I have clear childhood memory - of a man coming to our school when I was only eight years old to talk about investments for children. He showed us what saving just five dollars or pounds a week could do for us from that point until we were adults. The amount of money made from interest was astounding, and had I been smart, I would have started such a program once I was earning my own money. I made the mistake of thinking I had plenty of time. Now that I am in my mid-thirties, I wish I would have thought about savings and retirement much sooner.
Investments for children came to my mind in full force when my daughter was born. One of the first things I thought was that I didn’t want to her to struggle with money as I have in the past. Though her choices will be her own, I can do my best to teach her about savings and learning that not all money should be spent right away, even when you think you have nothing to save. Just five or ten dollars each check can make a huge difference years down the road.
Some of the best investments for children are the ones that are simple. It might take nothing more than a savings account to see huge returns twenty or thirty years down the road. The mistake that some make is having just one savings account for investing for children. When you do this, they tend to take money out as soon as they hit a bump in the road, and all of the savings will vanish. Instead, have two, and only tell them about one. When they are older, you can then tell them about the second account, and they can then use it for what they want, but hopefully, they will keep it as a retirement account.
What you should remember when thinking about investments for children is that they have time. That means you can choose some of the safest investments and they will still make a lot of money. Risky investments are for those who don’t save enough when they are young and feel the panic of retirement coming on. A simple, easy investment is the way to go in this case. Get something that will go on its own, and that you can add to as you go. In the future, your children will thank you for thinking of them, and giving them some security that they may not have gotten on their own. Having good investments for children will help you sleep better at night once they are on their own.
ARTICLES
Encourage Real World Hobbies for Kids
Although computers and technology are a wonderful development in the modern world, many parents wonder if the virtual world endangers their children's natural social development. This is a legitimate worry. Some kids spend all of their spare time finding entertainment on the web, playing video games and chatting with online friends. Kids must also engage in real world activities in order to develop well rounded social skills. Parents often have a difficult time convincing kids that this is true. Here are some ways you can pry the kids away from the computer without any objections on their part.
Whether kids will admit it or not, all kids like fun in the company of other kids their own age. The trick to encouraging hobbies for kids that they'll beg you to let them do is to allow them to lead you to the activities they enjoy. For example, if your child has been invited by a friend to an ice skating party and your child wants to go, make every effort to accommodate the request. If you need to drive them, make the time to do so. This may become a weekly activity which provides healthy exercise,...
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Educational Games
When I was growing up, I used to always look forward to playing educational games. My favorite ones were the educational board games. I was always pretty good at Scrabble. I was a very literate kid, and sometimes I could even beat the grown ups. At the time, I thought I was hot stuff. In retrospect I understand that they might have been letting me win, but I think I still could have given them a run for their money.
We didn't have a lot of educational computer games when I was growing up, but we had a few. The Oregon Trail is a classic of my generation. Although current educational games are much more sophisticated, for the time it was pretty good. It really gave you a little bit of an idea of what life was like for the pioneers blazing a trail out west. The gameplay aspect was good enough to make it fun and entertaining.
Of course my favorite educational game of all time was where in the world is Carmen San Diego. Nowadays, it is quite a franchise. They have spun off into several different games, show, and movies. Back...
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