The KidsWealth Money Kit is one of the rare products that have the potential to change an entire family’s financial paradigm.  I don’t say that lightly.  My blog readers know that I have been blessed with the opportunity to read and review many resources for parents, children and homeschoolers – the Kids Wealth Money Kit has blown me out of the water!

The concept is simple, easy to implement and maintain.  Children are immediately fascinated and engaged; put a Money Kit into their hands, give them control over their finances and watch an entrepreneurial spirit emerge that you didn’t know was there! This kit can serve as a springboard in your homeschool into entrepreneurial adventures never before imagined.

We had the opportunity to review two Money Kits, blue and purple for my two oldest daughters (ages 5 and 2).  A purple kit is show in the photograph.  Each kit includes everything you need to get your children started on the pathway of financial success and indepencence:

• Parents Guide: Instructs you on how to get started on the program in 30 minutes.
• Kid’s Guide: The Kal & Pals characters teach your children what each KidsWealth Account Wallet is for and how to use them.
• Account Wallets: The five KidsWealth Account Wallets are color-coded, durable and portable; perfect for young kids getting hands-on experience with real money.
• Kid’s Pay Calendar with Kid’s Pay Stickers: The calendar and stickers allow kids to keep track of their Kid’s Pay days, decorated with wonderful scenes of Kal & Pals.
• Kid’s Pay Agreement: A tool to help you and your kids keep the program running consistently each month.
• Five KidsWealth Pencils, a Calculator (colour co-ordinating!) and decorative Kal & Pals stickers.
• The E-book Raising Money Smart Kids by founder Michael Dasilva is also sent by email to support parents in developing positive money habits in their children.

The wallets and the Money Kit that they fit into are so well made, constructed from matte plastic with fabric gussets and velcro closures – they are the physical foundation of the program.  Each month parents ‘pay’ their child an agreed upon amount which is distributed into 5 separate wallets: Wealth, Fun, Learn, Plan and Angel.  30% goes into the Wealth account (savings), 20% into Fun, Learn, Plan (short-term savings) and 10% into Angel (charitable giving).  If you purchase the accompanying age appropriate Trackers (4 – 6, 7 – 9 and 10 – 12) your child will also benefit from activities that reinforce the purpose of each account and tracking pages for deposits and withdrawals from each account.

My oldest caught on immediately, spent two days working on the Game Tracker for 4 – 6 year olds ($7.95 each) – coloring, circling, mazes, dot to dot activities and other fun games quickly taught her the purpose for each account and the colour and character associated with it.  What I wasn’t expecting was the instantaneous sparking of her entrepreneurial interests.  Give your child their own money and watch out!  She was immediately brainstorming ways to find or make more money to add to her wallets – WOW!  We’re going to have overflowing cottage industries taking place here in our home!  My two year old, well, she’s admittedly somewhat young for the program.  She does think the wallets are neat, the pencils, calculator etc. and has had fun scribbling in her tracker.  However – I’m sure that we’ll be using these resources in our home for years to come and picking up additional kits for our now 6 month old daughter and any other children the Lord blesses us with.

Our family has not given our children allowance in the past.  KidsWealth suggests taking half of the amount you normally spend on items that are not considered necessities and ‘pay’ it to your child each month.  The examples given in the Tracker were rather high for what our family normally spends monthly – examples given seemed to indicate a $100 monthly Kids Pay.  Based upon our income and typical spending habits our family chose a significantly smaller amount.  Thankfully the program works regardless of the amounts chosen by the parents, though a $20 monthly minimum avoids long waiting periods before anything can be purchased by the child.  Financial gifts made to our children are also allocated into the account wallets according to the assigned percentages.

Money skills that work in the real world are NOT taught in public schools and neither are they taught in most homes.  The current economic situation and heavy debt load of nearly every North American make this abundantly clear.  It’s imperative that homeschool parents step up to the plate and start teaching their children – yes, even at young ages – that fiscal responsibility is imperative.  The scriptures often use financial parables to illustrate principles of wise stewardship, let’s not hide our heads in the sand, but teach our children to save and budget.

At only $39.95 for the KidsWealth Money Kit and a 30 day 100% money back guarantee I recommend that you rush over and pick up a kit for your children – it will most definitely pay for itself in the long term fruit of financial responsibility and initiative in your little ones as they grow.

Further details, success stories and ordering information can be found at KidsWealth.com.