What I'm Teaching My 6-Year-Old About Money

Zeke, my oldest child, just turned 6! This has been a special year as I watch him take an interest in some of my favorite childhood activities – climbing trees and making forts, building slingshots from broken branches, and turning any simple activity like taking out the trash into a race.

One of the things we have been working on recently is the idea that it’s okay to wait. Delaying gratification makes whatever you are enjoying all the better because of the wait.

Over the past few months, I’ve been talking to him about how not only is it a good thing to wait, but it can also actually pay to wait. We got him a small electronic bank (think Piggy Bank meets 2023) and he saves his money in it. Every few weeks, he can take some out and spend it if he wants to. He has bought some cool things with his hard-earned cash. But he has also learned that cheap toys sometimes don’t last (the helicopter from “$5 Below” lasted for exactly one excursion).

Then every few weeks the “Bank of Dad” asks him to count his money. Whatever money he has in the bank earns some interest. Right now, for every 5 dollars he has saved, he earns 1 dollar in interest (I’m told I might be paying above-market rates.). Regardless, it’s the lesson that counts and he has connected the dots that having some money in the bank is pretty neat because he gets free money without having to do any work. And that’s all I want him to learn for now about saving.

For more reading, see previous posts

 “What I’m Teaching My 4-Year-Old About Money.”

“What I’m Teaching My 5-Year-Old About Money.”

Happy Planning,

Alex

This blog post is not advice. Please read disclaimers.