How do I teach my 10 year old about money?
By Calm Money Kids · 6 min read
A lot of parents notice that a 10 year old wants to know exactly how much they have, down to the last dollar. You can teach a 10 year old about money by letting them keep track of their own jar totals each week and save for a Dream goal that takes up to three months. Keeping their own numbers now is what gets them ready to plan a whole month of money at 11.
What can a 10 year old understand about money?
Most 10 year olds can add up what they have, plan a few weeks ahead, and stick with a goal for a couple of months. They can also follow a simple idea of how money grows over time.
They care a lot about what's fair, so they compare what they get with what their friends get.
This matters because your child is close to running part of their own money. In Calm Money Kids, 10 is the last year of the Goal Builder stage, and your child becomes a Young Manager at 11.
What is new about teaching money at age 10 compared to age 9?
At 9, the big lesson was where money comes from, and at 10 the big lesson is keeping track of it.
The suggested allowance goes up to $10 a week. The Spend jar gets $5, the Grow and Dream jars each get $2, and the Give jar gets $1.
The new dollar goes to the Grow jar, so it doubles from $1 to $2 a week. This is also the last year of splitting in whole dollars, because from 11 your child uses exact percents and cents, and doing that math becomes part of the lesson.
When your child turns 11, you can read how to teach an 11 year old about money.
What does it cost when a parent keeps all the numbers?
When a parent always holds the numbers, a child never learns to watch them. They can reach their teens with no feel for how fast money comes in or how fast it goes out, and they find out the hard way with bigger amounts.
A child who checks their own totals each week starts to see patterns. They notice when the Spend jar empties early, and they start to plan around it while a mistake still only costs a few dollars.
So ask yourself who reads the jar totals in your home right now. If it's you, this is the week to hand that job over.
How do the four money jars work for a 10 year old?
On Family Money Day, your child splits $10 into four jars. Then your child, and not you, reads out what's in each one.
The app keeps the jar totals up to date, so you can open it together and let your child copy the numbers into a notebook of their own. You can read more about how to split allowance into jars if you're just getting started.
The Grow jar gets $2, and your child sees how growth adds up
The Grow jar is for life after 18, and the Dream jar is for a goal your child can reach soon. That's the heart of the difference between saving and investing, and a 10 year old is ready to hear it.
A pretend bank game makes growth easy to see. Add a small bonus to the Grow jar, and then work out the next bonus on the new, bigger total, so your child sees that a bonus can earn its own bonus. This idea is called compound interest.
Any numbers you use are only an example for learning, and they aren't a promise of what money will earn.
The Dream jar gets $2 for a goal up to three months away
Say your 10 year old wants an art kit that costs $24. With $2 a week, that's 12 weeks of saving, which is just under three months, and your child can work that out on their own.
Three months is a long wait at 10, so it helps to pick a smaller second goal to enjoy along the way. Ask your child what they'd like to reach first while the art kit is still growing.
The Spend jar gets $5, and your child looks back
The Spend jar holds half the allowance, and the choices are fully your child's. Looking back is the new skill this year, because it turns each purchase into a lesson they choose for themselves.
You can ask, "You bought that a week ago. Are you still happy with it?"
The Give jar gets $1, and your child compares where to give
Look at two or three charities together online, and let your child vote on which one to support. This shows them that giving is a choice worth thinking about, and that their vote counts.
What do you say when your 10 year old asks why a friend gets more allowance?
Say your 10 year old comes home and tells you that a friend gets $20 a week and doesn't have to save any of it. Your child has been saving for the art kit for six weeks and has $12 in the Dream jar, and it suddenly feels slow.
It's tempting to explain or defend your choice, but a calm and short answer works better at this age. You can say, "Every family does it differently, and this is how ours works."
Then ask how many weeks are left until the art kit, and let your child count them out. That brings the talk back to their own goal, because comparing never ends, and their own plan is the part they can control.
What are three money activities to try with your 10 year old this week?
These three ideas all put your child in charge of the numbers. You can begin with the first one on your next Family Money Day.
- Have your child read out each jar total and write it in a notebook they keep.
- Draw a simple chart together that shows an example Grow jar after 10 weeks, after one year and after 10 years, and make clear that the numbers are only an example.
- Help your child pick a small second goal for the Dream jar while the big one is still growing.
Common questions about teaching a 10 year old about money
How much allowance should a 10 year old get?
Calm Money Kids suggests $10 a week for a 10 year old, which is $1 for each year of age, and you can change the amount to fit your family. That's $2 for Grow, $2 for Dream, $5 for Spend and $1 for Give.
How long should a 10 year old save for something?
One to three months is a good range for a 10 year old. If a goal would take longer than that, help your child choose a smaller first step.
Is a 10 year old ready to learn about compound interest?
Yes, in a simple form. A pretend bank game with a small bonus each month shows the idea without any hard math.
Put your 10 year old in charge of their own jar totals this week
A 10 year old who knows their own totals is ready for the bigger steps that come at 11. One notebook and five minutes on Family Money Day are enough to start.
Calm Money Kids keeps every jar total up to date, so your child always has real numbers to check.