By: Kerstin Driscoll-Witt
Your SUITE(k) Retirement Plan Navigator
Being one of five children growing up, money always seemed tight, but we were lucky enough to earn 10 cents for every chore we completed. The local bank had ‘dime books’, where you would insert each dime in a slot, until your book was full. When the book was full, which usually took a few months, it was a special occasion to visit the bank to deposit $10 in dimes to our savings accounts. I vividly remember my mom keeping the dime books on the top of the refrigerator in the kitchen with each child’s name carefully printed on the cover. At a very early age, I learned that I could be either a ‘saver’ or a ‘spender’, but it was up to me to choose.
On Saturday mornings, I remember riding along with my dad to the bank to deposit his paycheck- yes, these were the ‘good ‘ole days’ with paper paychecks. If I was lucky, it might also be one of those special trips where I would also be able to ‘trade my dime book in’ for a new, empty book and deposit my savings. The reward for riding along was a stop at the old Afton Bakery across the street, for juice and a donut.
These memories are firmly implanted in my brain. My dad would often say: “You have to pay yourself first”, meaning, tuck money into savings before you start spending. If you spend first, there usually isn’t much leftover to save. I believe these lessons on spending and saving in my formative years established the foundation for how I managed money as I grew up.
I tried to instill these same lessons in my own children. I remember assigning chores, awarded with an allowance if the chores were completed successfully and a trip to the bank to deposit their savings. They were allowed to keep ½ in cash for SPEND-ing but must save 50% and deposit it to their SAVE-ings account. Each Christmas, I would have them each take $50 out of their own savings account to buy gifts to GIVE to the children who would be patients in the pediatric ward at the hospital during the holidays.
To curb spending and reinforce good saving habits, I would tell the boys, if there is something that they really wanted, they would have to save and pay for half of it. I refused to just fork over the money for items on their ‘want list’.
There was one instance that I recall vividly. My youngest and I were at Boscov’s and he wanted a ‘Backstreet Boys’ CD – yes, it was the early 2000’s. He asked me to buy it for him. It was $12. I told him if he really wanted it, he would have to pay for half. He looked at me and said- “No, then I don’t want it”. We didn’t get the CD. To this day, I still laugh because he didn’t want to part with any of his money, but he would have had no problem spending mine. I am proud that he is still a very good saver today.
Teaching children at a young age about financial literacy, saving, budgeting, spending and giving, is becoming increasingly difficult. Children today have a more difficult concept understanding money, its purpose and how it works, because there are no physical checks, the use of cash is disappearing daily and the majority of all financial transactions happen electronically. It’s almost as if money is a nebulous concept. They see parents purchase things by touching a card or tapping their phone to a pad and walking away with goods or services. Rarely are banks physically visited to expedite a transaction, and if they are, it usually to use the ATM to withdrawal money. Children don’t understand that you must first deposit money to a bank before you can withdraw it.
A recent conversation that I had with new college graduate focused on their own personal lack of training in financial literacy. They shared that they had no exposure to money management skills in either high school or college, yet, once they graduated from college, they are suddenly faced with the overwhelming task of trying to navigate their own finances, budgeting and in many cases, managing a mountain of college debt.
How can we help our youth be better prepared? It starts long before high school or college. It starts when kids are 3, 4 or 5 years old. Setting them up for financial success in life, begins at a very early age.
My husband and I recently purchased ‘piggy banks’ for our grandchildren. These banks had three sections: SAVE, SPEND, GIVE. Along with the banks, we gave each grandchild 10- $1 bills, and the following books: ‘PIP the Saver’, ‘PIP the Planner’ and ‘PIP Learns to Budget’, authored by Aaron Isaac. Our grandson, age 5, put 100% in the SAVE section of his bank, and each dollar he has received since, has been ‘deposited’ 100% in savings. Our granddaughter, age 3, put 1/3 into Savings, 1/3 into Spending and 1/3 into giving. Again, she has done exactly the same with each gift of money. As they grow, they will begin to learn the impact of their ‘deposit’ choices. Our grandson may soon discover that he doesn’t have any money to spend and our granddaughter may learn that she isn’t saving enough. But the basic financial tenants have been planted and we will continue to cultivate them.
Financial literacy can be simple or complex. Helping our young children understand basic financial terms and how they can impact their own personal outcomes long term, can be empowering. The greatest success stories come from starting early.
To learn more about how you might help the young people in your life become empowered through financial literacy, reach out to your Financial Planner with any questions or to take action.
Make it great! Kerstin
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