Month: August 2022

Let’s face it, your kids are regularly exposed to personal finance from a young age—whether they’re tucking away tooth fairy money or spending digital currency in the metaverse. It’s increasingly important to teach children and teens about financial literacy early, so they can build a solid foundation and be prepared to start spending and saving in real life. 

Books about money can be a great way to help young readers to learn financial strategies at their own pace. Kids can grab books off the shelf (or download them) for fun, and come back to them time and again as they grow or have new questions.

We’ve rounded up a list of the best finance books geared to children and teens that can help teach them about spending wisely, grow their savings, and prepare for their future financial needs. 

Books about money for kids aged 5 to 8 

Picture books can help teach young kids the basic concepts of money and finances, in ways that are easy for them to understand. The best books about money for young readers are written in clear language and include relatable stories and scenarios that help them apply the lessons to their own lives.

Just a Piggy Bank (a Little Critter book), by Gina and Mercer Mayer

The colourful picture book (part of the classic Little Critters series) was first published in 2001 and has long been considered one of the best books on making money for young children. Little Critter’s grandpa gives him and his sister piggy banks, and grandma gives them money. His sister promptly puts her money in the bank, while Little Critter decides to spend it all at the store. He learns important lessons about impulse buying and earning money along the way, and shares them with readers. The book now comes with extras like a game card, stickers and a poster. 

Available at Amazon or Indigo. 

Moneybunnies series, by Cinders McLeod 

Canadian author and illustrator Cinders McLeod’s Moneybunny book series is a fun, simple and relatable look at all things money. The books Earn It!, Spend It!, Save It!, and Give It! follow different bunny characters as they learn what it takes financially to achieve their dreams and goals, such as becoming a superhero or a superstar. The series is also available in a Chinese language edition.

Available at Amazon or Indigo. 

A Kids Activity Book on Money and Finance, by Allan Kunigis  (author), John Kurtz (illustrator)

This interactive activity book introduces young kids to the basic principles of money, such as how to count, earn, save, and spend. There are more than 40 quizzes and activities like crossword puzzles and word jumbles to help your kids stay engaged, apply what they’re learning, and learn the meanings of financial terms.

Available at Amazon or Indigo. 

Books about money for kids aged 9 to 12 

Do your pre-teen kids have a solid idea of what money is, but lots of questions about what to do with it? Luckily, there are great books out there that can help your kids dig deeper and learn some basic skills like budgeting as they approach their teen years.

A Quick History of Money: From Bartering to Bitcoin, by Clive Gifford

This colourful book is packed with facts and jokes so older kids can explore money in a fun and accessible way. Topics in A Quick History of Money include everything from coins to cows, investing and stocks, as well as current hot topics like Bitcoin, inflation and hyperinflation. It’s a great read for kids now, and can be a valuable resource for them in the future when they have questions.

Available at Amazon or Indigo. 

Get to Know Money: A Children’s Guide to Banks, Budgets, Bitcoin and More, by DK

This new hardcover book (part of the Get to Know book series) is currently available for pre-order and in stores late 2022. It’s loaded with illustrations, infographics, tips and facts, with timely explainers about things like Bitcoin. Your tweens can learn about strategies for making money, saving money, growing their savings, and how digital currencies work, and even get inspired to dream big with stories about how people became billionaires. 

Available at Indigo and McNally Robinson.

The Know-Nonsense Guide to Money: An Awesomely Fun Guide to the World of Finance!, by Heidi Fiedler (author) and Brendan Kearney (illustrator)

This fun guide to finance gives kids a great overview of how money works and how to make it, from credit cards to cryptocurrencies. It helps answer questions like “what is money?” or how to crowdfund, as well as how to earn, save, spend and borrow. The Know-Nonsense Guide to Money is a fun, light read but does delve into more sophisticated personal finance topics like identifying needs over wants.

Available at Amazon and Indigo. 

