Today's children are the targets of endless marketing messages competing for their attention and allowances. These messages range from cereal box sweepstakes and TV commercials promoting the hottest new toys to games and offerings on a multitude of web sites.The danger is that all this leads a child on the path of spending, diminishing the concept of saving and the value of money. In short, we are creating a generation of spenders. In fact, the U.S. has seen its personal savings rates declining steadily over the past few decades-becoming one of the lowest in savings among industrialized nations.However, there is hope. Our research has shown that early financial education makes a difference when it comes to saving for future goals. That is why for six years, Merrill Lynch has designated April as International Saving Month in our continuing initiative to raise awareness of the need to save. The best long-term solution to our savings crisis is to teach our children good financial habits.
How do you get children interested in saving money when they'd rather spend it? Try these age-appropriate ways of talking about saving.
With young children, address saving in terms of collecting. Just as your children collect baseball cards, seashells or butterflies, they can learn to set aside coins or bills. Provide a non-breakable clear bank for their savings for preschool children, who want to handle and count their money. Even if youngsters can't save for long periods of time, the habit of saving will begin to take root.
Have young children save in envelopes or a bank. Tape a picture of the saving object on the bank to help your child visualize the saving goal. As a reward for saving, promise a trip to the child's favorite toy store, the grocery store or a "dollar store."
With older children, liken the rewards of saving to time spent gaining proficiency in some skill. Ask them: What do you need to do so you can play in the school orchestra concert or participate in Saturday's baseball game? Saving, like practicing, is simply the act of preparing for a future need or desire.
At age 9 or so, a child might be ready to save for longer-term goals and be able to handle the responsibilities of a bank saving account. Make a poster to track the child's progress toward the desired goal.
Older children can become excited by how the compounding of interest makes their money grow. For example, assuming a 5 percent annual interest rate, a child saving $5 a week would have $266 by the end of one year and $3,371 in 10 years. As a simple way of illustrating this, use the so-called "Rule of 72." Take the number 72, divide it by the rate of return your money is earning to find the number of years it takes for your money to double.
Teens can be motivated by the offer of a small reward if they hit a certain saving goal in a certain amount of time. Challenge them to save $50 in six months and say you'll match that amount if they make it.
You might match all or a part of each dime or dollar a child saves. Watching an account grow can bolster a child's saving habit. Or, raise a child's allowance for sticking to a budget for a specific time period. If your children need help saving, provide guidelines. Put aside some part of their allowance or chore money before you pay them. Or, let them spend their allowance, but have them save some of their gift money or money they earn.
Saving can be learned, no matter how old you are. Get your youngsters into the practice of saving early on. It's a habit they're likely to carry into their adult years, giving them a head start toward their own financial security and future success. Perhaps most important is to provide the example your children need in order to learn the value of saving.
How to Start a Saving and Investment Plan
To avert this saving crisis, we need to take individual responsibility for saving. For you and your family, saving can become a habit with many benefits. These five principles can help you learn how to save and how to invest your savings.
Have a plan.
A plan helps you know where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. Identify your financial goals - a new home, for example, or a child's education - prioritize them and put a price on each one. Using this information, determine how much you need to save to reach your goals.
Start early.
When it comes to saving, time is one of your biggest allies. Over time, your principal can increase through growth of your investments, interest, dividends or new deposits into your account. Because of this growth opportunity, the earlier you start, the more likely it is that you'll reach your financial goals.
Save regularly.
Systematic saving, such as setting aside a specified percentage of every paycheck, is crucial. Regular investing offers the benefit of dollar cost averaging; you automatically buy more shares when prices are down and fewer shares when prices are high. Over time, your average cost per share may be lower than the average share price. (Note: Dollar cost averaging does not guarantee a profit or protect against losses, especially in a declining market. Any investment plan should be the subject of periodic review in light of changes in your particular circumstances, including your ability to continue purchases, or changes in market conditions.)
Diversify your investments.
One way to balance risk and reward is to diversify; that is, to allocate your assets among a variety of investment classes, including equities, fixed income and cash equivalents such as money market funds. Asset allocation can provide protection against market fluctuation in any one-asset class.
Invest in tax deferred and tax advantaged ways.
Some saving vehicles, such as individual retirement accounts (traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs), annuities, Medical Savings Accounts and 401(k) retirement plans, allow you to defer taxation. Others, such as municipal bonds and municipal bond funds, allow you to manage your tax liability. The dollars saved in taxes can be put to work to earn more money for you. In a tax-deferred account, your contributions and any investment earnings accumulate free from taxes until you withdraw them.
For more information contact Jyoti Chopra, Vice President and Manager of Education Services for Merrill Lynch's Private Client Group.
Courtesy of Article Resource Association, www.aracopy.com, e-mail: info@aracopy.com.
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