I’ve always had what I believe are age-appropriate money conversations with my Lil’Man. When we lived in Ireland and I used to take him to the toy store, we always agreed on a budget before we left the house. Whether it was five euros or ten that I decided we could spend, I stuck to it. Of course between the ages of three and five, he didn’t fully understand budgets, but he understood that he couldn’t get everything that he wanted. He understood that he had a limit, and when we went to the store, he would pick up toys he liked and ask if they were within his budget. And if he was above budget, he would have to pick something else (the next best thing). I know it sounds extreme, but you have to understand that I was a poor foreign student trying to get by on a naira income after the value of the naira took a nosedive in 2015.
As Lil’Man has grown older, he’s become more money savvy, and his negotiating skills are also top-notch. He has offered his services – to help me type and create graphics for my blog. He agreed to receive part of his Christmas present as stocks in companies that he likes and has made a commitment to save some of the money that he earns. Hopefully, this commitment will last.
We’ve just settled on a summer 2021 agreement. I got a commitment to do some academic work during the summer holiday in exchange for a Roblox subscription. And, to encourage his curiosity about money – how to make it, how to use it, and how to grow it, I got him some money books for kids. This is my new thing…Talk Yenom To Me (get the t-shirt when it’s for sale)…I want to normalize talking about money and encourage fluency in money issues. It’s a household thing. We’re both learning about money. I’ve got my own money books too.
Below are his thoughts on the book, Entrepreneur Kids: All About Money.
Five Things I like About the Book
- I loved how they didn’t just teach you how to make money, but they first made sure that you would learn about money and its different forms.
- I love how they explain the history of money.
- I love how this is giving kids a mindset that they can start making money now.
- I also like how they put young business people to talk about their experience with their job.
- I also love how they put how much a job will make you.