National Geographic Kids Everything Money: A Wealth Of Facts, Photos, And Fun!, by Kathy Furgang

Everything Money: A Wealth of Facts, Photos, And Fun! is almost a decade old, but it’s still a great intro to money with fun images and tips that can pique your kids’ interest to learn more. In classic Nat Geo style, colourful pages are loaded with interesting facts around different money topics, such as ways people make money. Scenarios and activities help kids learn budgeting, bartering and more, and there’s a glossary explaining words like “loan,” “budget,” and “debt.”

Available at Amazon and Indigo. 

Books about money and finances for teens

The teen years are when all those finance principles and money strategies suddenly become real. It’s a time of first jobs, first bank accounts, first cars, first credit cards, paying post-secondary tuition, and even moving away from home. It’s important to get teens on a good financial track early. These more-sophisticated finance books can help teens start putting finance strategies into practice, and feel more prepared for the journey ahead.

How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents: The Young Person’s Complete Guide to Financial Empowerment, by Rob Carrick  

If your kids are anxiously saving for school or counting down to graduation, this book can help prepare them for what’s ahead, with tips around establishing credit, keeping good credit, paying down student debt, and other financial situations commonly faced by young people starting out. Rob Carrick, a popular financial expert and columnist for The Globe and Mail in Canada, penned this thorough book about what it takes to make it out on your own—and try to keep it that way.

Available at Amazon and Indigo.

How to Money: Your Ultimate Visual Guide to the Basics of Finance, by Jean Chatzky and Kathryn Tuggle, illustrated by Nina Cosford 

How to Money covers the basics of money and finances. It reads like a picture book but covers a range of serious topics for teenagers, including creating (and sticking to) personal budgets, saving for school, getting jobs, negotiating salaries, choosing credit cards, and more. It also includes strategies for girls as they face the gender wage gap and investment gaps in adulthood.

Available at Amazon and Indigo.

How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000: A Guide to Earning, Saving, and Investing, by James McKenna, Jeannine Glista, and Matt Fontaine 

Personal finance is a journey, and this fun book goes from starting small to thinking big about finances. How to Turn $100 into $1,00,000 begins by helping kids think about ways to earn their first $100 through a part-time job or their own business. It then covers a range of investment strategies and thought-starters (as well as pitfalls to avoid) in hopes of inspiring next-generation millionaires. 

Available at Amazon and Indigo.

Money and finance books can be great parenting tools to add to your bookshelf, so you can help your young kids, older kids and teens access information they need, and learn about the unknown.

Learn more about raising money-smart kids at home with help from Mydoh. Download Mydoh and help build the foundation of financial literacy for your kids and teenagers.

Managing family finances can be among the most challenging aspects of parenting, and for single parents, sharing the financial obligations of raising kids with your ex can be even tougher. How co-parents manage the shared costs of raising kids can range from amicable and transparent to downright frustrating. 

Wherever you are along the co-parenting spectrum, here we break down the challenges you may face, and offer tips on how to effectively share the financial responsibilities of raising your kids. We also spoke with certified life coach, Alicia Robertson, who coaches women through divorce and is the founder of Lemonade Life, to share her insights. 

What is co-parenting? 

Co-parenting is when two parents living in separate households and continue to share the responsibilities—and joys—of raising their children. “Co-parenting is a strategic partnership where you can become aligned on values and goals that focus on the needs of the children,” says Alicia, who encourages strategies that focus on collaboration and mutual responsibility towards the kids.

What are some of the financial challenges of co-parenting?

There are a myriad of benefits to a healthy co-parenting financial arrangement, however building and maintaining one isn’t always easy. If you find you’re struggling to find common ground with your ex, it may be due to one or more of the challenges outlined below:

Disagreement on kids’ expenses

Finding agreement can be tricky in the best of times—just think about the last time you and a friend had to select a restaurant to eat at! Add the pressure of money, kids, and a potentially strained relationship with your ex, and it’s no surprise friction can surface during communications. 

