How to teach your kids about money, without making it boring

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Thinking back to when I was in school, I struggle to remember any classes where money or financial literacy was the topic. Sure, we’d cover things such as compound interest in maths, and I have a vague recollection of CBA’s ill-fated Dollarmites popping in at some point, but that’s about it. I have a far better recollection of the teachings of our lord and saviour Healthy Harold, but he was a giraffe puppet, so perhaps that’s an unfair comparison.

Shaping your kids into adults who deploy money strategically will change their lives.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

Unfortunately, by all accounts, things haven’t gotten much better in the [REDACTED] years since I’ve left school. Melbourne University’s HILDA survey in 2020 showed a sharp drop in financial literacy for those aged 24 and under, and numerous surveys since then have reinforced that young people are falling behind when it comes to money smarts.

What’s the problem?

A lot of the blame for this has been lumped on the government and schools, which is fair. The national curriculum does include some aspects of financial literacy, but it’s largely up to schools on how to implement it, and it’s not a stand-alone subject.

The government has also not made financial literacy a priority for years, with a 2022 decision to shift responsibility for the area from ASIC to Treasury effectively shuttering any progress.

This has meant a lot of responsibility for this stuff has fallen, for better or worse, on parents. But when it comes to such an open-ended topic as financial literacy, it can be difficult to work out where to start, especially in a way that will keep younger children engaged.

What you can do about it

So if you’re looking for some apps/games/other methods to teach your kids about the wonderful world of money, here are some of our experts’ top suggestions:

• MoneySmart: We’re lucky in Australia to have a great government-run online financial education resource in MoneySmart, which financial counsellor Nyssa Millington praises as an “excellent” way to get your kids involved in day-to-day money decisions. Its “teaching kids about money” webpage is a great place to start if teaching financial literacy feels like a bit of an alien concept, with suggestions such as talking to your kids about how you earn money, and teaching them about how much things cost (and why) when you’re at the shop. If you want to take it to the next level, Millington is a fan of Gifting Sense, an online tool that helps kids make informed purchasing decisions and trains them to think critically about whatever toy they’re desperate to get, hopefully making them less prone to impulse spending as they get older.

• Spriggy: Do a quick search online, and you’re bound to see endless recommendations for Spriggy, a digital pocket money app that gamifies saving and financial education. Pascale Helyar-Moray, founder of Grow My Money and mother of three, says she and her children are daily users. “I transfer money from my bank account to the app, and then top up each child with money as needed; the transfer to their account happens instantly,” she says. “Each child has their own Spriggy card which the child uses to purchase items. The child can view their balance on the app, ensuring they spend within their means.” Helyar-Moray also says the app allows you to set savings goals with your children to help reinforce the value of stashing your cash, along with establishing what chores they need to do to earn their pocket money. “This teaches children the value of labour, and that pocket money has to be earned,” she says.

• Cash: Resident Money guru Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon has long been an advocate of going back to basics when it comes to kids’ money smarts, saying having all their earnings be digital and intangible can erode their appreciation of a dollar earned. But, to avoid the risk of raising child luddites, she recommends a mixture of both physical and digital earnings. “I pay my children in cash, and they give it straight back and ask me to swap it to their special debit cards,” she wrote last year. “This interplay and exchange is valuable because it communicates two important lessons: money runs out, and you have to carefully allocate your finite amount.”

• Raiz: Finally, a lot of the suggestions so far have been about teaching kids about how money works, and the value of earning and saving, which are excellent fundamentals for life. However, if you’re keen to take it one step further and delve into the world of investing, a micro-investment app such as Raiz could suit. If you already have an existing Raiz account, you can set up a subaccount for up to eight people under the age of 18, which allows them direct (albeit monitored) access to their own investment portfolio. You can set a weekly investment limit or give them a one-off lump sum to play with, and they are given the option to pick from one of seven pre-established portfolios, or make up one of their own. This is a good way to kickstart discussions about compound earning, diversification, and dividends from a young age while allowing them to have some skin in the game.

Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.