How to Teach Small Children to Save and Invest

From Inside Personal Finance

When it comes to teaching children about money, you should get them involved early…as young as 7 or 8 years of age. Have them help with the bill paying. Expose them to preparing your tax return. And, if you have the money, set up a brokerage account for them. Let them pick a stock or two.

The neat thing about this concept is it introduces children to buying the companies that make the goods we want. For children, that means companies like Mattel or Disney. One little kid I know loves cars. He chose stock in General Motors because he loves the Corvette so much.

Of course, they won’t know what really goes into stock analysis before investing money, so that’s where the educational process begins. Another educational resource is popular mutual funds. Many fund families offer material designed for kids; some even offer actual mutual funds aimed directly at children. One company’s prospectus is written like a children’s book, with simple explanations about mutual funds and investing. (Whether the fund is worthy of your child’s money is another matter.)

If you don’t participate in stock or mutual fund investing, learn about it, because your kids are going to ask! If you can’t give them an answer, use the question as an opportunity to learn the answers together. It’s a great way to spend time with your child, as well as improving their education and your personal finances.

A great Web site that can help you teach your children about money is www.jumpstartcoalition.org, sponsored by the Jump$tart Coalition, a nonprofit organization committed to helping educating school children. As described at its Web site:

“… the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy determined that the average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most simply have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing.

“Many young people fail in the management of their first consumer credit experience, establish bad financial management habits, and stumble through their lives learning by trial and error. The Coalition’s direct objective is to encourage curriculum enrichment to insure that basic personal financial management skills are attained during the K-12 educational experience.”

You can access more than 150 nonprofit organizations and sponsors (including my financial planning firm) via this Web site. It’s ideal for schoolteachers and others who want to teach students about money or investments.

For example, there’s a game on the site that teaches children about earning money and paying bills. The children first select the level of education they want (high school dropout, high school degree, or college degree). Based on the level chosen, a corresponding average salary is given. Then it’s up to the child to budget and plan for expenses, which include housing, food, car, and more. The site also lets the child build a lifestyle, such as choosing the kind of house and car he or she wants, and then it shows how much money the child needs to earn to support that lifestyle and the types of careers that pay such salaries. It’s a great opportunity for children to gain insight about what we grownups have to contend with.

The site also contains the only single source for finding publications and training aids designed specifically to teach kids about money. If there is a child dear to your heart, I strongly encourage you to check out this Web site. I only wonder how much more financially successful you and I would be if this information had been around when we were tykes.

Piggy Bank for that little fisherman. Perfect gift for any boy. Big or small!

Baby Boy Gift: Gone Fishin’ – Limited Edition Series

Let’s ‘Go Fishin’! What a great gift for that fisherman in your life or how about the perfect baby boy gift for a shower. Perfect for that new little boy or girl.  Or how about that person you know that love’s to fish.

Also, each of our piggy banks comes with a stopper and money bag to every little saver come easily take their savings to the bank. GONE FISHIN’ is from our Limited Edition Series. Only 2500 of these piggy banks that are produced and each is individually numbered.  Available in three sizes:

Little Piggy Bank –    3” height (size of a baseball)
Middle Piggy Bank – 5” height (size of a soccer ball)
Biggy Piggy Bank –    7” height (size of a basketball)

Our History…
In 1996, Piggy Bank Express acquired thousands of molds from the long-defunct Southern Potteries,  many of which we now use. At The Piggery, our studio and production facility in Gray, Tennessee. We are constantly coming up with new designs for our beautiful piggy banks.

All of our china and piggy banks are completely painted by hand exactly as was 100 years ago, just down the road at Southern Potteries.

Although Southern Potteries is no more, we carry on the tradition of producing hand-painted china in Tennessee and hope our products will continue to be enjoyed by families for generations to come. Perfect baby shower gift.

Coin Banks: Humpty Dumpty- Artist Signature Collection Series Piggy Banks

‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall’. What child is not familiar with this traditional fairytale! This incredibly beautiful, hand painted coin bank from Piggy Bank Express is from our Artist Signature Collection Series. There are only a handful of these coin banks produced and each is numbered and individually dated. It is available in 3 sizes.

Little Piggy Bank –    3” height (size of a baseball)
Middle Piggy Bank – 5” height (size of a soccer ball)
Biggy Piggy Bank –    7” height (size of a basketball)

Hand painted in vivid apple green and red, it is a perfect piggy bank for almost anyone; young and old. Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture.  The earliest known version is in a manuscript addition to a copy of Mother Goose‘s Melody published in 1803.

Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Baby Keepsakes: The Old MacDonald Farm – Limited Edition Series

With a Moo Moo here and a cluck cluck there….Old MacDonald Had a Farm is one of the most endearing nursery rhymes that we all know and love. Children all over the world are familiar with this lovable nursery rhyme. Baby boutiques most everywhere have something with this memorable nursery rhyme. This lovely piggy bank will be the hit at the baby shower.  This palette is in primary colors and has the familiar EE-I-EE-I-O as a detail on the handles and feet of the piggy bank.  Be sure to sing this song when giving this beautiful piggy bank as a gift.

Also, each of our piggy banks comes with a stopper and money bag to every little saver come easily take their savings to the bank. Old McDonald Farm is from our Limited Edition Series. Only 2500 of these piggy banks that are produced and each is individually numbered.  Available in three sizes:

Little Piggy Bank –    3” height (size of a baseball)
Middle Piggy Bank – 5” height (size of a soccer ball)
Biggy Piggy Bank –    7” height (size of a basketball)

Old MacDonald had a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O,
And on that farm he had a [animal name], EE-I-EE-I-O,
With a [animal noise twice] here and a [animal noise twice] there
Here a [animal noise], there a [animal noise], everywhere a [animal noise twice]
Old MacDonald had a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O.
For example, a verse using a cow as an animal, and moo as the cow’s sound would be:
Old MacDonald had a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O.
And on that farm he had a cow, EE-I-EE-I-O.
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O.
Sometimes the ‘with a’ before the animal sound is dropped. Another version similar to the above goes:
Old MacDonald has a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O.
And on the farm he has a cow, EE-I-EE-I-O.
Moo moo here, moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald has a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O.

Baby Boy Gifts: Snails & Tails Piggy Bank

Looking for perfect baby boy gifts or a baptism gift for that new little baby boy? How about Snails & Tails piggy bank from Piggy Bank Express! Such a hit with families looking for the perfect gift for that special day.  ”What Are Little Boys Made Of?” is a popular nursery rhyme dating from the early nineteenth century. This beautiful, hand painted piggy bank has all things ‘little boy’. A tire swing, frogs, puppy dogs and bright, fun colors of red, blue, yellow, and green.

The origin of Snails and Puppy dog Tails can be traced back to an early 19th century poem entitled “What are little boys made of”. Several interpretations have been suggested but the one with the most credibility is that the original words were in fact ‘snips of snails’ – the origin of snips meaning ‘little bits of’. No redemption there for describing what little boys are made of’! And, of course, little girls love to hear that they are made of 
”Sugar and spice and all things nice!

What are little boys made of?
What are little boys made of?
Frogs and snails
And puppy-dogs’ tails,
That’s what little boys are made of.
What are little girls made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice
And everything nice,
That’s what little girls are made of

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can’t tell where to find them.
Leave them alone, and they’ll come home
Wagging their tails behind them.

We have depicted this endearing nursery rhyme on a piggy bank. This childhood tale originates from an 1805 children’s game.