A few years ago, my husband and I were out for dinner with our son. He must have been about two years old at the time.
When the waiter brought the check to the table, he surprised us all (including the waiter) by saying, “I got this!”
He reached for the check and pretended he was putting money down to pay for it.
Well, as you can imagine, we could not stop laughing.
And, while I’m quite certain he didn’t fully understand what he was actually “getting,” I am certain that
he heard my husband or me use those very words in the past.
Our kids observe our every move, including what I like to call our money moves. They watch us take cash out of our wallets, make transactions at the bank, leave money for tips at a restaurant (believe me, I know they observe this since my son often tries to take the money off the table as we are leaving), and use credit cards to pay for things.
While building good credit is essential for having a solid financial profile, it must be done responsibly.
After all, banks won’t lend money to you unless you have good credit.
It is never too soon to start teaching our kids that a credit card is not just a colorful piece of plastic, but rather a card that can either make or break us.
I realized this was an important lesson a couple of years ago when we were on a family vacation and my
son called the card key to our hotel room his credit card.
Pretending to swipe, swipe, swipe, he was racking up play debt.
Lessons in credit can vary depending on the age of the child.
However, the most basic lesson for any age is using a credit card means that someone is lending you
money to pay for something. You must pay it back by a certain time or guess what? You’ll have to pay
back even more money in the form of interest; and that’s not fun!
This is not only an important lesson for our kids, but for all of us as parents too as many grown- ups
often don’t realize credit cards are not child’s play.
Want to take this lesson further? Give us your email and receive a free download to a story that you can read with your child called “Owin Money,” educate yourself even more on how to explain credit to kids and share a fun activity called “Credit Combo.”
