With April being financial literacy month, it is an important time to reflect on teaching your kids about money and the importance of saving.

Tips for Raising Financially Literate Kids

1. Help kids to set reasonable expectations. This old saying really is true: Money does not grow on trees.
2. Teach kids to set goals. Efficient financial planning starts with goals and a vision of what you want and when you want it. Kids are not too young to start learning that lesson. One way to help them set goals is to have them create a wish list. Sometimes this process of writing down what they want can help them clarify what they really want and also learn to set priorities. In tough economic times, some parents might have to pull back on what they can afford to buy for their kids. Teaching kids how to scale back is a good thing too.
3. There is no such thing as having too much money, but one can have too little character. Teach kids character, morals and values. Teach them to enjoy the satisfaction of taking responsibility and completing tasks. Teach them to be generous to those less fortunate. Teach them that life is not fair. Whatever they want in life will not be given to them; they have to go out and earn it.
4. Be a positive role model by making sure you're handling your own money transactions in a good way. And, remember, talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words.
5. Teach your children to manage money by giving them an allowance. This should not be a paycheck for good grades or doing chores. An expectation can be set for those things without additional reward. The allowance is to help them learn to handle money by letting them conduct their own transactions. For example, when your child wants popcorn at the movie, explain that she needs to place her order, calculate in her head how much change she should receive, and understand that she will have less money left to use for any future transactions she wishes to make.

Learning good financial lessons early will help kids make sound financial decisions throughout their lives.

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