Is an Allowance Hurting Your Kids?
by Kristen Burgess
Many experts advise that you give your kids an allowance to teach them responsibility about money. They say that it will teach your children about saving and spending. Is an allowance really a good thing? Or could it actually be hurting your kids?
Money does not hurt kids – but an allowance does. Many families are suffering in the world today because there are not many jobs available. People are sitting around at home, often starving or going without electricity, because there is no job to be delivering a paycheck every two weeks. These people don’t get up and do whatever it takes to feed their families. They complain about unemployment and wait for a check to be handed out.
An allowance is a handout. Sometimes it’s an exchange for work. Then it’s essentially a paycheck. You teach your child to be a good little employee. They know that the next check is right around the corner, so it’s OK if they spend this one. Even if you have them save part of their paycheck, they’re still developing an employee mentality.
Children should not learn to sit around waiting on their paycheck (allowance). You don’t get paid to do your tasks around the house and they shouldn’t either. They need to learn that they’re part of the family and they must contribute to it. They learn valuable skills – cooking and cleaning – all skills they’ll need as adults. These are also skills that help to make your load lighter. You did not have children to serve them, or to pay them for their help.
Teach children to look for opportunities to make money. Extra work around the house – such as cleaning windows, dusting baseboards, etc. is a good thing that children can learn to look for. Working in the yard is another good opportunity. Lemonade stands and mowing the neighbor’s lawns are traditional activities children have done to make money.
Your kids are clever. If you teach them and encourage them to look for opportunities they’ll find them. Teach them that if they want something, they need to do the work to earn it. Many children, especially older teens, can start successful projects that bring them immediate income and may even turn into recurring assets. Think of how many major players have been started by kids barely out of their teen years (Google and Microsoft are two that come to mind).
Do teach your kids about money as they’re making it. Require them to save some of their money and teach them about investments. Teach them how to judge character quality and decide if someone would be a good employee or business partner. It’s much easier for your children to learn these lessons now and master these basics now – when you’re there to give guidance.
An allowance does hurt your kids – but money offers a lot of opportunity to learn. Teach your kids to look for opportunity. As adults they’ll have good financial sense – and they’ll know that if they want opportunity they need to get up and find it. You won’t have to worry about them sitting around waiting on a paycheck – or worse – a handout.
Kristen is an avid writer, constantly working on new ideas for articles and sites. Visit her site on Nutiva coconut oil and find out where to buy coconut oil.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristen_Burgess
