A weekly allowance can be an important teaching tool

When it comes to paying kids an allowance, I am pro cash with few strings attached.

Don’t get me wrong — back when I was doling out the dough every Sunday, I expected my three kids to help with raking the leaves, loading and emptying the dishwasher, keeping their rooms sort of tidy, and to pitch in on any issues around the house that required all hands on deck.

But none of these were requirements for getting paid. I viewed paying an allowance as strictly a tool — and an important one at that — to teaching kids about spending and saving money at a very young age.

The start of the school year is often when parents debate the allowance question. What age is the best time to start? How much is appropriate? Should it be tied to chores and, if so, do I need a system to track the work, especially if I have multiple kids?

I started paying allowance when our kids were in grade school and were beginning to understand the difference between a penny, a quarter and a dollar bill. Some experts say you should start paying a weekly allowance as early as three years old if you think your kids are ready.

As for how much, the going rate is on average $30 a week, according to a

2019 survey of parents by the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts. That’s steep by my standards. But another survey by RoosterMoney found that the average allowance range for kids was about $4 a week for fouryear-olds to about $14 a week for 14-yearolds.

My payments were based on my kids’ grade level, so, for example, $2 a week went to the second-grader.

Once they hit high school, there were cost-of-living adjustments to cover putting gas in the car and movie tickets and such. I didn’t set hard parameters on how to manage it, but it was an opportunity for me to hand over more financial responsibilities.

Whether you are in favor of tying the compensation to chores is a personal preference. Many parents agree that some chores are done as part of living in the household and should not be tied to pay, but doing extra chores can be.

“I personally like the idea of tying the pay to work in some capacity since that is how (parents) earn money and that is how children will earn money as adults,” said Jamie Bosse, a Kansas Cityarea financial planner and author of “Milton, The Money Savvy Pup” and other children’s books on money.

Here are some steps to make your allowance system works smoothly.

Don’t fret over whether your child’s allowance is above or below the kid down the street or any national averages. The lessons learned from handing out the money are more important than the amount, said Vickie Fitzgerald, a Portland, Oregon, author of “A Simple Guide to Saving For The Young & Broke.”

Be consistent. Whether you pay once a month or once a week, stick with the schedule.

If your child blows through the allowance money before the next payday, don’t feel pressured to make a bailout. Let them make some mistakes so they can learn about delayed gratification and wants and needs.

If you have teens, let them come up with a budget — with support from you — on how much they’ll need to cover monthly expenses.

If you are tying chores into the allowance, there are numerous allowance-tracking apps, such as Greenlight, FamZoo and iAllowance. Or decorate some jars for depositing money for short-term spending, long-term spending, saving and charitable donations. Whatever you do, keep it simple.