According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the real national debt is $56.4 trillion dollars as of the day this was posted. Not only is our nation in debt, many of our fellow Americans also have deep personal debt. These debts, amongst other things sent our country spiraling into a recession last year. We experienced the worse financial market volatility since the depression. Many people are now facing the stark realization that they will not be able to pay for their own retirement.
Looking at our own financial situation, addressing the problems, making decisions and putting away money for retirement is a conversation even many adults avoid. What can we be doing now to raise children that understand money? In a society in which our children are barraged with material goods, how do we get them to understand save, invest, donate and spend on the important items?
Todays featured must have addresses many of these questions.
This is the Money Savvy Pig. Instead of just one slot at the top there are four: save, spend, donate and invest. Each of these are important lessons to learn on the road to fiscal responsiblity. The product has won the ‘Parents Choice Gold Award’ ‘Napa Gold, National Parents Publications’ and the ‘Prefered Choice Award Creative Child Magazine’ to name a few.
In addition, there is reading and curriculum resources. The above is the Money Savvy Kids Activity and Coloring Book. According to the site “These 24-page books are the perfect accompaniment to the Money Savvy Pig or the Money Savvy Cow because they help teach many of the same important concepts contained in our school curriculum. Kids can color the pages while they learn about important concepts such as bartering, interest on your savings, goal-setting, smart-spending, philanthropy, long-term investing and entrepreneurship. Other activities include establishing personal savings goals, creating a spending wish list, designing a worthwhile charity, and crafting a business idea.”
You can find out more including cost and other products at the Money Savvy Website: http://www.msgen.com/assembled/home.html
In addition, there are some great website for kids such as the U.S Mint (http://www.usmint.gov/kids/games/) and even banks like Valley National Bank (http://www.vnbkids.com/kids.asp)
Happy Savings!
The blog is in no way compensated for items featured. Parents should evaluate the appropriateness of any product in their own child’s situation. Please feel free to check the consumer product safety commision (http://www.cpsc.gov/) or with other groups that test the safey of children’s products.
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From Hedge Funds to High Chairs 