Is it time to talk to our children about money? Osper feedback thread, non-attendees chance to win £75 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

On Monday 16th February, 10 MNers and their child(ren) aged 8-15 attended a workshop hosted by Osper.

Osper, who offer a prepaid Debit Card for 8-18's with a mobile banking app for the family, are exploring the need to talk to our children about money.

Check out the video from the event day here:

Non-attendees, for a chance to win £75 in Amazon vouchers, how can you spot when it's the right time to talk to your child about money? Add your comment to this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win £75 to spend at Amazon.

Attendees please share your responses to the following questions:

Having attended the workshop, do you think it’s important for us to talk to our children about money?

What was the most surprising thing you heard on the day?

What advice would you give to other parents on talking to their kids about money? How can they spot when it's the right time?

What did you and your children make of Osper? Do you think getting children an Osper card is a good way to start a conversation about money?

Please add your comment by 06-03-2015. Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Thanks
MNHQ

PS If your child already has an Osper card, or if you got one at the event, they've love to know how you and your child are getting on with it - in terms of spending and in terms of managing it online. Please add your thoughts below

I talked to my children about money only when I felt they were old enough to understand, and when they themselves expressed an interest in the subject. It's a complex issue, parents need to be sure their children properly grasp the subject and inculcate good habits early on.

With my little one being only 17 months there isn't much I can do at the minute. But as soon as he's old enough to understand he'll have a piggybank and probably a toy shop with till just to introduce the idea of money and saving. When he's older we'll stress the importance of being sensible with money and educate him on financial issues. As a sidenote I think these issues should feature more in secondary education as I, and probably many others, left school without any real understanding of mortgages, interest rates etc. As a parent I'll see it as my role to educate him on these matters but more education in a formal setting can't be a bad thing.

think its important you always talk to your children about money... holidays i think are a good time to talk about it, so they havetheir own spending money, but i suppose the tell tale signs are quite simple. they are learning about money in school and eager to have their own money/ or pay the shop keeper. you cant shelter children and nor should you want to...they need to understand how the world works and experience it. unfortunatly money makes the world go round and he sooner kids know it the better.

my son is 5 and in year 1 he is learning about counting money etc. we have decided that although he knows quite abit about money hes never really had his own in his hand as such. we are going to change that this summer!

Around Christmas my daughter needed to "borrow" money from me for presents. She gets regular pocket money. On the second occasion I decided this was the right time to talk to her about money.

Thanks for all the comments.
Am pleased to say InAndOfMyself wins a £75 Amazon voucher from Osper!

Thank you, this has cheered me up!

Never too early to talk about money. In fact coins/notes should be introduced early as many children only see their parents pay with credit/debit cards in shops so that they do not fully appreciate how much things cost.

Update from attendee: DD (11) asked me to put her pocket money on her Osper card, which I've done. It couldn't have been simpler for me to do that. She's used it to buy in shops and is very happy with how easy to use it is but, when showing a friend, said she's not going to pay £10 to continue using it after the year is over.