Yes, an allowance really is a good idea.
By Jessica Mattern, Woman's Day
What's the key to raising well-behaved, intelligent, and motivated kids? It may as simple as a chore system and an allowance.
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are plenty of benefits that come with assigning household tasks to your
children: Not only will you get extra help checking items off your
to-do list, you'll also be giving the kiddos a chance to learn new
skills, the value of hard work, and money-management—all lessons that
will serve them for a lifetime. "Parents have a lot to do and they need
some help—I've got six kids and it's out of control how much stuff needs
to get done," Gregg Murset, a financial planner, father, and founder of
BusyKid.com tells WomansDay.com. "Chores are the perfect place to teach work ethic, accountability, and responsibility."
While
many parents already have a family chore system in place, some are
missing out on the additional benefits that come with distributing an
allowance. By paying your kids for their work, you're also teaching them
money management 101: something overlooked by most schools today.
"Frankly, kids don't get taught how to make smart money decisions at
school," says Murset. "It all falls on the parents; kids aren't being
taught anywhere else."
Sure,
you can assign chores to your kids without the money component, but it
may not be as beneficial or effective. "You need to tie accomplishing
things to money because that's the real world," says Murset. "If you
really want to give them some life skills, they've got to learn that
it's important to work hard, make money, and then make smart decisions
with their money."
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To make it easier on parents, Murset created BusyKid.com,
a chore and allowance system that makes it simple for kids to track
their to-do list and manage their money from their phones, computers, or
tablets. On the app, parents can distribute the allowance and kids can
choose to put it towards savings, donate to charities, or spend it on
items.
Ready to get
started? Use this graphic to devise your family's chore list. While
parents should always consider their child's skill set and maturity
level, here's a general guideline of what tasks kids can accomplish
according to their age.
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