If you have adult children who are good with money then please tell me about how you did pocket money?

[coodawoodashooda]

I am a single mum whose xh was useless with money. Spent it all on himself and couldn't spend it fast enough. Any ideas appreciated .

I am good at saving but hopeless with investing. My brother is similarly cautious with spending but does invest. The downside is that I find it really hard to spend money, especially on big things like house improvements.

My advice to help kids get to this point is:
Be poor at some point, really poor so that they know you can't afford sweets or the toys they want for Christmas.
Don't give them an allowance until they're 13. Then don't give them as much as their friends. Expect arguments about this. They will learn to budget.
(ok these two are rather tongue-in-cheek but certainly have affected my attitude to money)
Role model budgeting and witholding on spending yourself.
Get them to get jobs early to supplement their pocket money.
Open a savings account with them at the earliest opportunity, explain compound interest at this point.
Buy them 'What not to spend' by Alvin Hall when they're 18 or earlier.

My DC got an allowance/pocket money before they went to uni, it was for Lego, video games etc. We paid for clothes, socialising, phones and everything else. They also had part time jobs, I never asked what they spent it on, I just left them to it. They got jobs off their own backs.
They are now really good with money, I am quite surprised as I hardly ever talked to them about money and as they were growing up bought them anything they wanted. I think going to university really helped. They have good jobs now and seem to have a nice balance of saving and enjoying their money.

Hopping on a few days late... I'm all over our personal finances but was awful as a 20-something, despite being an accountancy student/trainee. What age do you start giving pocket money? My 5yo has been asking but not sure it's the right time.

I think it's much more to do with:

• Innate individual characteristics like reward-seeking behaviour. Someone who gets a hit of dopamine or whatever each time they buy something will behave very differently to someone who is indecisive/hates clutter/is more motivated by a feeling of accomplishment.


• Whether they were raised in an affluent household. This can go either way - I know some incredibly stingy people who have been comfortable their entire lives, and some who were raised in big families with no spare money who constantly buy things and throw money at every problem.


• Being aware of what the numbers are actually like by the time you enter adulthood. I think it's a good thing to show your teenager your salary and take-home pay and the amounts of rent/mortgage and bills that have been taken out of your account each month. No matter how well-intentioned and careful you are, these figures are hard for a teenager to guess and contextualise. I was a very independent and sensible teenager but I wouldn't have been able to guess how much someone's salary or mortgage was.