How do you raise kids who grow up confident around money? It doesn’t take a financial seminar. What matters most is showing them how money works in real life—at the store, around the dinner table, and in everyday decisions.
In this video, Chad Chase sits down with Jamie Bosse—lead advisor, mom of four, and author of Money Boss Mom—to talk about how parents can raise financially responsible kids.
We cover:
- When and how to start teaching money habits
- What to do in each stage (ages 3–18)
- How to make money feel “real” in a tap-to-pay world
- Easy ways to use daily life as a money lesson
Whether your kids are still mastering snack time or they’re saving for their first car, this video gives you practical, no-guilt ideas you can use at home.
Transcript
Hi, I’m Chad Chase with CGN Advisors. As a person who helps many families plan for their financial future, I know that some of those lessons begin at home. Today, I’m sitting down with Jamie Bosse, who is a Senior Financial Advisor here at CGN Advisors. Jamie is passionate about helping families with young kids and helping them plan for their future.
So, Jamie, let’s get started with a really a big-picture question. So what are some of the early money habits kids pick up by just watching their parents, even if the parents aren’t saying anything?
How Children Learn About Money Through Observation
JAMIE: Yeah, great question. So kids are always learning by observation, even if we’re not teaching them anything. So if they see that their parents are struggling with money or expressing trouble around money, then they automatically assume that that’s a stressful thing. If they see their parents saving for things and they talk about it, then they’re more likely to understand what that means.
But psychologists say that a lot of our biases around money are formed from the time we’re seven to 10 years old. So the kids are watching and paying attention to how we handle money as adults.
Starting Financial Conversations in Preschool and Elementary School
CHAD: I guess that’s a good reason to start talking about money early, even the preschool or elementary school age.
JAMIE: For sure. So in preschool, you’re not talking about time value of money or investment returns or those sort of things, but you can talk about the basics, right? That money is earned by working and you can talk about how you earn money and how your family has earned money over time.
You might even talk to them about how they could think about ways that they can make money as children. You can also talk about just the basics; that’s how our society runs, right? You know, we use money as a tool to buy the things we want and the things that we need. And so it’s an important part of our daily lives.
Teaching Saving and Giving Habits to Elementary-Aged Kids
CHAD: As kids start to get older and you go through those grade school years, what are the things that parents should be really focusing on with their discussions with those kids?
JAMIE: As they get a little bit older, kind of in the elementary age, I would say starting the saving habits early. So anytime they get money for birthdays, tooth fairies, or allowance, those sort of things, having them automatically save a portion of that, right? So, establishing that habit when you make money, some of it is saved for the future, right?
And then as the kids get older in elementary school, if giving is important to your family, you can introduce that concept as a part of, you know, when you make money, you give some of it too. And then you save some, and you can spend the rest.
Helping Middle Schoolers Understand Wants vs. Needs
CHAD: So now we’re into kind of the middle school age of kids, which I have a middle school son, and it’s interesting. He has started asking about questions, mainly about our business, but also about money and those sorts of things. What are the things that I should be telling him?
JAMIE: Oh, man, middle school is a fun age. And that’s when things like the wants get really high, right? And they start to notice other things that people have. So at this age group, it’s really important to solidify delayed gratification, that you can’t have everything you want right when you want it.
But if there is something that you want, make a plan and save for it, right? So, you know, if your son has something that he’s really got his eye on, usually it’s pretty expensive in middle school age to identify, you know, figure out what that costs, figure out different ways you could buy it, right? Can you, if you buy it on Amazon versus at the store versus used on Facebook Marketplace, you know, what is that going to cost? And is that worth it to him? And then make a savings plan for how long it’s going to take you to get there.
CHAD: Yes. We’ve had discussions about why he doesn’t have a Bugatti electric scooter right now.
High School Financial Education: Jobs, Budgets, and Taxes
CHAD: So let’s go to high schoolers because most of the time you get to high school, you start thinking about maybe part-time jobs or summer jobs and that sort of thing. So what are those kind of earning decisions or spending decisions that you should have conversations about with your high schoolers?
JAMIE: So in high school, you’re training a mini adult, right? So you really need to get them used to the idea of money and how to use it. So, what I suggest for age 14 and above is giving them some responsibility and decisions to make with money.
So instead of buying their school supplies for them, allocate some money to it. Say, here’s your money for the school year for notepads, pencils, and whatever else. Let them pick it out, let them decide what they want to buy, and kind of weigh those trade-offs themselves.
Same with maybe clothing purchases or entertainment that they spend for the month, giving them some autonomy to feel the pain of, oh gosh, I have this much money and I spent it all on shoes and now I don’t have any to go to the movies. So you want them to experience some of that, um, failure to, you know, feel what it feels like and learn from those mistakes while they’re still under your roof and there’s not any high stakes with it.
And then another thing you really want them to understand is the concept of taxes, because taxes are something that you don’t typically learn about in school. And a lot of times when kids start getting jobs, they don’t understand what is happening on their pay stub, and they can’t figure out like, I’ve earned this amount; why am I only getting this much money? So helping them get an understanding of that can be really helpful too.
Advice for Parents Who Feel Behind on Teaching Kids About Money
CHAD: So we’ve talked about a lot of different ages and, and really the, um, it’s really almost not too early to start at any age, but, well, what about the parents that, um, are thinking, oh my gosh, am I behind the eight ball? Cause I haven’t started talking to my kids yet. What advice can you give them?
JAMIE: Don’t beat yourself up. I feel like a lot of parents don’t feel qualified to talk about money with their kids because they don’t feel like they’ve done a good job over their lifetime. So they just kind of see what happens, but it would be better to have some proactive conversations with kids.
So some things they could do are talk about the savings goals. When the kid wants something, you could say, okay, great, let’s see how much that costs, and how long it will take us to save up for it. You can include them in planning for vacations and things that cost more money than normal. So they can get a sense of what that looks like.
You could give them money at the grocery store and say, Hey, I want you to pick out the snacks for the week. You know, here’s the money to do that and let them kind of make some decisions there. And if they’re working, um, you can, you know, open a Roth IRA for them or an investment account and try to get some experience on the investing side too.
Tips for Involving Kids in Everyday Money Decisions
CHAD: There are a lot of good resources out there, especially when you get into high school with investing through some resources at Vanguard or Morningstar that kind of help you learn the basics. But it’s interesting. I think the more you talk with kids, um, the more that they find it interesting to learn about money and, and how it works in the real world at this point.
JAMIE: Yeah. And I think kids at all ages are, they’re curious, right? So they’re going to need to figure things out one way or another. So if you are teaching them positive messages, that’s better than them just observing it from other people or learning on the playground or wherever they pick up their information.
Why Financial Conversations at Home Matter
Right, exactly. Jamie, thank you for your time today. It’s been great. So if you’re looking for guidance to help you with your family’s goals, please reach out to us either on our website at cgnadvisors.com or by calling our office at 785-340-3434.