At what age should I start teaching my children about money?
At whatever age they start asking questions about money, you don't want to rush things. You want to do it in an age-appropriate way. I always say I'm a pulling parent, not a pushing parent, 'cause you want to keep your kids young. But you know, a financial question could be... you're out with your kids and the kids want to go to McDonald's for lunch, and you say, "Oh, I don't have any money today," and they say, "Well, you can just go to the machine and get some." And this just freaks parents out, because they say to their kids, "Do you think I'm made of money?" Well, of course they do, because they've seen you pushin' the buttons ever since they've been two years old. So you just do a little lesson, you say to them, "You know, the bank really is like a big piggy bank for Mom and Dad, and just like your piggy bank is sometimes empty after you buy something before you put more money in, sometimes our piggy bank is empty until we put our paychecks in. And so when we put our paychecks in, then we'll have money in the bank, and that's what we get money out of the machine." Very simple explanation. Kid now knows band equals piggy bank, and you don't have to explain how the Federal Reserve System works.
