Recipe for raising a financially-literate kid

Preparation time: 20 years

Ingredients:

• At least one child (more if you are up for the challenge)
• Your words
• Your actions
• Toys
• Money
• Piggy bank
• Debit card
• Credit card
• Various investment vehicles of your choice (i.e. stock, GIC, etc)
• Patience
• Imagination
• Fun

Instructions:

This is one of those recipes that may turn you off because of the amount of work involved and the length of the preparation time. However, making anything great requires time and effort, and the end result makes it all worth it.

Step 1: Start off by teaching your baby/toddler to take care of his toys. Taking care and appreciating our possessions helps fight the need to constantly purchase more new stuff. Use the toys to teach the child to share. This will eventually turn into donating, which is important part of financial literacy. It shows that we are thankful for what we have and want to help out the less fortunate.

Step 2: Once the child starts asking you to buy him things, it is time to start frequently adding a good measure of pep talk as to where the money comes from, how mom and dad work hard to earn money and have to make choices about how to spend our money.

Step 3: When your child is about 5 years old, start giving allowance. The allowance is supposed to be a teaching tool for money management. It may be tempting to withdraw the allowance for misbehaviour, but I urge you to withdraw other privileges such as TV or computer time instead. This way you will not deprive your child of an opportunity to manage and learn about money. You should gently guide the managing process, and let the child learn from mistakes while the dollar amounts are low and stakes are not high.

Step 4: Make sure that as soon as the child receives any money, a portion is saved in a piggy bank or a savings bank account. Explain that by saving money as soon as it comes in, we are paying ourselves first before we spend the rest of the money by paying others.

Step 5: Teach the everyday important money management skills like budgeting, couponing, price matching or how to look for the best deal.

Step 6: Buy a stock for your child of a company that they admire like Apple. Follow the stock and the company, then buy a different investment vehicle such as a GIC.

Step 7: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of debt and credit cards. Explain credit interest, credit rating and credit history. When your child turns 18, have them apply for a credit card, and for the next couple of years closely monitor and coach credit card use.

Sprinkle each of the above steps with fun and imagination for more enjoyable experience, and don’t forget to add a generous helping of patience.

Enjoy and show off your creation!

Maya Kuc Corbic, CPA, CA is a financial literacy expert. She is an experienced Chartered Professional Accountant and the founder of DINARII Financial Education Academy, whose mission it is to teach children and youth financial literacy skills. They offer fun and engaging workshops to schools. They also hold workshops for parents and provide tools so that parents can continue teaching personal finance at home. You can follow Maya on Twitter: @Educ8Money2Kids, or Facebook: Dinarii Financial Education Academy.

Let's Say Goodbye to the R-Word

Do you see things on Facebook that you find offensive? I'm not talking about grammatical errors and spelling mistakes (although, yes, those are annoying), or the fact that your brother supports the conservatives (equally annoying). I'm talking about comments, posts or photos shared that have you shutting down the computer in disgust, and going to rant to your husband about the insensitivity of other human beings. Today I commented on a photo that a friend had shared, and was appalled to see someone else commented using the R-word. What she was really trying to say was that the photo (and situation/context) was ridiculous or stupid. Instead, she used a derogatory word - perhaps because she is unaware of its meaning, or perhaps because she is just plain mean.

If this woman was my friend, I would have sent her a private message and kindly asked her not to use that word anymore. But because she was a friend of a friend, the situation was a little awkward. So what I decided to do instead was to share this wonderful website with all of my Facebook friends, so that we could start an important conversation - hopefully one that might continue at the dinner table tonight.

This is not about being "politically correct" - this is about recognizing that a word is offensive and hateful, and should no longer be a part of our vocabulary. People with intellectual and/or physical disabilities do not deserve to be associated with a word that means "dumb" or "stupid."

So check out this great website with your children, and start a discussion. Spread the word to end the word!

Kids and Pets

Like many couples, my husband and I had a pet before we had children. Darcy the pug was our first baby - our "fur baby." She has been with us through our early relationship, marriage and eventual expansion to a family of four. As Darcy enters old age, we're very aware of the fact that we will become pet-less at some point in the next few years (although who knows, she could hang on until 14!!)

