Financial experts to share how to teach young kids about money.

I’m the one in the FT article that charged ‘rent’ so I’m happy to chat and expand on that further.

The trick with young kids is to make money real and physical. With my four-year-old, we sell his old toys on Facebook Marketplace: he picks what's going, we handle the listing, and when a buyer comes to collect we go to the door together and he takes the money himself. Then he chooses something new to spend it on. He can see the whole chain, from letting go of something he's outgrown to the cash that buys the next thing, and it lands far better than pocket money in a jar. Beyond that, keep it in coins and notes while they're small. A child learns almost nothing from a card tapping a reader, but hand them the money, let them pay and watch the change come back, and it sticks. And let them make small decisions with their own money, including the bad ones. Spending their pocket money on something that breaks by teatime teaches more than any lecture about saving. The mistakes are cheap now, and the lesson lasts.

My first money lesson was a sweet shop run from a bedroom drawer. I used pocket money earned doing chores, bought sweets from the newsagent, then sold them back to family at a mark-up. It sounds cheeky, but it taught three lessons children understand instantly: money is earned, stock has a cost, and profit is what is left after you have paid for it. With my own children, I’d keep it practical rather than preachy. Give them a small budget for a day out, let them sell old toys and keep some proceeds, or charge a token ‘rent’ on screen time or storage space to show that resources are limited. The key is not making money feel scary or grubby. It should feel like a tool. Children learn far more from handling real coins, making small mistakes and seeing trade-offs than from a lecture about compound interest at the dinner table.

its important to teach children is that money takes time and effort to earn but learning how to spend it is just as important. Good financial habits are formed through everyday decisions, distinguishing between needs and wants, comparing prices, waiting before buying and understanding that spending money on one thing means giving up something else. Social media can make this particularly difficult. Children are constantly exposed to influencers and advertising that can make unnecessary spending feel normal or essential. Parents can help by talking about purchasing decisions and encouraging children to question whether they genuinely want something.

Practical experience such as managing pocket money, saving towards a goal or selling old toys before buying new one help children understand. The aim is not to discourage spending, but to teach intentional spending. Children who learn to pause, plan and make informed choices are more likely to become financially resilient adults.

The most valuable lesson isn’t budgeting, it’s understanding what money actually is: stored time and effort. If a child earns £5 washing the car, they learn that toy doesn’t cost £5 it costs an hour of their life. Use cash, not cards. Everyone teaches saving. Almost nobody teaches borrowing, and that’s the lesson that costs people most in adult life. Lend your child £10 for a toy they can’t wait for, then take £1 back a week for twelve weeks. They repay twelve. The grumbling you get in week nine is the entire lesson: borrowed money always costs more than it felt like at the time. Teach them that money rots. Ask what a chocolate bar cost when their grandparents were small. Cash in a tin quietly shrinks every year. Most adults have never properly grasped that, which is why so many of them save diligently and still fall behind.

I would teach children about money by giving them real decisions, not fake lessons. Pocket money is useful, but the best education comes when they have to choose: spend it now, save for something bigger, or sell something they no longer use to fund the next thing.

I actually like the idea of charging older children a small “rent” once they start earning, but I would secretly save some or all of it for them. The lesson is that adulthood has fixed costs, while the surprise later is that good financial habits can build something meaningful.

What I would never do is make money frightening. Constantly saying “we can’t afford that” can create anxiety. I would rather say, “we could buy it, but we are choosing to spend our money elsewhere.”

Children do not need lectures about compound interest at seven. They need to learn that money is finite, choices have consequences and waiting is sometimes worth it.

Your relationship with money forms before the age of 7, so I would focus on positive associations with money eg what do we value, what do we want to choose to spend our money on, rather than 'we can't afford that'. A sense of scarcity can be mistakenly taught by going down the 'we can't afford that' route. Involve your children in what you're choosing to spend on as a family, a day out, a recipe in the supermarket, will all make it more tangible.

Happy to support and have been writing a book on this very topic (although early stages!) and have been passionate about supporting my children and children in local schools to develop their understanding and appreciation for money.

Through the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investments (CISI) we are launching MoneyLaunch to provide the tools and support to teachers to deliver financial education to secondary school children to build positive early financial habits.

My view is the key is to engage children in money discussions early. Get them thinking about the cost of things, the time value of money to earn what things like meals, games, phones or holiday cost.

We have always discussed things like buying a house, the cost of a mortgage, the cost of electricity and the impact of leaving lights and other electrical devices on...which has led to some interesting discussions and learnings!