April is Financial Literacy Month

Junior Achievement USA says it's never too early to teach children about money

TEMPE, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Now, the month of April being designated Financial Literacy Month isn't about celebrating your finances, but, challenging yourself to improve your situation. Financial Literacy Month was designed to promote early and constant financial education.

Tempe-based education strategy firm Junior Achievements USA has been catering its curriculum for children since the late 50s. They place an emphasis on financial literacy with both information and in-person education.

Anne Landers the Vice-President of Strategic Impact for JA says it's never too early to teach children about money. In most cases, children learn about money through play and Landers says that's the perfect time to introduce financial responsibility.

Games like Monopoly can teach children about money management, but, Landers suggests that things like credit and debt be introduced. Landers suggests that parents give their children a loan and physically show them how credit works by issuing an interest rate.

Now, if the child pays back the loan in the designated time, a parent would reward the child's "good credit" with a bigger loan. In turn, if the child fails to pay the money back in the designated time they would face interest fees and their next loan would be denied, due to "bad credit".

Landers also suggest talking with your child and asking where they'd like to live (house, apartment...) in the future and what kind of work they imagine themselves doing. She says parents should then research what that career pays and what living costs would be.

Landers adds that parents also need to add transportation costs (loan, lease), food, and entertainment and see if the child's future plans are feasible.

Landers says that this exercise will give children a broader perspective. Depending on the child's age, parents can alter the language so that their child understands.

Junior Achievements offers a variety of lesson plans on online tools to help parents.