“Why shouldn’t I tie chores to allowance?” This is a question I am commonly asked.
Chores are an important part of growing up. They will help your kids learn what it takes to participate in the running of a household.
Chores are not a requirement for teaching financial literacy for kids. Let go of that parental desire to teach them that they must learn to earn. To be sure, that lesson has its place, but it’s different than the lesson that giving them an allowance is supposed to teach.
You are providing an allowance so that your children learn to get comfortable with money, to make mistakes when the stakes are low (by starting financial education early), to understand that money is a tool, to make choices each time they receive money and to show self-control when dealing with money.
I’ve posted about how to distribute an allowance to your tween, and I have a pretty extensive video (if you’re up for it) about setting up an effective allowance.
Forget how your parents may have done an allowance. Your parents may have also driven you around in a car without a seatbelt.
John
Chief Mammal, The Money Mammals