Separation agreements typically clarify basic shared expenses such as food and shelter, however, there are countless additional expenses that arise that may not be covered in the agreement. From braces to rep sports, and music lessons to cell phones, what you believe is a necessity, the other may perceive as frivolous based on their own values. Without agreement, one of you may be required to foot the entire expense, or your kids simply go without—both of which can potentially lead to negative feelings.

Competition between parents

While not ideal, some parents may fall into the habit of competing against one another to spend more money on their kids. The motivations may be based on the need to make up for less time spent with the kids, or to prove they’re the “better” parent. Whatever the reasons, kids may quickly learn to play parents off one another to get what they desire– not an ideal skill to master. 

Unexpected expenses

Despite your best efforts to plan for expenses, there are instances in which big expenditures suddenly pop up. From sudden healthcare costs for your teen (like braces) to replacing a broken cell phone to making the school’s varsity team, such unplanned costs may cause financial stress for one or both parents if money is tight. 

Read more: Emergency funds explained for teens.

Change in one parent’s financial situation

The financial situation at the time of separation often evolves or may change abruptly over the years. If employment is terminated for one parent, child support payments may need to be reviewed to accommodate the loss of income. Conversely, if one parent’s income increases significantly, the other parent may want to revisit how expenses are shared. Either way, one parent’s financial situation often impacts the other and can suddenly hinder how much cash flow is available to spend on the kids for one or both co-parents.   

Different values

Now that your kids live in two separate households, the difference in values between you and your ex may become more apparent. Your perceptions of money may be based on very different values and agreeing on what’s essential versus a luxury can be challenging after separation. These differences can also affect your kids’ allowance and chores.

7 tips to help co-parents manage finances successfully

While you may not overcome every co-parenting struggle, there are useful strategies to help ensure your kids’ needs come first as you navigate the travails of co-managing finances. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

1. Accept you can only control your own finances

To build a collaborative co-parenting arrangement, it helps to remember you can only control what happens in your own household. The key is to ensure the children’s needs always come first, even if you address them differently.

“How you choose to get there in each of your own homes will look different,” Alicia says. “We don’t have control over the other home.” To maintain what Alicia refers to as “a stable and able” environment for the kids, she emphasizes the importance of keeping individual judgments and opinions of one another out of the conversation. “You can foster a partnership that is aligned on what matters and also focus on what it is that you can impact.” 

2. Determine your shared expenses

As co-parents, you can eliminate the potential for conflict by determining all the shared kids’ expenses. Certainly, unexpected costs for the kids will come up periodically, but providing a baseline for those you agree upon sets a solid foundation for collaboration later. 

Rather than spend time convincing one another of the merits of every single expense that you, personally, think your kids need (or will need in the future), try focusing on where you find agreement. This can include day-to-day expenses, as well as those that you know will arise over the next year or so, such as technology, extracurricular activities, tutors, and school trips.  

3. Know your financial situation

Understanding your financial situation, and particularly your cash flow, is key according to Alicia. “A lot of times we don’t want to take a hard look at our finances and where the struggles may be,” she says, and recommends understanding your financial plan regardless of how tough the truth may be to accept. 

“Be informed and feel capable of managing your finances,” says Alicia who keeps her personal finances, home finances, and children’s finances in separate accounts for simplicity. 

4. Create a co-parenting budget

The thought of a budget can quickly overwhelm any parent, but keep in mind it need not be a 10-page colour-coded spreadsheet. The goal of a shared budget is to help both of you plan for expenses and maintain a clear picture of how much is spent, and by whom. A regular review of a shared budget can also help verify if the split between co-parents is equitable—particularly important if one parent’s income is much higher than the other’s.

Tracking your individual expenses for the kids is also a useful practice, even if it may seem like a lot of work at first. The more transparent you are with one another, the better your argument for updating the arrangement if you feel you’re covering more than the agreed-upon expenses. 

5. Use co-parenting technology

There are a number of apps that can make managing finances as co-parents easier. Some features include automated support payments, managing shared expenses, and even shared calendars to keep track of kids’ appointments and events. 

