How I taught my child money parenting at home

To help you get started, we have some valuable insights from three Nurturer parents and their own experiences with their teenage children.

1) Adapt to changing financial needs

It’s understandable that children start to need more money as they get older. Perhaps this could also go hand in hand with giving them more responsibility over their own allowance.

It was natural for Cecilia, a Nurturer parent of three, to give her teenagers more money as they moved up the education ladder.

“There was a jump in pocket money from primary to secondary school due to longer days spent at school,” she shared. Once they started tertiary education, she also transitioned them into a monthly allowance system, rather than give them money weekly.

But how much should you give? It could be useful to look at how much your teen’s peers are receiving for their allowance, suggests Philip, father of two. “It seems fair, and also takes into account costs of transport, food at school, and average spending of other children their age.”

2) Actively impart financial knowledge

Since imparting financial knowledge to their children is important, Nurturers should actively educate their teens about financial concepts.

“Early on, I introduced budgets to them, and talked about using investments to earn interest,” said Philip. And it helps to emphasise that they have time to accumulate their savings: “One advice I always give them is that (whenever they have money) they should pay themselves first (i.e. save) and get rich slowly,” he added.

Additionally, having your teen take a more active role in earning their own allowance is a great way to help them become more self-disciplined. Cecilia shared how she made her older children work after their GCSE ‘A’ Levels to pay for a holiday with their friends. “This taught them that earning money was hard and made them more discerning when spending their own money,” she said.

3) Let them learn with their own mistakes

When it comes to money, Nurturers believe in learning things the hard way, for example when it comes to their teens overspending their allowance.

In Cecilia’s case, she had a one-chance rule. “I gave them a chance the first time they overspent their allowance, but I made sure they understood that it would not be topped up again.”

But what about parents who don’t want to be so harsh? There are other ways you can teach your teens this valuable lesson.

For instance, Anita, mother of two, has a rule in place for when her teens overspend. “When they spend more than their pocket money, I will still subsidise them, but I will warn them that their allowance for next month will be reduced,” she explains.

This way, teens will still have enough to tide them over the rest of the month, but will also have to learn better management skills with their reduced allowance in the next month.

4) Work as a team

Of all the persona types, Nurturers believe the most in working with their partner. In their teenage years, your child is most susceptible to external influences from the media and their friends. This means that working in tandem with your partner is crucial in shaping their money management skills.

But this doesn’t always mean that you and your partner need to have the same money parenting values and styles.

In such an instance, mutual respect for each other’s money parenting styles is key. According to Anita, even though her husband has a more relaxed and casual approach towards money parenting, he respects her disciplinary style.

And perhaps, having two different perspectives could even give your teen a more well-rounded education on money management.

This is a sentiment that Philip shares. “My wife is a bigger believer in insurance as a means to save money than I am, and encourages that route. For me, I believe more in investments, but the ultimate goal for us is the same: that our children learn to save” he said. “I think it’s important that children understand the different options they have and weigh them accordingly for what best fits them.”