As a parent, of course you would like your kids to become financially smart people as they approach adulthood and start working in the society. Unless you’re Bill Gates, then you needn’t do so. I’m pretty sure US$50 billion can last several generations.
The traditional way of teaching the fine art of money management to young children is to expose them to the concepts like gathering up pennies, counting and storing them in piggy banks. As a teen, I still do that, and I love it, especially the process of seeing my money grow from a dollar to 1000 bucks.
To teach financial responsibility to your children requires a lot of time and patience. If you’re a busy parent and need to do many things on a daily basis, this is when technology helps you to be a better parent and yet at the same time accomplish your tasks.
Launched in May this year, Philadelphia based Kidzillions is an online allowance and chore management system that gives kids ages 10 to 13 tools to manage chores and money online. Unlike other online allowance systems, Kidzillions combines the benefits of budgeting, saving and responsible spending, helping kids learn essential lessons about personal finance and accountability in a cashless society.
Kids like it because they’re able to work for real money to buy real stuff easily, and parents like it because their kids are excited to save and (hopefully) do extra chores around the house.
To start, simply create a family account and kids accounts. Parents can then set up chores, rewards and allowance. Parents have the control to complete transactions and they can choose whether to approve or reject whenever your kid wants to withdraw money or make online purchases. Basically, the service offered by Kidzillions is all about teaching kids how to mechanize the process and keep working for it. Throughout the fun and enjoyable process, they will learn skills of how to manage their money well and to become financially responsible people.
Kidzillions is currently in Alpha and the full version of Kidzillions will be launched soon.