“What else are you supposed to do with it?”  was the answer I got when I asked one of the kids in my math camp why he spent all his money.

Matthew earns a weekly allowance for doing his chores.   He loves video games and spends most of his money on those.  He’s not a big saver.  In fact, he’s not a saver at all.  Apparently he didn’t even know he could save his money.

Matthew is 9 years old and he’s already learned that money you earn simply gets spent.  That doesn’t mean that somewhere along the line he won’t be introduced to the idea of saving, it’s just that in the interim, he’s going to lose out on valuable time.  And maybe even make some big mistakes.

Does that mean we should we be requiring that 9-year olds save some of their money?  I personally think putting aside a small amount on a regular basis, even at 9 years old, is a good idea.  Hey, one day they’re going to want to be driving around town on their own four set of wheels…not to mention owning a home.  And don’t get me started on their retirement.  The sooner they get in the habit of saving, the better prepared they will be.

Research tells us over and over that most of our money lessons and habits come from our home environment.  The fact that the idea of saving hadn’t ever been introduced to Matthew is a little disconcerting to me.   We need to find ways to reach these kids and teach them healthy saving and spending habits.  And then maybe they’ll go home and teach their parents.