One of the greatest lessons you can teach your children is financial responsibility. And while that seems like a mature conversation, reserved for tweens and teens, it shouldn’t be. An education in money can begin as young as preschool, when kids first learn about the value of coins.
PNC Bank has created “S” is for Savings, a children’s savings account with online instruction that helps establish a foundation for financial education for all children between ages 3-5, with concepts useful for kids up to age 8.
“S” is for Savings is a fun, friendly and free interactive learning experience designed for parents and children to use together in a lap-learning fashion — the program includes:
- Fun, interactive activities that explore the basic concepts of spending, sharing and saving and segments discussing the value of things and making choices.
- A drag and drop feature. Kids can move their money into virtual jars which represent how they want to divide their money.
- Online allowance. Parents can transfer money from their own account using an รขโฌหauto saveรขโฌโข feature.
- The option to create a separate login, allowing you and your child to enter the experience directly, without access to your other accounts.
- Just $25 minimum balance to open and no service charge for account holders under 18.
- Interest on balances starting at $1.00.
The account is built by the same innovative team that designed and created PNCรขโฌโขs popular Virtual Wallet product.
I let my daughter check out the program and I loved how it goes beyond the standard “piggy bank” for saving money and offers lessons in saving, spending and sharing funds. The experience is enhanced with some familiar faces from Sesame Street, Cookie Monster and Elmo. Kids can set goals for spending and saving, allotting money for different wants and needs, that’s clear and easy for preschoolers to understand. The account is personalized with their name, and they can choose short and long term savings goals — like a new toy, now, or money for a car, years in the future.
I love that parents can set up an allowance that is automatically transferred into the account, which then can be divvied out into saving, sharing and spending jars. While my daughter was learning to use the account, I was surprised at how much she put into the savings and sharing jars, vs. putting all the money into the spending jar — this gives me hope that if I start money lessons with her early, she’ll have a better chance of making savings a habit into adulthood.
Parents can learn more about “S” is for Savings, and apply for an account at www.PNC.com/SisforSavings.
This post is sponsored by PNC Bank. All opinions are my own.
