Teaching Kids to Save Day

Kids have good ideas on what to save for

Kayla Towns

Kids at Simmons Elementary don't have much money in personal savings accounts. But, many had their hearts in the right place when asked how they'd spend mney if they had a lot.

Third graders in teacher Rene Gool's class late last month got a lesson on how to earn and save money. Ms. Danee Appel from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis made the presentation.

She was part of a "Teaching Kids to Save Day" program that helps young elementary school students learn about money. One lesson explains about saving for the future.

Tre'Vaughn Perry

Nine-year-old Kayla Towns said she had about $10 saved in a piggy bank at home. But, she was asked what she'd do if she had lots of savings.

She said, "I'd help the schools and homeless people."

Nine-year-old Tre'Vaughn Perry thought $2,000 would be a lot of money. If he had that much, he said, "I'd buy some clothes and shoes and then help other people."

Nine-year-old Tyre Bogan said, "I'd give some money to my mom."

Tyre Bogan

Only one of the kids questioned by Young Saint Louis.com said he was saving for electronic video games. Nine-year-old Perry Billups said he had about $100 in the bank and he was saving for a Nintendo DS machine.

Ms. Appel told the kids about earning money and spending money. But, most of her lesson dealt with saving money.

She said, "Savings is about not spending money now. It's about making choices on what to do with money after you either earn it or are given it."

Perry Billups

She used a couple of kids' books, "Less Than Zero," by Stuart J. Murphy and "Heather Learns about Earnings," by St. Louis author Mary Suiter.

In "Less Than Zero," the author tells about the varying fortunes of a kid who wants to buy an "ice scooter" to get around in the winter. The main character earns some money but buys something else before earning enough for the scooter.

Then, he finds enough money for the scooter but loses it in the snow. In the end, he finally gets enough money and resists temptations to spend it elsewhere.

The book about Heather's adventures with money explains what she needs to do to earn enough money for her birthday party.

The kids' book is part of a "Wise Pockets" series about money. To learn more about this series, visit www.wisepockets.com.

The program was developed by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. It is sponsored by 13 St. Louis area banks. (For more about the program, call UMSL at (314) 516-5248.)

One "extra" of the program is that kids get to register for a drawing for a U.S. Savings Bond. If their parents submit an entry by the end of this month, they can participate in a random drawing for saving bonds.

Winners will be honored at a luncheon at the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown St. Louis on June 25.

To start their savings lesson at Simmons, Ms. Gool explained how a savings bond works. She said a purchaser buys a bond with a face value that's more than what the person paid for it.

But, if the bond is held to "maturity," they get the face value back because their initial money was earning interest while it was being held.

Student Kayla Towns said she's saving money in her piggy bank until she has enough to buy a Barbie doll. She said she has $10 and needs to save another $10 before she can buy the doll.

But, she said she also gives her grandmother additional money so she can save that for her in the grandmother's savings account in a real bank.

Morgan Charleston

Kayla said she earns money by doing chores at home. She said her biggest payday was last winter when she earned $12 by doing snow shoveling in the neighborhood.

Nine-year-old Morgan Charleston said she usually gets a $10 a week allowance if she does cleaning around the house. She said she usually chips in that money for food for the family.

Breara Hollis

She considered $100 to be a lot of money. If she had that much, she said she'd spend $10 for food "and then save the rest to buy more food later."

Tre'Vaughn Perry said he gets $5 per week for an allowance if he does cleaning around the house.

Eight-year-old Breara Hollis said she's got about $50 saved in a real bank. But, she said she didn't have anything in mind for spending the money.

She said, "I'll probably save up to about $90 before I think about what to buy." She said, if she had a big amount of savings, "I buy a new house before spending any money on other things."

Perry Billups said he gets about $20 a week in cash and puts about $5 into his bank savings account. Asked about what he does with the rest, he said, "I usually buy junk food."

If he had a lot of money, he said he'd probably buy a flat screen computer.

Tyre Bogan said he has a piggy bank at home but doesn't know how much he has in it. He said he was saving up to buy a bike.

He gets a $10 a week allowance that he earns if he cleans the house. "I usually save $5 and spend $5," he said. Tyre said he earns most of his money by cutting grass in the neighborhood.