National Credit Union Week Is April 19-25

America's credit unions are shining the spotlight on how young people earn, spend, save and manage their own money and how America's credit unions help them do so wisely during National Credit Union Youth Week, April 19-25. The celebration takes place during the Jump$tart Coalition's Financial Literacy
for Youth Month.

Raising Money-Savvy Kids
Struggling for economic prosperity is difficult for everyone. It's especially hard for young people who've never learned how to plan to achieve financial security.

What we need today, confirmed by poor financial literacy test scores from across the country, is leadership to help raise the awareness of financial issues for young people.

The Magic of Saving
Hocus-pocus – my money grew! Well, maybe it's not that easy to save, but by teaching kids from a young age, it can be. As they grow to tweens and teens, they'll have one of the most difficult aspects of saving under their belt – being consistent.

• Have young children – preschool age – sort different types of money into piles by color and size.
• Play grocery store or credit union. Help them use a pretend cash register.
• At the grocery store, let kids of all ages help you shop. Teach them how to comparison shop – for example, show them that for every $4.99 box of cereal, there may be similar brands on sale for half as much.
• As kids get older, share sales receipts and bills that you receive for items or services you've purchased for them.
• If you decide to pay your kids an allowance, don't just establish one as parents. Sit down with them and discuss allowance amounts and what they should use their allowance for. The amount is your call, but allow them to have input. One idea is to have children set aside part of their allowance for spending, part for saving and part for sharing. Clarify what you'll pay for and what they should be responsible for. For example, when you're at the movies, maybe you agree to pay for a small drink and popcorn, but the Milk Duds are on them.
• Show children what compounding interest means. Explain that as kids save, they're constantly earning dividends on their savings – on top of that, they're earning dividends on their dividends.
• As kids reach high-school age, clarify what you will pay for and what your children are responsible for. For example, your kids may want the newest style of tennis shoes that come with a really high price tag. Establish what you'd pay for athletic shoes – say, $50. If they still want the more expensive pair, have them make up the difference. Often, once the responsibility of paying for items is on kids, the latest, greatest fashions aren't so important.

Join us this year as we celebrate National Credit Union Youth Week from April 19-25. Our theme for 2009 is "The Magic of Saving." We have a lot more ideas to help you raise financially savvy kids.

So, get your kids started right financially and see how many bunnies – we mean monies – they can pull out of their hats.

For more information, stop by any of our seven CHACO locations or give us a call at 513-785-3500.