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Raising money-smart tamariki

Teaching kids smart money habits sets them up for life. We're here to help with age-appropriate ideas and resources for every stage.

Money lessons that last a lifetime

Teaching kids about money can be a fun and engaging experience you share together. Our age-based resources are designed to encourage good money habits, grow financial literacy and support you every step of the way.

Just select your child's age to get started. Don't worry if they don't fit neatly into one stage, these tools are designed to be flexible and buildable.

So dive in, explore at your own pace and enjoy the journey together. 

Get started on teaching your kids more about money

Resources for:

Stage 1: The Basics

If your child is just starting their money journey (4, 5 or 6 years old), it's important to get an understanding of the basics. This will help set strong foundations for building good money habits when they're older.

What is money?

Money comes in all shapes and forms, not just coins and notes. 

Cash

Coins and notes are 'physical money' or 'cash'. You can touch it, see it when it's in your wallet and pass it over to someone to pay for something.

Cards

A bank card can be used instead of carrying cash around to buy things. The card tells the bank how much to take out of the account.

Internet banking

Internet banking shows you how much money is in your bank account using a phone or computer. You can't actually touch this money, but the bank is keeping it safe.

  • Activity: Print out our Money matching worksheet for your kids to work match up coins and notes, and see how 'Invisible money' works.

    • Download activity

Pocket money

Pocket money (or a points system) for household tasks is a great way to teach your kids that money is something you work for, not just something you get. How much you give (and whether that's money or something else) is totally up to you.

Before you give your child pocket money for all the helpful stuff they do, consider dividing tasks or chores into paid jobs vs family jobs. 

A family job might be something like making their bed, or setting the table, which your child is expected to do normally and doesn't receive pocket money.

A paid job, which earns pocket money (or points), could be something a parent would normally do, like washing the car or folding laundry.

  • Parent tip: There are some great non-money reward alternatives too. Instead of real money, create a points system that your child can spend on things like TV time, save for later or even share and trade with other family members for favours. 

  • Activity: Print out our Task table for how to track responsibilities and money (or points) earned from completing them.

    • Download activity

Needs and wants

Money can be spent on all sorts of things. It's important for kids to understand the difference between needs, wants and balancing how much you spend with how much you earn. What counts as a need or a want can be different for everyone.

  • Activity: Play our Needs vs Wants game to start a conversation about it. Or, take your child around the supermarket, asking them whether an item is a need or a want.

    • Download activity

Spend, save and share

When you give your child their pocket money or points, the first step towards supporting their spending is talking about what they plan to do with it.

Spend it on something - a need or a want.

Save it for later or for something that costs more. 

Share with someone else. Perhaps someone close to them has a birthday coming up, or they're feeling generous. 

  • Activity: Print out our Spend Save and Share worksheet for your kids to work through how to split their money between each jar. They don't need to split up their money evenly, just like the 50/30/20 budgeting rule for adults. 

    • Download activity

  • For the next step, check out our simple Budget Planner, which helps your kids look at money in vs money out.

  • Parent tip: It's hard to be the perfect role model, sometimes we make spending decisions we wish we hadn't, but that's ok, and it's good to let your children see that too, talking together about mistakes and ideas is always helpful.

    • More money-themed activities
     

    Keep the kids engaged with all things money using these fun activities that you can print out at home.

    Download activities

Stage 2: Everyday activities

Once your child is feeling comfortable with the basics of money, it's a great time to start involving them in everyday money activities at around 7 and 8 years old.

  • Parent tip: Bring your child along to the supermarket and let them pick out the best bargains or spot the lowest petrol station prices.

    • Supermarket shopping


    Bargain hunting is a great habit, but so is understanding 'value for money'.

    For example, if a t-shirt is good quality, it might cost more but will last longer. Same with how buying apples in bulk can be cheaper in the long run (cost per item). 

    Some families may hold more value for certain items that are ethical or environmentally friendly like cage-free eggs. What holds value is different in every family, so teach your child what value means in yours.

  • Activity: Print out our Supermarket challenge and bring it with you next time you're at the supermarket. 

    • Download activity

  • Activity: Print out and play our Cash at the dairy game at home.

    • Download activity

    Savings goals


    Talk to your child about a long-term goal they might have. A new toy? A skateboard? A trip to the zoo? Do they want to start saving for a device? It can be an item or even an experience. Knowing what they want makes saving a lot easier.

    Make goal setting fun!

Encourage your child to draw a picture of them enjoying their goal in the future.

They can create a collage of pictures together showing their goal and what it would be like to reach it.

  • Activity: Print out our Savings Goal Planner & Tracker worksheets for your child to set a savings goal toward something that is meaningful to them and put it somewhere visible so they can see it every day. 

    • Download activity

  • Parent tip: If you have a Headstart or savings account for your child, you can add a savings goal in the ASB Mobile app and track their progress digitally.

    • More money-themed activities
     

    Keep the kids engaged with all things money using these fun activities that you can print out at home.

    Download activities

Stage 3: Getting saving savvy

Now your child is feeling comfortable with how everyday spending and how personal saving works, the next stage (9 and 10 years old) gets kids thinking about more ways to save and earn money.

