during these meetings. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do is we have a monthly money family meeting, where we go through their [budgeting] app \u2026 and our family finances as it pertains to the budget,\u201d Hall said in an email to The Independent. \u201cWe also include them in and show them the budget for things like travel or their sports. Doing it often makes them understand things take money and why certain decisions are made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be smart about what information you share with your kids based on their age, Wang said. Going through family debt with younger children could be stressful for them. <\/p>\n

\u201cYoung kids don\u2019t need to hear about debt or stress, but they can help plan a gift budget for a sibling\u2019s birthday or compare prices of new school shoes,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"It\u2019s<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to walk alongside your child and offer help and explanations as they learn how to budget (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Value financial literacy<\/p>\n

While parents often focus on their kids\u2019 academic success and emotional maturity, financial literacy tends to get left out of the mix. However, it\u2019s an important part of their development into financially responsible adults, Wang said. <\/p>\n

\u201cTeach lessons and build habits early, talk about your values and expectations often, model the behavior you want to see, and celebrate the wins while learning from the losses,\u201d Wang said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of all, help kids see money as a tool, not a mystery or stressor. Because kids who grow up with that mindset become more confident money managers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around two-thirds of Americans are tracking their income and spending, according to a 2023 research review from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":{"0":"post-409742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-personal-finance","10":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}