KidsWealth Money Kit

The KidsWealth Money Kit is designed to teach children how to become financially successful. The kit comes with five account wallets, a parent guide, a kid's guide, pay calendar with pay stickers, a pay agreement, five pencils, a calculator, and decorative stickers. There are also age appropriate Tracker books available, which contain games, activities, and puzzles that reinforce the teaching of the money kit. The back of these books have a tracking section to keep account of your child's money.



The creators of this product have a very interesting back story. According to the letter I received with my kits, Michael and Elizabeth DaSilva ended up over $90,000 in debt. After studying personal financing and investing, they were able to not only get themselves out of debt but now have a net worth of $2.5 million. Wanting to teach their own kids how to manage money, they created their own financial program for kids. In 2002, they founded KidsWealth.

The idea behind KidsWealth is that rather than paying for your children's "wants", you pay your children a "paycheck" and your children then pay for their own "wants". Through this, your children learn financial principles. Their pay is divided between five wallets. 30% of their money goes into their Wealth wallet. This is for investment purposes and is not spent. 20% goes into their Plan wallet. This would be a long term savings account, for larger items that they desire. 20% is placed into their Learn wallet and used for educational products or field trips. 20% is for their Fun wallet and is used for entertainment purposes. 10% is placed in their Angel wallet and is for charity or tithing.

I was very impressed with the quality of the materials. The wallets are well made, sturdy, and colorful. The guides, calendar, and Tracker books are bright and colorful and the characters they use to portray various principles are well done.

I love the idea of teaching kids financial responsibility from a young age. My husband is a pastor and does a lot of financial counseling and it only reinforces the importance of teaching these concepts to our children. As homeschoolers, we have even more of an opportunity to teach practical skills in a practical manner. KidsWealth could be a good tool in this teaching.

My only issue with this product is that, realistically speaking, we can't use it as written. With seven children and a limited income, we are unable to pay our children a decent "paycheck" as suggested. However, I do plan to use this system and tweak it to fit our family. We have used Larry Burkett's principles for years, including the envelope system at times. We plan to use KidsWealth wallets in combination with these principles.

For those who can use KidsWealth as written, I think it would be a great product for your family. For those who would have to tweak it a bit and possibly combine this with other methods you are already familiar with (such as Larry Burkett or Dave Ramsey), the product itself is well crafted and kid friendly.

KidsWealth Money Kits are available for $39.95. More information can be found at their main site, as well as HERE. If you have experience with these yourself, questions regarding this product, or any other thoughts, please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!