Money and Markets Article Lists Six Ways to Teach Children About Financial Decisions

Nilus Mattive discusses six ways to teach children about money and the financial markets. In this issue of Money and Markets, Mr. Mattive explains the importance of teaching children to make sound financial decisions.

Jupiter, Fla. (PRWEB) May 1, 2008 -- Nilus Mattive discusses six ways to teach children about money and the financial markets. Mr. Mattive explains the importance of teaching children to make sound financial decisions.

There are six ways to teach children about money and the financial markets. First, have them start with allowances early. It's important that children get hands on experience when it comes to money. A personal connection with the exchanges of money can help children understand the concept of transactions better. Depending on the child's age and inclination, he can even be allowed to direct many of his own basic purchases, as long as they stay within predetermined criteria.

Second, help children establish a budget. Children are perfectly capable of keeping a notebook that tracks how much money they've been given and what they've spent it on.

Third, allow them to open up a savings account and have them monitor the progress. It's important to show the beneficiary of the account the activity, because nothing demonstrates the power of compounding interest like watching it occur.

Fourth, explain choices and purchasing decisions. Major purchases are a great way to teach the importance of research, comparison shopping, discounts and negotiation.

The fifth way is to show them how the markets work. It's recently become easier than ever to teach children about the markets. They can create dummy portfolios through various websites, check real-time prices online, or look up prices in newspapers. Having some adult guidance to explain the various moves is a terrific learning experience.

The last way is to actually give them an investment of their own. Watching stock prices would be even more exciting if a child owned a few of the stocks he is monitoring. It also can teach a great deal about risk and volatility.

"Those are six ways to get a child started and surely there are plenty of others. You may have your own approach or various ways to tweak my suggestions. Just remember that every child is different and every person has their own teaching methods. The important part is showing our kids how to make sound financial decisions before they come asking to borrow our credit cards!" Mattive states.

To read this issue online, please visit:
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?Teaching-Children-About-Money-Investments-and-Finance-1713

About NILUS MATTIVE & MONEY AND MARKETS    

Nilus Mattive, a financial analyst at Weiss Research, is the editor of Dividend Superstars, a monthly publication and is also the editor of the company's daily e-letter, Money and Markets. Formerly a senior editor of Standard & Poor's The Outlook, the oldest continuously published investment newsletter in the country, he has written for a number of investment websites, including BusinessWeek and Individual Investor. Mr. Mattive is the author of The Standard & Poor's Guide for the New Investor (McGraw-Hill, 2004) and has appeared on the popular investment radio show, Traders Nation, to discuss his views on personal finance.

Mr. Mattive graduated cum laude from the University of Scranton

Money and Markets (www.moneyandmarkets.com) is a free daily investment newsletter from Dr. Martin Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Weiss Research, Inc. is located in Jupiter, Florida. For more information about our editors, or to set up an interview, please contact Jennifer Moran at 561-627-3300 or visit www.moneyandmarkets.com.

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