Tips for parents: Teach kids to save

Children typically model parents' behaviors, said Young, who offered these tips for parents:

• Take children with you when you go to a bank or other financial service provider.

• Let them see you making deposits and explain why you are saving. Your reason might be for home remodeling, a family vacation, or a rainy-day or college fund.

• Help children open their own account and encourage them to save a portion of their allowance or money received as gifts, payment for extra chores or wages (such as for lawn mowing or snow shoveling).

• If parents are financially able to match some of a child�s savings goals, the child may be more inclined to save, because the savings add up more quickly.

• Establish a savings goal. Saving for a new bicycle, for example, may encourage a child to pause before spending on impulse purchases.

More information on teaching children about money management is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices, as well as on Extension's financial management Web site: www.oznet.ksu.edu/financialmanagement.