Money Watch – Personal Finance Blog

goHenry – the family banking tool that empowers young people between the ages of 8 and 18 to save, spend and learn about money – has announced a new feature which aims to help children and teens to easily budget and save.

The feature has been introduced to kick off the New Year, when many of us set new goals for our financial lives. It’s been designed to encourage and motivate young people to plan and spend their pocket money and allowances wisely and stay within their means.

Children and teens using goHenry now have the option to create multiple Savings Goals so they can save for the things they need and want. goHenry then suggests how much a user should save each week to reach their goal, and automatically sets aside a recommended amount on a weekly basis to hit that target. Parents and relatives have the option to contribute towards Savings Goals if they wish.

The feature aims to get children and teens familiar with the concept of saving for specific goals at an early age.

Parent Karen Wilkinson who uses goHenry said:

“I’ve been trialling the new feature with goHenry. My children have all set goals and I’ve even contributed towards them to encourage good saving habits.

“I’ve never seen them work so hard – it’s turned into a game by making it easy and fun for them. They are extremely excited about hitting their goals and are getting a real sense of accomplishment when they reach them.”

How it works:

• Young people decide on an item to save for, set the amount they need and set the date for when they want to reach their Savings Goal
• goHenry suggests how much the child/teen needs to save each week to reach their goal
• goHenry then automatically pulls the amount they need each week from their pocket money payments into their Savings Goal so they are not able to spend the money on other items
• Young people can set up as many Savings Goals as they like from a present for a friend or sibling’s birthday, to a new bike, or even their first car

Richard Jones, Chief Executive Officer at goHenry, commented:

“We are built by parents for families, therefore we’re very tuned in to what our customers want. This new feature was a top priority on our members’ wish lists and we’ve had a great response from the parents that have been trialling it. We know it’ll help young people plan for the things they need and want. It’s another example of how goHenry is empowering young people to develop good money habits for life.”