I'm still wondering how I got to think up a topic like this but after it came up, I could relate very well to it from the time I was a little kid till I became older. I'm a perfect case study of a kid who grew up getting money gifts from people. I can't give a figure to the money gifts I got while I was growing up as I was a very loveable kid and many family friends wanted to please my siblings and I with gifts.
There were many kinds of gifts but we got more money gifts which now that I think about it, were given to us because they didn't know what we really needed. My dad was a big fan of giving us money for every hour or day he will be away from home so we could get anything we wanted while he is away.
That regular act had an impact in our lives as kids but the focus of this post will be in a more general light regarding kids who get money as gifts.
As we would know by now, kids are considered very innocent and need guidance for every single action they'd take so they could minimise mistakes as much as possible. And on the other hand, money is a powerful tool that rules a lot of things in the world. Something that powerful is definitely going to have impact on anyone holding it, earning it or using it.
So imagine having the little kids get in contact with money...
Precautions and cautions must be given before and after money is gifted to kids whether by the parents or guidance as this would help them build a healthy money habit. Remember that money habits changes and while it could be hard to build, it is harder to maintain but we would agree that it is a lot easier when we catch them young and that is guiding the kids early enough.
Like it says in the first image I designed... It is never too early to start saving. so it is never too early to start teaching the kids about money.
There are a lot of impacts gifting money to kids would cause when there are guidance and when there are no guidance, I'll share some in this post and hope to read more from you in the comment section.
Kids gets very excited when they are gifted anything and same goes for money especially when they know the value of each note and what they could buy with it. This calls for guidance and with the right guidance, kids who get money gifts are most likely to act these way 👇
- With Guidance:
Kids tend to save even tiny cents from what they are gifted as they must have been taught of the importance in saving for the future. They save up for their wants as they have learnt of the difference between needs and wants. Guidances go about showing them the difference by making them get acquainted with household items and explaining which is needed and which is just a want.
Kids with guidance tend to set goals for themselves with the help of their guidance and they are able to achieve little goals like getting a bicycle, a new book and so on with the money gifts they get. They also learn to see that money doesn't come easily and that is also a product of hard work. Such kids tend to grow up to become enthusiastic about earning honestly as they will be wiser to know how to grow their money.
- Without Guidance:
Sadly, I fall in this category but not in the worse case scenario as I am way better than I was growing up. I guess I learnt to stop and pause so I could learn from others even though I couldn't learn so much in this aspect from my dad. Dad always had the mind of "Spend it all, that is why I gave it to you" so I grew up doing all that with his money gifts but he began to teach us better as we grew older. It was difficult to adjust to the new way but after personal experiences, I had to listen and learn.
Kids without guidance in money gifts tend to grow a squandering habit, they don't like to save and they tend to buy just anything at impulse without the knowledge of what is needed and just wants. Corrections can be made as they grow older but it's always better to start early.
While you gift money to kids, don't fail to guide them on how to use it for their own good.
What do you think? I'd love to know what you think regarding this, contributions are welcome.
Images used were designed with Canva