Book looks at ways to teach kids how to handle money
Author aims to foster financial literacy in young children through fun activities
Mark Tilden was a financial adviser for 18 years, and he’s looking for a huge return on investment now. Really huge. He wants to change society. “Historically, talking about money and finances has been a taboo subject,” Tilden says. “When I asked my parents about how much money they made, my father, who by the way worked in finance, specifically told me: ‘We don’t talk about money. That’s rude.’ It’s never taught. It’s never been taught.” Tilden vowed that when he became a father, he would do things differently. When daughter Mikaila, now nine, arrived, he says, “It was a big deal to start teaching her about money from a young age.” His desire to teach financial literacy led to The Adventures of Princess Mikalia and Prince Pete, a picture book with six chapters addressing financial concepts for children up to eight years old. Tilden calls them “bedtime stories that can actually help your children’s dreams come true.” In one chapter, children are tasked with building a tree house on a budget and must determine their needs and wants. Should they buy lumber or a television? Nails or lights? But now it’s time to go wider, Tilden says. He’s lobbying the non-profit organization LEARN, which supports Quebec educators by providing teacher tools and resources, to help create a province-wide curriculum that would see students learn about money before they get to their last year of high school, which is when Quebec students are first officially exposed to personal finance. Research has shown that children develop habits, good or bad, by age eight. “I’d like to see a financial literacy class that starts in kindergarten. It doesn’t have to be every day. It could be once a week, which would be enough to repeat concepts till they become second nature,” says Tilden. Here are three ways Tilden suggests you can use to break down taboos, including two you can do right now and one that might have to wait till spring.
ALLOWANCE
Tilden wades into the “money for nothing ” debate with the three piggy-banks concept, which isn’t new, but is one he has tweaked to drive home a financial concept. “Every week, kids should split their allowance three ways: longterm savings, spending, charity,” Tilden says. “They can choose how much to give to each, so they are thinking about what money goes where. They can still blow most of it, but it’s up to us to nudge them in directions that make sense.” This includes income from grandparents or the Tooth Fairy. “And by the way, I really mean long-term savings,” says Tilden. Mikaila explains: “I will keep it there for a very long time, until I do smart stuff and make enough money to buy a house and a car.” She estimates that will take about 28 years. Her charity bank is saved for things like the Terry Fox Foundation. “Eventually when that longterm savings piggy bank gets full, that’s when it’s time to open a bank account, and shortly thereafter you can teach them about interest,” Tilden says.
GO SHOPPING
There are parents among us who feel a trip to the grocery store brings well-deserved alone time, but Tilden wants you to bring your kids and explain why you’re buying certain products. “We all have different values pertaining to quality and things that we want to buy. These are values we can teach them, but only if you include them in the choices you’re making.” Give a child $5 and a grocery store quest. Ask them to choose an item and see how they make purchasing choices.
LEMONADE STAND
Kickin’ it old-school with a lemonade stand “will help kids more than anything else you do with them,” Tilden promises. Shop with them so they learn about investment and design signs so they learn about marketing. Then make it, display it, learn about selling. “Every kid loves it when you spend time with them, and when you do something with them. It doesn’t really matter what it is, this just happens to be an activity that will teach them everything about business and money management and it will stay with them. You feel good when you earn something, and you learn about the value of money.”