Teaching
kids to save--not just spend--money
Kids usually learn how to spend money on their own at an
early age. This month, St. Louis bankers are going into classrooms
explain another use for money-saving it.
Bankers Lisa Norwood, Tonya Hornberger and Donna Noonan
are all assistant vice presidents at local banks. They and
other bankers will be in up to 100 school classrooms on Tuesday,
April 26.
That is national Teach Children to Save Day. Each banker
will bring the savings message to up to four classes.
Lisa Norwood is a branch manager for Gateway Bank in north
St. Louis. She said, "Children get excited when we come into
class. They're geared up to talk about money."
She added, "My message is they need to be responsible and
not spend it all right away."
Donna Noonan is a branch manager for RelianceBank in north
St. Louis County.
She said children oftentimes get substantial sums of money
even at early ages. And many of them have piggy banks. She
said she's going to help the kids go to the next level-longer-term
savings.
Tonya Hornberger is in operations at Gateway Bank. She said,
"If a child gets $2, there's pressure on them to spend it."
She said, "They don't understand that if they save the $2
and then
add more money, they can get something better later on."
The three bankers all participated in the savings day activities
last year. That was the first year the national program came
to St. Louis. The University of Missouri-St. Louis' Center
for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education administers the
local program..
(To learn more about savings day and other
UMSL economic programs for kids, you can visit www.umsl.edu/~econed.)
Ms. Noonan said young kids get money from a wide variety
of sources. And, sometimes, the earnings and gifts add up
to substantial amounts.
"My son, Nick, oftentimes had more money in his wallet than
I do," Ms. Noonan said. Her son is 7 and in first grade.
Ms. Norwood said the money comes from allowances as well
as gifts for birthdays and holidays. Ms. Hornberger said her
children are on a "good grades, get money" system where good
schoolwork is rewarded.
Ms. Noonan said she doesn't have an allowance system. She
said her kids get paid for doing chores around the house.
She said she recently had an opportunity to give savings
information to a local Girl Scout group. "They were studying
for a badge," she said. She adapted information from last
year's savings day program to help the Girl Scouts.
The bankers said their banks have special savings accounts
especially designed for kids.
At the Gateway bank, a kid can open a Junior Savings Account
with an initial deposit of only $20. The accounts have no
monthly maintenance fee. Also, this account doesn't have an
ATM card. Interest is paid on deposits of $200 or more.
At RelianceBank, the kids' account is called a Piggy Bank
Savings Account. Interest is paid quarterly and the bank will
issue an ATM card.
At both banks, young children have to be with parents or
guardians to open an account.
Ms. Hornberger said children are interested in learning more
about this " next step" in the savings cycle.She said young
kids like to "have their name on their own account."
She said many children have ideas on what big things they
want when their savings grow. Many mention the need to save
for college.
She said, "One girl last year said she wanted to have money
so she could spend all her time traveling around the world.
But, she didn't want to have to work."
Ms. Hornberger said the girl didn't have any clear idea how
she would accumulate the large amount of money needed for
that lifestyle.
Ms. Noonan said she got an unexpected answer last year when
asking kids how they could get their money.
She said, "One girl said she could earn money by playing
cards. Since I was in a Catholic school, I didn't pursue that
line of reasoning."
In addition to the appearance by the bankers, teachers are
given materials so they can give follow-up lessons on money
and savings.
