It's National Credit Union Youth Month and we are listing several resources for educating finances to children and young teens. As we have touched on this topic in the past, we find out that many tips we share are ones that are not taught in school. Most parents understand that they should teach their kids about money, but where to start can be a challenge. Take advantage of the various resources we listed for teaching financial education to children and young kids. 

Let's first take a look at what financial concepts are best for children within a certain age. 

Ages 3-5:
This is a great starting point to begin teaching savings and spending. Let's remind ourselves that children at this age have a short attention span and we need to have patience. Start by giving them a limited amount of coins, tokens or even something like rocks and teach them about spending. You can talk about how they could use them all at once to get something, or set them aside for something they may want at another time. Take it from there - incorporate allowances to teach them how they can grow their coin, token or rock collection for something bigger and better than what they would get spending everything at once. 

Ages 6-10:
If you do start giving allowances, this is the age where children can grasp the concept of planning and saving; the foundation of personal finances! Having a discussion about savings goals will help children understand what they can buy now or if they wait to buy more expensive things in the future. 

Ages 13-21:
This is the age range where we wish a subject existed in school to teach kids about major financial topics! Topics like creating and managing a budget, learning how loans work or achieving savings goals. If this is the age where you are just starting to teach kids about finances, that's ok - it's never too late. If they are a young teen, a good place to begin would be building confidence. Help them create a financial plan or teach them the importance of keeping a part-time job. 

Set kids up for success through building confidence and encouragement. Financial, or even personal, success relies on discipline and patience. In today's culture, teaching kids to be money-savvy can be difficult, but we can get them there with some empowerment! Please utilize the many resources below on teaching the youth about financial success. Happy National Credit Union Youth Month! 

• Empowering Youth to Save
  This infographic by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) details tips, strategies and sources for successful approaches to youth savings and financial education.
   
• 4 money lessons every teenager needs to know 
  Teach teens about creating a budget and how to read a paycheck. 
   
• Ideas to begin your child's journey toward financial independence
  From teaching kids how to shop to eating at home as much as possible, this BALANCE article gives some tips on charting a course for raising money smart kids. 
   
• Teaching kids about dollars & cents
  Let your children make purchases and introduce real-world financial experiences. 
   
• 15 ways to teach kids about money
  Dave Ramsey breaks down teaching kids about money in certain age brackets. 
   
• Open a youth savings account
  Start kids young and show them how saving money is beneficial. Our U1 Young Savers account is specifically set up for kids 12 and younger. Once the account is opened, kids will receive a coin book. When the book is full of coins, they can deposit that into their account and receive a fun gift that encourages future savings!