My Money Week – How to teach your children about money

My Money Week – How to teach your children about money, by Lisa Caplan, Financial Planner at Charles Stanley

This year’s My Money Week (9th – 13th June 2025) theme is ‘making the most of your money’ – spending and saving wisely to make the most bang for your buck. There are small lessons everyone can teach, even without realising, on how to be financially savvy from a young age, which can be fundamental in building financial confidence in the future.

1. Help them learn the cost of everyday living

Teaching children how money is a finite resource is a valuable lesson to learn. To spend it, you have to earn it, and that means making choices. Set aside a sum of money and ask them to balance the family budget for a month. Tell them how much the utilities cost and then ask them to assign the remaining budget between other outgoings like grocery shops, cinema trips, or new clothes.

At the end of the month, talk to them about their experiences and what they learned. How much money was left? Could they have spent less, and how?

2. Help them learn the value of money

Let your children see how many hours it takes to earn a certain amount of money. Encourage them to do household chores in exchange for their weekly spending money, like washing the car or emptying the dishwasher. Show them where they fit and how they can help the family unit. This is a vital way of teaching your children responsibility and accountability.

3. Encourage them to save

Get them interested in putting a regular amount of money aside. Teach them the difference between holding cash on deposit and investing for a better long-term return. Sometimes a good old-fashioned money box can help children feel the importance of saving and make them responsible and ultimately more grown-up.

4. Teach them about money scams

Children are now much more tech-savvy, but also more casual about sharing their personal information online. Warn them about the dangers of doing this and let them know that a bank or financial institution would never ask them to divulge their personal information.

5. Invest time in your kids

Above all, spend time teaching your children everything you have learnt in life. It doesn’t have to be all at once. But make a list of the things you wished you’d known about at certain stages in your life, and you can pass these lessons on when you think each child is ready. Just try not to leave it until the moment after they needed that advice.

Show them the importance of saving in the short, medium, and long term. Teach them about the merits of pensions and investments. Teach them how to plan their futures. Help them set life goals and discuss the potential amounts of money needed to achieve each stage and how long and how much they will need to save to reach each milestone.