Top 3 things you could do with your kid right now

1. Play a game “Need or want?”

Not knowing the difference between needs and wants could cause a lot of financial problems in the future. To avoid them, play the following game with your kids.

Think of 10 things that you usually buy. Ask your kid whether it is a need or a want. When he tells his opinion, discuss the answers with him. Explain that needs are things we must have to survive. Wants are something we would like to have but we do not need for survival.

Needs	Wants
Food	Eating out at a restaurant
Electricity	TV set
Clothes	Branded clothes
Education	Vacation abroad

Keep in mind that needs and wants could differ from family to family!

2. To buy or not to buy

When you teach your kid to wait, you give her the most valuable lesson.

Therefore, when your kid begs you to buy something to her, look at it as an opportunity to teach her to wait.

Ask her:

• What are the reasons to buy the thing you want?
• What are the reasons NOT to buy the thing you want?
• Do you need to buy it now? Why?
• Is it more important than other wants?
• What are possibilities to have it for less money? (borrow from a friend, buy online, wait for the sale, etc.)

The more often you ask these questions to your kid, the better she will be prepared for the future.

3. Watch TV commercials together

Spend 10 minutes today watching TV commercials together. Ask your kid:

• Do you want the things that are shown in TV commercials?
• Why do you want those things? (they look nice on TV, they will make me happy, they will make me feel loved, etc.)
• What techniques does the company use to make you want them? (usually they use emotions to impact us)
• Why does the company want to make you want them? (explain that making profit is one of the key aims of each company and that kids are an easy target)

Do you want to test how good you are in teaching other areas of financial freedom? Take the Financial IQ Test for Parents now!