What I'm Teaching My 4-Year-Old About Money

My 4-year-old is fairly spoiled. Between his Nana, Grandpa, Gigi, Chief, aunties, and uncles, he pretty much has gotten every toy his heart desired. The other day he was watching a show and there was a commercial for a Disney train set. Without thinking about it, he turned to me and asked if he could have it. I said no. He turned to his mom and tried her. She responded with a little more grace and humor - “Sure. It costs about 25 dollars. Do you have the money for it?” 

He looked bewildered. And rightfully so - up to that point, I don’t think we had mentioned “money” to him. So, we started to talk to him about how you get money from work – which he is familiar with because he sees his dad go to work every day. We then talked about how you have to wait until you have enough money to buy something. The bigger the thing, the more you wait.  

He then asked about the train again, so we reeled him back in. Because we think he is still a year or so too young for an allowance, we told him we would have to save for it. He goes to pre-school once a week, so we told him after 3 days at school where he behaved well, we would buy the train. He seemed to understand and approved that the train was not a “no” just a “not yet.” I think that is a good age-appropriate money lesson for a 4-year old – delayed gratification. Learning to step outside a sudden impulse and practice waiting to see if it is something really worthwhile.  As it turns out, his attention had shifted to a big rig truck by the time the day finally arrived.

I had recently read an article on a study about delayed gratification. They gave young children the choice between 1 cookie now or 2 cookies in 15 minutes. The kids who chose the 2 cookies went on to have higher intelligence later in life. One night after dinner, I did the experiment on my son (what good is having kids if you can’t have a little fun?). He chose to wait and get 2 cookies and I proudly proclaimed “My son is going to Harvard!” Who knew teaching your kid delayed gratification would be so entertaining! 

Give it a try. Whether you have a young child, grand/great-grandchild, niece, or nephew, it’s a great skill to learn early that will serve them well in life. It also provides a little humor along the way! 

Thank you for reading,  

Alex 

This blog post is not advice. Please read disclaimers.