Best Ways to Raise Money-Smart Kids

Laura Rowley, Yahoo! Finance columnist, asked readers for their best ideas on how to raise money-smart kid](http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/moneyhappy/6038) and reproduced some of her favorites. She introduces the idea of saving money by waiting six months to get “Over the Hedge” from Netflix for $2.50 instead of seeing it now at the theater for $8 or more per person at the theater:

Imagine this was a stock: If you could confidently predict it was going to drop 94 percent in six months, wouldn’t you wait and buy low?

Here are a couple of the reader’s comments that caught my attention:

At the end of every year, whatever our nephew saves and invests — in stocks — we match. That includes Christmas money, birthday money, and anything else he manages to save up. We started last year and bought him a few shares of Disney (DIS) since that’s what he wanted to buy. It worked. We have him reading to tell us how the stock is doing, how much it goes up and down. Next December, he’s thinking about eBay (EBAY). He has from Christmas until the second week of January to decide where his “401(k)” is going. — Rebecca A. Gushue

I really like the idea of matching my kid’s long-term savings. Right now the kids get $10 on the 5th and 20th of the month (dad’s payday) which is divided up between spending, savings, and tithe. I would like to see part of that savings go towards long term savings and this would be a good way to encourage it.

I encourage my kids to live in an eBay world, where closets of unused sports gear can be turned back into cash. It also shows them depreciation when they say, “That cost me $100, and all I got for it was $10!” I also point out car commercials and teach them about leasing vs. buying, new vs. used. I invest in real estate and often take my kids to the closing. I explain what it means to pay rent vs. receive it. I think that it’s important for kids to understand the process and not to be afraid of investing. — Mark Adams

Hmmm. Might have to have them go on eBay to check out some of their recent purchases…..

HatTip to: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity