The mortgage crisis and recession of 2008 wreaked havoc on the finances of many families in our communities. However you don’t have to go back to 2008 to find examples of frum families living in troubled financial straits. Even though high living costs are a major player the lack of financial education is an equal culprit. While many schools have implemented financial literacy into their curriculums the reality is that the best teachers are Tatty and Mommy. “The sooner parents start taking advantage of everyday teachable money moments (for example give a six-year-old $2 and let her choose which fruits to buy) the better off our kids will be ” writes Beth Kobliner author of the New York Times best-seller Get a Financial Life. A member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability Ms. Kobliner spearheaded the creation of Money as You Grow which offers age-appropriate money lessons for children. “Parents are the number one influence on their children’s financial behaviors so it’s up to us to raise a generation of mindful consumers investors savers and givers ” she adds. But how can you teach kids about money aside from opening a bank account for them and harping on how it’s better to save money than spend it? Turns out there are many age-appropriate ways parents can help children understand the value of a dollar no matter what stage of childhood.

To read the rest of this story please buy this issue of Mishpacha or sign up for a weekly subscription