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Teach kids early on about money basics. More complicated ideas like credit cards and investing can wait until the teen years. (Photo illustration/Augenblick fo/Newscom/File)
2. DO: Start teaching kids early
Children start learning about money well before a parent or teacher begins formally teaching them. “The money messages that we send to kids start at a very early age, as early as two or three,” says Ms. Hodgens. “We teach by the way we choose to spend money, in the way we react when our kids want something, and so forth.” Parents should initiate a formal education when their kids start kindergarten, start with the basics, and move on to more mature money matters, credit cards and investing, for instance, when they hit their teen years.
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