by Tricia
One of the things that I want my son to learn about is saving money. While he was at grandma’s house, he was a little spoiled and grandma raided her coin jar and gave my son a pretty big container of coins. The first thing he said when we got home is that he wanted to go to Walmart to buy something. I tried to explain to him that he should some of the money and he didn’t seem happy with that idea.
I decided to go online and look at coin banks and I think I found the perfect one for my son, since he loves trains.
(if you click on the picture it is a referral link to Amazon.com)
When you put money in, the lights go off and you hear train sounds. I know my son would scavange the house for all the money he could find just to put the money in there to hear the sounds.
The cheapest I’ve found it is $19.99 and while it is a little pricey to me, if it gets him into the saving mood then the little extra money will be worth it. He’s had a regular piggy bank before, but it didn’t excite him.
The only drawback to the bank that I can think of is the size. It will take a lot of money to even halfway fill the bank. It makes me wonder how much money my son will have when he fills it!
I will discuss this possible gift with my husband tomorrow during our weekly family meeting (more on this new development later) and perhaps I will be placing an order soon for it. I just think my little guy would love it.
My son’s school works in conjunction with Washington Mutual so he was able to open an account when he was in kindegarten. He is now in 3rd grade and has over $200 in his account. I give him $1.00 a week and my Mom does too. We had only been doing this during the school year until this summer when we stopped by the local bank once a month. He also has cash on hand that he receives from relatives. He loves to save! My Grandmother started purchasing saving bonds for him when he was born and my Mom has kept up the tradition. He receives a $50 bond twice a year. This will certainly help towards his college fund. I think it is very important to teach saving techniques at an early age. Last year he collected change for Unicef and has started again this year.
I thought you might be interested in this big Minneapolis StarTribune series:
Financial Fix Ups — “Dealing with their debts”
It’s about three familes in debt and what they’re doing about it.
http://www.startribune.com/fixups
The train money box looks like an exciting toy for your son – but I’m just not sure that making the act of saving an immediately gratifying “fun” experience is the best approach. I just use a couple of standard money boxes for my son’s allowance and any gifts/lose change.
The money from one box gets put into his bank account – and the main focus is on explaining why you save money to buy big items that cost a lot (budget/plan), and on the process of counting the coins (math) and depositing the money into the bank (what banks do, bank statements, interest).
The second money box is used to have some money to put into his “school banking”, which is similar to what Sheri described.
He also has a retirement accout I set up and some stocks, so we can discuss this (at an appropriate level) when the statements arrive in the post (I think nearly all kids love sorting and opening the mail).
Luckily my son doesn’t pester to buy things, and, so far, has saved money but never wanted to take any out for spending. He finds the idea of money/banking/interest quite interesting (probably because he sees daddy doing a lot of money related things). It also helps to be up front discussing day to day things like how you earn money, what it has to pay for (food, utilities, mortgage/rent) etc.
Hopefully this will get him used to thinking of money as something to be “managed” with long-term outcomes in mind, rather than just a source of immediate gratification/fun.
Regards
http://enoughwealth.blogspot.com
I like the bank, but I would go smaller. We used to have the big coke bottle and it just took so darn long to fill.
A smaller bank, helps you reach goals faster. I pay my youngest 1 penny for each mail piece he brings in from the box. This helps fill his pig.
I would open him a savings account at the local bank to. And let him be the boss and show him his earnings and all the things that go along with this.
Sheri – that’s pretty awesome that the school has a program like that. Our schools do not. I think I will end up opening an account for him once he has enough to open an account (currently $50 at my bank).
Anonymous – thanks for the tip 🙂
Ralph – thanks for your ideas about the bank. You’ve given me more to think about and discuss with my husband before we make a purchase.
D – yeah, the bank is pretty big. I remember those coke bottles and those were huge. Could you even pick it up once it was full? LOL.
I can’t believe your bank requires $50 for a childs account. That is huge! All the banks in my area only require $10 and that is the minimum for the account as well.