There are a number of co-parenting apps available, including Cozi. This free app helps co-parents manage school events, doctors visits, vacations, and your kids’ schedule. Our Family Wizard was one of the first co-parenting apps created for parents. It helps co-parents stay up-to-date on expenses, schedule, and communication. There’s a message board where parents can leave notes about upcoming events. The app costs CAD$125 per year and there’s a 30 day money back guarantee. WeParent helps co-parents manage schedules, events, appointments, documents and photos. There’s a 14-day free trial and costs US$9.99 per month, or US$99.99 per year. 

6. Plan for post-secondary education

Although university or college may be years away, it can be costly when the time arrives (sooner than you realize). As co-parents, saving for post-secondary education should be discussed while the kids are young. Opening a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) offers an added benefit: the Government of Canada contributes 20 cents on every dollar you add to the RESP, up to a certain limit. 

A financial advisor can help you determine the ideal contribution amount per child, how much to contribute (monthly or annually), whether you’ll each contribute equally or proportional to income, and if you’ll both contribute into the same RESP account or open separate ones. Lots of decisions, so don’t delay!

Read more about how to pay for college or university.

7. Keep kids out of the conversation

As much as possible, avoid discussing financial woes in your co-parenting relationship. “We want to keep an environment for your kids that’s stable and able,” says Alicia. “Talking judgmentally about the other home to your kids or sharing your opinions on how things should be ‘over there’ is not productive or healthy for them.” 

There’s nothing wrong with discussing finances appropriate to your child’s age. In fact, you may choose to work with your ex to teach your kids the value of money by showing a united front with regard to their needs vs. wants, allowances, and chores.  

How can co-parents communicate effectively about finances?

This is the time to set aside personal differences and keep your conversations focused on the kids and finances. Easier said than done, we know… that’s why we’ve provided some useful strategies to navigate your co-parenting conversations (be they in person, over the phone, or even by email).

Set a business-like tone

When it comes to finances, speaking to your ex as you would a colleague is ideal. Keep your discussion cordial and neutral, even if you feel triggered by something that’s said. “If something is off with your child, or you’d like to see something changed, focus on your child’s situation,” says Alicia. “Take the opinions, judgments and emotion out of it so you can engage in powerful conversation on what’s best for the kids.”

Keep conversations kid-focused

Keep the conversations centered on your kids’ needs, and resist the temptation to lay blame or pass judgment on one another when discussing finances. It’s easier to find common ground when the focus remains on what’s best for your kids rather than how your ex’s in-laws are too meddlesome, or recalling past events to prove a point. 

Focus on what you can control

“What I find is challenging for some parents is staying in your own lane,” says Alicia, who emphasizes concentrating on what you, individually, can impact. If you and your co-parent can’t agree on certain expenses for the kids, it’s best to immediately let go of any resentment and frustration. You can later determine whether you can cover the expense personally, or not. 

Talk or meet regularly

Your children’s expenses evolve over time as their needs and interests change, as do your own financial circumstances. Although you may not want to talk regularly with one another, too long a gap between correspondence can lead to unpleasant surprises if one co-parent suddenly shares a big change in expenses or support payments. The more frequently you can discuss your kids’ finances, the more likelihood you’re in alignment with current and future expenses. It also helps build a trusting and respectful (albeit business-like) relationship. 

Show understanding in difficult circumstances

Financial situations can change abruptly for either co-parent and that can be stressful for both of you. Despite your differences, remember that co-parenting is a team sport and finding ways to support an ex during a financially trying time will benefit your kids in the long run. Treating one another with respect and empathy can help build a productive co-parenting relationship, even after the hardships have passed. 

How you manage finances as co-parents can benefit the kids

Although managing finances as a single parent can be challenging, a collaborative co-parenting arrangement that prioritizes your kids’ needs can alleviate some of your financial stresses. Open communication, a clear understanding of your finances, regular correspondence, and financial planning can all lend to a productive co-parenting relationship that will benefit your kids over the long-term, and maybe even your wallet. 

Download the Mydoh app and help build the foundation of financial literacy for your kids and teenagers.