Teaching Kids Money Management

Family Finances

2nd in a series of 5 posts

Young Entrepreneur Summer Earning and Saving Ideas

Summer is just about here. Certainly many kids are already out of school for a long three-month sabbatical from school work and many have a surplus of free time. So what better time than now to teach your youngsters about money management both how to earn some extra spending money and how to save?

My girls w/ their Refreshment Stand

Information for this post sourced from Genworth Financial in partnership with the SheHeard Influencer Network

Even before I started writing this post in my continuing series featuring useful resources from Genworth Financial I've been thinking about it. This is definitely a topic that's been in the forefront of my mind as my own four teens start finals this week signaling that school will be out for summer the week after next.

Depending on interests, skills and ages of your own kids there are so many different things you can suggest to them to produce a small income -- either working within your own household for little ones or for neighbors and friends for tweens and teens.

A few ideas for summer youth self-employment

• Lemonade Stand Owner
• Mother's Helper
• Errand Runner
• Babysitter
• Dog Walker/Dog Sitter
• Housekeeper
• Lawn Maintenance Engineer
• Odd Jobs Specialist
• Arts & Crafts Proprietor
• Music Lessons Teacher
• Summer Tutor

My tween daughter made, sold these cards

Earning their own money definitely teaches kids valuable math skills and how to use a calculator, but it's so much more than that. Without a doubt inspiring our sons and daughters to earn money rather than just giving them some cash will give them a real sense of ownership and pride in their accomplishments -- as well as provide a priceless life skill for the future. 

As a parent of a budding entrepreneur you are also helping your child mature, setting the stage for them to independently solve problems by creating and managing his or her own cottage business. Ultimately by realizing their entrepreneurial aspirations, kids learn to associate money with hard work and effort and not with entitlement. That's not a bad thing.