10 GROWN-UP TIPS to teach YOUR children how to look after money

IT’S the start of the new academic year but most pupils won’t be getting any lessons at school on how best to save and spend their money.

Campaigners now want to see more personal finance taught through the curriculum.

Here, Money Mail has spoken to ten finance experts to hear how they taught their children valuable life lessons about money. TELL THEM ABOUT TAX DAME HELENA MORRISSEY Head of personal investing at Legal & General Investment Management MAKING money a regular topic of discussion is a key step. It’s best to start young, so it becomes second nature rather than a scary subject.

We openly talk to our nine children (now aged between ten and 27) about things like the budget for holidays, how taxes eat into income and how to shop around for the best deals.

Make money ‘real’ for children through practical examples. Working out how much has been saved using our ‘two-for-one’ pizza vouchers is much more relevant than abstract sums. CHORES FOR CASH WARREN SHUTE Author of The Money Plan MY POCKET money system helps our kids learn about money. The amount they get is linked to chores, such as putting the bins out and emptying the dishwasher, and to their age: £2 for each year, so they can see some progression.

Olly is 14 and Bella is 12. If they want to buy something that costs more than their age, they have to check with us. When my son gets a phone, we’ll increase his pocket money, but he will be responsible for paying his phone bill. A KIDS’ CONTRACT ANDY BELL Chief executive of investment firm AJ Bell WE INTRODUCED the ‘KFC’ with each of our four kids, Paige, 25, Connor, 19, Kieran, 18, and Jemma, 15. The Kids’ Financial Contract sets out how much we give them, what they must do to get it and what they can buy.

This started out with keeping their room tidy and doing basic chores. The KFC has developed over the years to cater for student fees, accommodation, clothes, food and car bills. PIGGY BANKS PAY IAN ACKERLEY Chief executive at National Savings & Investments TEACHING the art of saving started with opening passbook savings accounts when the children were young. After birthdays and Christmas they would go to the branch and pay in their gift money.

They also had transparent money boxes for small change so they could see their savings grow. SCHOOL REWARDS RACHEL KERRONE Head of campaigns at Starling Bank and founder of blog Parent Money WE GIVE our boys — twins Lucas and Theo, six, and Zac, four — pocket money. But only in the holidays, or if they’ve got a really good school report, or if they’ve helped rake leaves in the garden. CONTACTLESS COST DARIUS McDERMOTT MANAGING director of Chelsea Financial Services OUR eldest, Luke, 12, has just started secondary school. We have opened him a Nationwide FlexOne current account, which comes with a debit card. He was really excited about using contactless for the first time, but we want him to learn that it’s still real money. His first purchase was an ice cream for his grandfather. So far, so good.

Luke and our daughter Isla, ten, both have a junior Isa they don’t know about yet.

When the time is right, I’ll start talking to them about investing and show them how the money — intended to help fund further education — has grown. TALK PENSIONS JACKIE LEIPER Pensions director at Scottish Widows I AM always talking to my 18-yearold daughter Rebecca about the importance of saving into a pension. Her friend, who has started an apprenticeship, was thinking of opting out of autoenrolment. Rebecca convinced them of the benefits of employer contributions. CREDIT DANGER TONY HAZELL Money Mail’s letters editor I HARPED on to my stepsons about the dangers of borrowing on credit cards and explained how paying interest meant less money for them to spend. Andrew, now 29, listened, Alex, 24, bought some new shoes.

But some things must have sunk in. When Alex came into some money a year or so ago, I helped him choose some investments. That money has remained untouched and he sent me an enthusiastic note recently to say it had gone up by 22 per cent.

Perhaps I should have done that when he was ten. DON’T BLOW IT ALL! WYNNE EVANS Go Compare’s Gio Compario, presenter and Welsh tenor MY CHILDREN, Ismay, 17, and Tal, 15, get an allowance of £150 a month. I load it on to a Monzo prepaid card and the rule is, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

It has been a steep learning curve for them and in the first two months they both blew the lot in under a week. But they have learned to budget by keeping an eye on their balance via the app — and now the system works well.