Scottie Savers Club teaches children about money

Every year in August we designate a very special day to celebrate some very special members: our Scottie Savers Club members. This year Scottie Savers Day is August 13.

The Scottie Savers Club helps kids ages 12 and younger learn how to set financial goals and save money. Membership fees are waived for club members, and Scottie accounts start earning dividends with a balance as low as $5.

The purpose of the club is to help prepare your children to make wise financial decisions for a lifetime. The club encourages savings and money management at an early age. To help our Scottie Savers Club members understand how money works, we award one Scottie buck for every $5 deposited into a Scottie account. Those Scottie bucks can be exchanged for special merchandise at your local branch.

Your kids learn best from you

The Scottie Savers Club is a great tool to use when teaching your kids about money, but the best way for kids to learn about the topic is to hear it from their parents. Spend time talking to your children about your family values around money. If you need help approaching the topic, consider these tips:

• Discuss the difference between wants and needs. A want is a temporary urge that can fade quickly. A need, on the other hand, only grows more urgent with time. This is a great topic for younger children.
• Take your child shopping and explain how you save money when shopping. Do you use coupons? Do you shop sales? Let the kids in on your method.
• Show your child the family budget. Many parents don’t want to burden their kids with the family’s financial difficulties, but it doesn’t hurt to let them see the big categories, like rent or mortgage, utilities and food. They can even watch as you pay the bills.
• Discuss your family’s strategy for saving money, and talk about your savings goals. Revisit this topic occasionally, especially if you are saving for something to which your child can relate, like a vacation.
• Teach checkbook balancing if your child is old enough. With the rise of ATMs, debit cards and online banking, the art of balancing a checkbook is slowly dying. But it shouldn’t! Understanding how money flows in and out of your account can help you avoid an embarrassing overdraft.
• Explain the difference between a credit card and a debit card and how your family uses each.
• Practice what you preach. Model the money behaviors you want your children to adopt for their own healthy financial future.

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