A Debit Card For Your Child.
Categories: Credit Cards
Written By: Lenny Whinterspoon
Learning about finances should be a part of growing up, which means you have to teach your kids about them along the way. The good news, however, is that a debit card is a great way to teach your child about spending money. Actually, a prepaid credit card can make for a fantastic method to teach money management.
Here is how it is done:
A prepaid credit or debit card is quite a simple concept. The card is a prepaid card that a certain amount of money is deposited on and only that amount can be used. For instance, you may deposit $100 on your childs card. They wont be able to spend more than that $100. If they spend all of it, they will just have to wait until it is time for you to make another deposit.
What this does is teach your kids that once they spend their money, they have no other options. This is true for real life. If you spend all of your money, you have to wait until you get paid again until you can do anything. It is important that kids learn this so that they do not have to live from paycheck to paycheck when they are adults.
You can also teach saving money to your child by encouraging him or her not to spend all of the money on their card. They can accumulate their money so that they can do things that they want to do. If they want to go on an outing with their friends, then they can use their saved money to do so.
What you are doing here is teaching them how to manage and save money. The wise way to do this is by depositing your childs allowance rather than giving them money. When a child works for their money they value it more. When they receive such things as birthday money or money for another occasion, deposit the money onto the card.
In the meantime, keeping track of transactions also becomes a part of the curriculum. Your child can learn to track transactions online, keep a register, and consider purchases before making them. This will keep the child from becoming embarrassed in the checkout line when there is no more money on the card. You dont want your child to experience this embarrassment, so make sure transaction tracking is part of the deal.
So when you are looking for a great tool that will teach your child about spending and saving money, a debit card is a great tool. Just make sure that the card you get is a prepaid credit card or debit card so that you dont have to worry about your child getting carried away.