Last night my oldest daughter and I were talking about pets. She mentioned wanting another pet - a goldfish or a bird. I groaned inwardly, as we all know who ends up caring for "family" pets. I'm not fond of any kind of caged animal or reptile - I find their existence a little sad.

But the conversation did get me thinking more about children, pets and empathy. I feel strongly that children who have animals to care for (and animals who care for them) develop more compassion for our natural world.

So I devised a few questions that parents may want to ask themselves before purchasing a pet:

1) What do you hope your child will get out of the experience?

2) Realistically, how much work do you think your child will be able to put into caring for this pet?

3) Does the "pet" in question match your values and beliefs about humans and our relationship to the natural world? For example, are you comfortable purchasing an exotic pet who's natural environment is thousands of miles away?

4) Are you prepared to explain death to your child, and help them deal with the loss of their pet?

5) Are you prepared to invest in your pet? Depending on what you choose, there will be general maintenance for their living area, food costs, and perhaps veterinary bills. Pets can be expensive!

What questions did you ask yourself before purchasing a pet for your family?

Easy Mayonnaise

Hey, I understand, OK? We're all busy! It's hard enough having to get the kids dressed, fed, and off to school, not to mention all the extracurricular activities and social engagements. And now I'm going to tell you that you have to make your own mayonnaise!? What kind of cruel person am I?

Before you protest too much, let me try to convince you how completely simple mayo can be. It's just egg yolk and oil...with a pinch of elbow grease! And I realize that it's much, much easier to buy this stuff in a tub, but you clearly haven't tasted real mayonnaise until you've made your own (yes, Hellman's tries to convince us that theirs is "real," but I'm highly suspicious of Calcium Disodium EDTA, which just sounds like a science experiment gone horribly wrong).

The only tools you need are a good size bowl and a whisk. Also, if you're squeamish about the raw egg part of this recipe, I would suggest you invest in some lovely farm fresh eggs - knowing where those yolks came from is key.

Crack your egg, and separate the white from the yolk (I usually scramble up the whites and give them to my toddler....or sometimes the dog eats them). Put the yolk into the bowl, and add several drops of oil. THIS IS IMPORTANT!! DO NOT POUR ALL THE OIL INTO THE BOWL AT ONE TIME!

Now start whisking. Imagine you are Julia Child (ohhhhhhh, look!! It's thickening!) Once it becomes thicker, add the oil very slowly in small batches and continue to whisk. This is a pretty good workout.

Once all of the oil is whisked into the egg, you can add some extras - I like a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of salt. Others will add dijon mustard, but it's not necessary. Now mix it up with some curry sauce and enjoy a lovely dip for your fish or potatoes!

Bon Appetit!

Mayonnaise

1 large egg yolk 1 cup olive oil (make sure you buy the lighter olive oil - NOT extra virgin, which is very strong tasting. You could also do veggie oil, but why not get your omega 3s from the olives?) lemon juice salt dijon mustard (optional)

An ode to an app

My kid has been playing with the iPad for a long time and we have tried a lot of learning apps; some have been bigger hits than others. Some she has loved and I have hated because I don't understand what they were actually teaching. We've had some big hits that she still plays with, like the Monkey Preschool apps that I recommend to anyone looking for a toddler or preschooler friendly game. Last week I downloaded the Super Why! app from PBS Kids.

This is my ode to that app.

In the mornings we tend to watch CBC Kids while I'm getting some a bit of work done, and I had noticed that the kid got into Super Why! and was doing well with the sounding out of works with the Super Why team. I figured the show would have an app so I went looking and downloaded it.

When the kid plays the app, which has all four main characters doing different activities with letters and words. Princess Pea sings, and right along with her my daughter says 'S-P-E-L-L spell!'

She finds the sounds, makes the words, sings and laughs. This app is working her towards reading more than any other she's played so far and I love to watch it. When I sit down with her with workbooks or a crayon on some paper she doesn't get as involved as she does with the Super Why! team.

I give it an A+.