Do kids today even know what a check is?

If your kids are like mine, just ask them what a check register is?  They’ll probably ask you, “Do you mean a cash register?”

I don’t know why I think this is so important in raising kids today, but teaching a kid the basic ideas of finance should be so fundamental in a child’s education.  Yet, it isn’t.

Why talk about anything related to how a checking account works or balancing a checkbook when there is an App that can do it for them.  I realize that in the very near future, writing a check will go the way of the rotary phone.  It is inevitable.

But just because something passes from everyday use, does not make it worthless.  For example, a check register is very “Old School”, but the very act of keeping a register is a powerful way to teach a kid about the basics of budgeting, fees, and everyday life.

If your kids are like mine, they never really question how something was bought.  One day it wasn’t there and the next day it is there.  Poof…Magic Money made food show up in the pantry.

Every kid is different, but you really can’t start too early on teaching a kid how money works.  I’m not talking about telling them, “We can’t buy that Nintendo Switch today because it is too expensive.”  You have to explain to them what expensive means, and you need to teach them the idea of value.

Value can sound vague, but in my opinion, its probably the best tool a kid could ever have when it comes to managing money.

If they can’t work out in their minds why one item might have more value than the next, then their life is probably going to consist of thousands of impulse buys and overdrawn checks.

I’m figuring this out as I go also, but I work in this world and I can tell you first hand that a kid who knows how to accurately asses the value of something will always have a leg up on the kids who don’t. If it can become instinct for your kid, they will go far in life.