Even six-year-olds now experience rent anxiety.
Three elementary-aged children learn how to manage their money early on, all thanks to their millennial mother, who charges them a small share of the household’s living expenses.
Experts say she has the right idea.
Samantha Bird’s children, ages 6, 8 and 9, each receive a weekly allowance, like so many others.
But in this case, the trio of junior finance students would have to devote part of their work to rent, utilities and groceries.
“Every week, they are paid $6. A dollar a week should go toward their (monthly) expenses, Bird explained in a TikTok video, which has garnered 5.7 million views.
Then, on the first of each month, the mini moneymakers each pay $1 for rent, $1 for groceries and $1 for utilities.
“They track it on their budget trackers and other expenses or categories come up after those payments. They put that dollar in a separate envelope for utilities, and then at the beginning of the next month we bill them for their bill,” explained the money-conscious parent.
Bird’s goal is to teach her children how to budget and pay bills “in a safe environment,” she said.
Her unconventional methods have received widespread criticism and praise from other TikTokers.
“At what age did you start this?” I think this is a great way to teach financial responsibility,” one person wrote.
“First I was like wow this is ridiculous and then I was like man I wish I had learned this at any point in my life,” another shared.
“No need for that. School will teach them everything they need to know. Like parallelograms. Which comes in handy during parallelogram season,” someone joked.
“They are too young for that. There is a good chance that they will become hyper obsessed with money and overly anxious about it. I speak from experience,” criticized one user.
“Children of this age absolutely do not need to be informed about expenses and bills. It’s a perfect setup to create financial anxiety,” said another.
Despite the mixed feedback Bird received, MarketWatch experts believe children are never too young to learn about financial responsibility.
“When it comes to teaching kids financial skills, there’s not just one way to do it,” Rick Kahler, financial planner and financial therapist and founder of Kahler Financial Group, told the outlet in South Dakota.
“I applaud (Bird) for being aware that she has a responsibility to teach her children financial skills. Whether the way she goes about it is (good) is always a matter of subjectivity.
Kate Yoho, a financial advisor at Tennessee-based TBH Advisors, says “starting them at this age is great.”
“I love his strategy. It’s good and basic,” Yoho said. “Children are passionate about things when they are little, especially about money, because they don’t understand it.”
Michele Paiva, a financial therapist based in Pennsylvania, cautioned that this specific type of “global budgeting” can be uninspiring and anxiety-inducing for children.
But at the same time, it teaches math skills as well as conversational skills when it comes to discussing finances. It also teaches “that sometimes in life you have to help others pay their bills.”
Bird shared in another video that she aims to keep it “light and fun.” She asks her children to do this because she wants them to learn financial self-control and expense management – skills they will need when they are older.
“I want them to understand the idea of it now, while they’re little and this process still seems fun to them,” Bird explained, adding that the money the kids pay will go into individual savings accounts which they will be surprised by when they are older.
New York Post