More ways to save

While your child has their own goals, it's also a good time to talk about your family goals. Try setting one you can all work towards alongside any individual goals - it's great to teach your child the value of something that benefits the whole whānau.

  • Activity: Check out our Family Goal resource to set your family goal and track it together. 

    • Download activity

  • Parent tip: Did you know you can track your own goals in the ASB Mobile app? Learn more about ASB Goal Planner.

More ways to earn money

Is your child keen to start earning their own money or reach their goals faster? Your child could offer their services or may already have an interest like baking or busking which they could use to earn a profit.

A profit is the difference between the amount it costs to make something and the amount you earn from selling it. For example, if it costs $3 to make a muffin and you sell it for $5, you will make a $2 profit.​

Getting started with earning money

Strength

Do something you're good at, if you don't know, ask your friends, whanau or teachers. 

Solve

Find out how to use your strengths to solve a problem/need/help somebody. 

Start

What are three things you need to do this and make sure you price things for a profit.

Go

Give it a go! Make money? Great! Don't make money? That's okay too. It's all a learning experience.

  • Activity: Check out our CASH Savings Plan for you to work through with your child and keep on top of together.

    • Download activity

  • For more activities for savings, see our Savings Goal Planner & Tracker.

    • Download activity

Stage 4: Gaining independence and confidence

From around 11 years old onwards, your child or teen may want more independence and control over their spending, so it's a good chance to give them the tools they need and help them get confident with using them.

Budgeting

Planning how to spend money before they get it helps your child stay on track with their goals. This builds on the 'spend, save and share' jar concepts in earlier stages. Do they use their pocket money to buy a treat from the tuck shop? Maybe they've got a trip to the movies with their friends coming up? Encourage them to put money aside for each. 

To make the savings part easier, you can automate savings in the ASB Mobile app with the Save the Change feature, which rounds up every purchase and puts the difference into their savings account.

  • Activity: Print out our Nailing a budget activity to get them started on managing income and expenses. 

    • Download activity

  • Parent tip: Needing a brush-up on budgeting yourself? Or keen to find a new way to help plan your income and expenses? Check out our Budget Template tailored to adults.

Spending influences

Back in previous stages, your child learned about spending on needs vs wants, and how the cheapest items don't always mean the best value for money. Here are some factors that can influence spending, but might not mean it's the right thing or time to buy:

  • If something is on sale or discounted (so it costs less money), does that mean we should buy it? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Make sure you check whether the item is a need or a want, and if you've planned for it in your budget or are saving towards it. Cheap doesn't always mean keep.
  • Advertising can make toys, clothes and games look really cool, but does that mean we need to buy it?
  • If you've found something you'd like to spend your money on, whether it's on sale, or you saw a cool advertisement for it, wait one full day, and if you still want it by then, you can consider buying it. If not, save that money for something else.

  • Parent tip: If your child is considering buying a big ticket-item (like a mobile phone), encourage them to do some research on the type, brand and price options. That way, once they save up enough money, they're sure that's the item they want and keep them motivated along the way.

  • Activity: Take another look at our Savings Goal planner worksheet to help with motivating your child to reach their goal. Challenge them on how they might respond when faced with tempting discounts or ads. 

    • Download activity

    Investing


    At this stage, your child will be learning that financial decisions made now can affect things later.Investing means using your money to grow more money. For example, buying a car might mean you can get to your part-time job, or putting money into a savings account will earn interest and grow into a larger amount.

  • Parent tip: Talk with your child about what kinds of purchases have longer-term positive impacts. And don't worry - not all purchases need to have long-term value. Sometimes it is okay to buy things that make you happy in the short-term.

Fraud and Scams

Scams can happen to anyone. It's important for children from a young age to know how to identify scams and how to protect both themselves and others.

A scam is anything designed to trick people out of money or important information (like your home address or phone number). For example, someone you don't know sends you an email with a link for free shoes. You click on it, then the money is taken from your bank account, and you didn't get the shoes.

If something doesn't work out, or feels bad, it isn't always a scam. It's worth chatting with your child about this and giving them examples like:

  • Buying something on the internet only to discover that it's poor quality when you receive it is not a scam, it's a lesson about who to buy from.
  • A business constantly sending you emails, or text messages is not a scam, rather they are spamming you.

The TRAP framework can help identify scams:

Trust building

Scammers might pretend to be from a well-known business or someone they trust.

Rapid response

Scammers create a sense of urgency to get people to act straight away.

Appeal to emotions

Scammers know you're more likely to take action if you are scared/guilty/excited/surprised.

Procedure

Scammers will suggest sending you links or to websites that might look real but aren't.

Next time you or your child see's something that might be too good to be true, take a sec to check!

  • Activity: Explore the ASB Scam Hub for more information on scams and how to spot them.

Next steps

We're here to support you and your teen whether they're wanting to take control of their own bank account, getting a part time job and planning their next steps after school.

Check out our tools and resources designed to build teens money confidence now and into their future.

Whether you are an ASB customer or just looking for support - one of our ASB team can help you and your teen with any questions around money management. Book an appointment when it suits you below.

Resources for teens

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