Teach Children to Save Day Brings Financial Literacy Month to a Close
Texas CPAs Offer Three Tips for Parents to Encourage Their Kids to Save

DALLAS — Only 24 percent of children ages nine to 12 say their parents encourage them to save money. As Financial Literacy Month comes to a close, April 29 serves as one last reminder that it is important to teach our young ones financial responsibility. The Texas Society of CPAs (TSCPA) is making an effort to encourage parents and families all over Texas to educate their young ones about personal finance.

With high school students across the nation scoring their lowest marks to date in Jump$tart Coalition’s biennial personal finance survey this year, children are in need of personal finance education. The American Bankers Association Education Foundation established Teach Children to Save Day to spotlight the importance of teaching our nation’s youth about saving money.

Texas CPAs have three tips for teaching children to save. Whether it is for a new bike or an ice cream cone, children are aware of money. The first tip is to start with a piggy bank, if you don’t have one, make one.

Encourage your child to save a portion of their allowance each week. If they don’t have an allowance, but earn money on occasion for doing chores, encourage them to save a portion of the money they earn. After a few weeks go by, show them how they have managed to save and that they were able to get by with a little less than they thought.

The second tip is to talk to your children about savings accounts. Many banks have programs that provide incentives and activities designed to help children learn financial basics. With a savings account your child will begin to understand the concept of compound interest, it will be exciting for them to see how much “free money” has accrued on deposits.

Texas CPAs also recommend that you allow them to pull out a few dollars every once in a while to buy a special toy or treat. Young children will be happy to continue saving knowing that the money that goes in to the account can also come out.

Finally, teach your children to set and save toward financial goals. Let your child set their own goal, this will give them an incentive to keep saving. Record the progress by making a colorful chart or poster that will illustrate their savings to date and how much more they need to achieve their final goal.

Encourage them to set goals that may take a few weeks to attain, children may lose interest in long-term goals that could take longer than that. Texas CPAs say that over time, your child can learn to become a disciplined saver.

Although Financial Literacy Month is only 30 days, TSCPA encourages families all over Texas to continue teaching kids about personal finance. Basic financial concepts such as budgeting, saving, and smart spending should be routinely discussed with children, especially children at the high school level. These resources and more can be found on TSCPA’s free consumer Web site, www.ValueYourMoney.org.

PERSONAL FINANCE INFORMATION
For additional personal finance tips, visit www.ValueYourMoney.org. While there, sign up to receive a free monthly electronic newsletter with personal finance tips on a variety of topics.

ABOUT TSCPA
TSCPA (http://www.tscpa.org) is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional organization representing Texas CPAs. The society has 20 local chapters statewide and has 28,000 members, one of the largest in-state memberships of any state CPA society in the United States. TSCPA is committed to serving the public interest with programs that advance the highest standards of ethics and practice within the CPA profession.