As soon as your child understands the concept of money, you can explain to them, using examples that speak to them, what the point of saving is.
Three reasons for having savings as an adult that children can understand:
Let's face it, being able to make a personal dream come true through savings is very likely to convince young people to put money aside!
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Step 2 - Lead by example"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Parents are a child's first role models. This is also true when it comes to money management. Without having to go into every detail, you can explain to your child how you manage your money: how you draw up your budget, how much you put into your savings account, what you've already used your savings for, what your long-term goal is, how much interest you earn, and so on.
With teenagers, you can even explain compound interest and long-term savings. This will make it easier for young people to understand how to manage their money and, above all, why saving is important.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Step 3 - Setting a savings target for your child"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Children and young people are full of desires that you as parents find are not always easy or even desirable to fulfil. Learning to save also means learning to set goals, and therefore learning how to achieve them.
By saving up for a concrete, positive personal project, your child will have the joy of seeing his or her own efforts rewarded. It's very gratifying and encouraging to make your own dream come true. What better way to encourage them to keep saving!
This type of saving is already a step towards your child's independence.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Step 4 - Show how the savings build up"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"To teach young people to save for the longer term, you can use a banking app, which will make the savings more real. By seeing the amount in their savings account and how much interest they earn, your child will see the fruits of their efforts. This makes their savings appear less abstract and your child is then motivated to keep as much of their savings as possible in their account. For younger children or just to have a memo always on hand, you can simply print out an account statement from time to time.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Step 5 - Growing your savings"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"You may already have started saving for your child yourself from the time they were born and/or occasionally. Now that your child or teenager knows why it's important to save, they can really learn to manage their money. And if your child is motivated by saving, they will certainly want to increase their capital.
To top up their savings account themselves, your children can, for example, ask for money instead of a gift on their birthday, do jobs (a student job from the age of 16 or odd jobs around the house for younger children) or put some of their pocket money aside.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Also consider!"},{"cards":[{"body":"Find out how to teach young people about savings accounts with these saving tips.","cardSize":"medium","cardType":"article","componentType":"articleCard","date":"2024-05-27","image":{"extension":"jpg","original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/b40c07f5f1c893/original/Your-budget-header-3.jpg","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/1f0ac8a8-5d20-4567-94ed-cbabc5ea746c/Your-budget-header-3","type":"image","width":1920},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/saving/teach-your-child-how-to-save-money"},"title":"5 saving tips to teach children how to save money"},{"body":"How can you, as a parent, give your child the leg-up he will need?","cardSize":"medium","cardType":"article","componentType":"articleCard","date":"2024-06-10","image":{"extension":"jpg","original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/58e4354c1e1d4413/original/saving-or-investing-for-your-child-1920.jpg","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/e69a7a38-d29d-4448-8c6d-ccf8bd237ad4/saving-or-investing-for-your-child-1920","type":"image","width":1920},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/managing-my-assets/investment-academy/start-up-capital-for-your-child"},"title":"How to start future-proofing your child’s future"},{"body":"Paying for their studies, buying a car, renting an apartment or buying a home... Find out how much to save for your child’s future projects.","cardSize":"medium","cardType":"article","componentType":"articleCard","date":"2024-06-05","image":{"extension":"jpg","original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/6789f041bc1d62e8/original/A-toddler-sits-on-the-floor-with-a-piggy-bank.jpg","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/903e2679-8ed3-4770-8eb9-de4170018bfa/A-toddler-sits-on-the-floor-with-a-piggy-bank","type":"image","width":4500},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/saving/how-much-to-save-for-a-child"},"title":"Parenting: Saving for your child’s future"},{"body":"Build a financial backbone for your child.","cardSize":"medium","cardType":"article","componentType":"articleCard","date":"2024-05-17","image":{"altTextDE":"\"","altTextEN":"\"","altTextFR":"\"","altTextNL":"\"","extension":"jpg","original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/18bbce01a53ceabd/original/Mother-pinches-face-of-son-in-ING-bank-branch.jpg","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/5652de86-2c7d-4378-a06d-b20f32cb7936/Mother-pinches-face-of-son-in-ING-bank-branch","type":"image","width":5616},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/my-life/budget-tips/start-saving-children-youth"},"title":"Saving for your child, how do you start?"}],"componentType":"cards"}]},"hasMacro":false,"id":"0a0209ae-f88c-47d2-b64e-e6e2f8d4c3a8","legalZone":{"flexComponents":[{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"This information is provided for information purposes only and is valid on the date of publication of this article on the ing.be website, i.e. 16/04/24.
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