Talk to kids about money

If your kids are anything like mine, you're probably a bit worried about how they will approach their financial future.

I often get to the supermarket checkout and find a few extra treasures in there.

He's not even three and if he's lucky he has - at best - an out-of-circulation Australian 50c coin in his pocket.

I figure we have some time to teach him the value of money, although for my bank balance's sake, sooner rather than later would be better.

It's got me thinking about how we talk about money with our kids these days. When I was growing up, I would see my parents taking money out of the bank and then spending it.

Handing over physical cash, counting it, even setting aside notes and attaching them to bills that were to be paid.

There were numbers, pictures, colours, we held them and saw them more often and recognised their worth in a transaction.

Now, we wave a plastic card in the direction of the self-service checkout and we are on our way.

This means we have to actually go out of our way to have more conversations with our kids about money and how it works.

If you're wondering how to go about it, here are a couple tips I've picked up from the experts:

Bring kids into your everyday conversations about money and the family budget. If you're thinking about what to buy at the supermarket, for example, tell them you've got a certain set amount to spend.

If they want something and it's going to push you over the budget, they might have to put something else back.

Comparing values will give them some perspective and help them make choices.

And talk to them about savings. If you give them pocket money, you could suggest a portion of it goes straight into a savings account and they could work towards a goal, like buying a toy they have their eye on.

- Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants