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How to Teach Your Kids About Money

How early should I begin teaching my kids about money?

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Janet Bodnar
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
www.kiplinger.com  

Janet Bodnar is deputy editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, for which she has written articles on a wide range of topics, including investing, money management and the economy.

Bodnar is a nationally recognized expert in the field of children's and family finances. Her latest book is Money Smart Women: Everything You Need to Know to Achieve a Lifetime of Financial Security (Kaplan). She speaks frequently on the subject of women and money.

Bodnar's "Money-Smart Kids" column appears regularly in Kiplinger's magazine and at <a>www.kiplinger.com/columns/kids</a>. It was chosen by Moneysmartz.com as one of the top financial columns online. Bodnar is also the kids and money coach on the AOL Coaches site.

Her book Raising Money Smart Kids (Kaplan Publishing) was a finalist in the personal finance category of the Books for a Better Life awards, honoring the best self-improvement books of 2005. It was also a selection of the Washington Post's Color of Money book club.

Bodnar has appeared on Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show on CBS, Fox, CNN and PBS. She has done hundreds of radio and TV interviews and appears regularly on WUSA, the CBS-TV affiliate in Washington, D.C., and WTOP, the major all-news radio station in Washington. She is a popular speaker and has been quoted in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal and Institutional Investor to Parents and Glamour.

Bodnar has been recognized by American University for excellence in personal finance reporting, and by the National Council on Family Relations for her televised reports on children and money. The audio version of her book (read by the author) received three "best of" awards, from Publishers Weekly (business category), Library Journal (nonfiction) and the Audio Publishers Association (educational category).

Prior to joining Kiplinger's, Bodnar worked for The Providence Journal and The Washington Post. She received her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, where she was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism.

Married, she is the mother of three children.

How early should I begin teaching my kids about money?

In this video, Deputy Editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance and author Janet Bodnar answers questions on the many issues surrounding what kids should know about money.

This series: 35,380 views

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Speaker: How early should I begin teaching my kids about money?

Janet Bodnar: Well, there is the funny answer to this, which is, as soon as kids learn not to put it in their mouth, you can start talking to them about money, but I also say that I am not a pushing parent. I am a pulling parent. So I don't think that you should try to teach your kids anything that they are not ready for. You really have to do this in an age appropriate manner and you can take your cues from your kids because as soon as they start asking you questions about money you can start answering them just as you would with anything else.

The question about money could be as simple as, mom can we go to McDonald's today for lunch and then you say, mom or dad, you say, not today because I don't have any cash today. Then the kid says, well, why don't you just go to the bank machine and get some. Instead of freaking out about this and saying, oh my gosh! Where do you think money comes from? Good question for them. Turn up the tables on them and ask them that question and of what you can explain to them that the bank is like a big piggy bank for mom and dad and just their piggy bank is sometimes empty until they put more money in the bank and sometimes your bank your piggy bank is empty too until you get paid and put more money in the bank. So, it gives them a little lesson in banking without going into the whole federal reserved system, without getting too complicated, but maybe the next time they won't ask you to go to McDonald's for lunch or they will say, do you have enough cash today to do it. At least that's the learning experience in itself.

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