Piggy banks today smart kids tomorrow

Our parents told us money didn't grow on trees; today's kids need to hear that there's no endless fountain behind that hole in the wall.
New Zealand author Sylvia Bowden says she has lost count of the times she has heard of children telling parents, "just go up to the hole in the machine and get some money".
Mrs Bowden is the author of Parents: How to Stop Your Kids from Going Broke.
Her book is one of many sources of advice for parents who may be looking to help their children manage their money.
Another such source, the money website sorted.org.nz, also mentions the illusion of "endless cash at money machines".
The site recommends showing children withdrawals on bank statements to show that the money does, indeed, run down.
Children should also be taught about interest.
"Kids need to know that you can earn interest by saving, and that you pay interest when you borrow."
The site lists money tools for kids, ranging from the humble piggy bank to bank accounts with passbooks.
As a former budget adviser and life coach, Bowden saw "what a mess people were in" because of bad financial decisions, like would-be students who couldn't afford a regular $2 for the bus to the polytech.
"That's when I got the passion; I wanted to be a fence at the top of the cliff instead of an ambulance at the bottom."
In her column Money Talk, Bowden writes that money has three jobs: "sharing it with others, saving for the future, and spending it on wants and needs".
Children can learn this with three money jars - sharing, spending and saving - which can be further divided into short and long term.
Bowden advocates children learn to handle cash gradually, from letting them give it to the shopkeeper, to having some of their own to spend.
"You do some things as part of a family," she says, but "children should be given some money to learn to use it."
This money shouldn't necessarily be tied to household jobs, Bowden advises, because "then you see teenagers as they're getting bigger wanting to be paid for everything".
"They're asked to mow the lawns and say, 'It's not part of cleaning my room'.
"Some things children must learn to do for nothing."
Educating children means watching your own spending, Bowden says, ask, "What are my kids learning from me?"
Parents should talk about choices, and include children in financial decisions.
"Let's look at our spending plan, and see if we've got the cash."
Children can learn, she insists, that "it's not Mum being mean, not buying me the $400 cellphone; that's the way it is, we haven't got the money".
Bowden discourages lending money to children, and stresses the need to learn "delayed gratification".
Even children who do save should keep some for longer-term goals, Bowden recommends, not saving for one item and "totally empty the bank account and save again".
Some 10- to 12-year-olds, doing work on the family dairy farm, may in a few years after saving each week be able to afford a car when they turn 17.
Money man Grant Howard, of Wairarapa Free Budget Advisory Service, reckons it comes down to common sense.
"If I want it, I have to save; you have to earn it yourself."
Mr Howard speaks to teen parents and young people in employment courses, and has long advocated compulsory budgeting lessons in schools. He laments the loss of "home economics", which once included budgeting and buying ingredients for meals, as well as cooking them.
"It's basically what wants are and what needs are," Mr Howard says. "Always prioritise," he says.
"It's power and phone and then all the rest comes after that."
6 tips to help kids save
* Get children handling cash from as young as 2 or 3 years old.
* Before giving your children pocket money for the first time, set the rules of what is to be done with it - "With this $1, I want you to save 40 cents, share 10 cents and you can spend 50 cents if you want to." Stick to this.
* Give the pocket money to children already broken down into how you want them to use it. Have three money jars - savings, sharing and spending. Take them to the bank to actually put the money into a savings account regularly.
* Help your kids set SMART money goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and with a time frame).
* Teach your kids to think in terms of short-term savings and long-term savings. Don't make the goal of reaching a certain amount to buy something, then emptying the bank account and starting again - children should get the idea that some savings are for something in the future.
* If a child has an Eftpos card, don't connect the savings account to it.