Our son has recently turned 6, and we’ve decided to try and teach him a little about money, as well as trying to improve his behaviour, by giving him some pocket money.
Rather than just giving him a weekly amount to spend though, I’d like to build in some sort of money lesson, in particular in thinking about saving for the future.
My plan is to give him £1.50 per week, dependent on good behaviour, with the promise that if he saves all of the money up for four weeks, I will pay him “interest” and make his £6 into £10 (bet you can’t get an interest rate like that in a high-street savings account).
Although four weeks isn’t a particularly long time for a kid to wait, knowing our son, that will seem like a lifetime, and any longer and I think I risk losing his interest. Indeed, I’m not too sure this system will work – knowing our son, he’ll probably try to negotiate me up to forking out £20 per month or something, but I’d like to think that if he can see the benefits of saving from an early age it will help him look after his money for years to come.
I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this idea – do you think he is too young to be getting pocket money in the first place? Is it too much, too little? Any other interesting and / or effective tactics you’ve employed with your kids’ pocket money? Let us know in the comments below.
