This Chinese New Year, my preschooler received a grand total of $40 in ang pows. In my humble opinion, that’s 40 times too much for an almost 4 year old.

I was tempted to pocket the cash myself (oh, I mean put it in a bank), but instead I decided to teach my child a bit about money. I was quite reluctant, because honestly, I felt that this money conversation was happening a bit too early.

We sat on the floor and he tore open all his red packets. He was very excited. Then he looked at all the money and went “Wow. What happens now?”

I explained where money comes from - Dad goes to work, works hard and he gets money.
What money is for - Paying for the things we need now : water, food, house, petrol. Paying for the things we need later : education, the future. And buying things we want : A new bike, new sneakers.
How we use the money - use it really carefully, make plans so you don’t use it all up, put some in the bank to save it for the future, give some to others who need help.

I had no idea whether he understood me. So still sitting on the floor, we split the money up. $20 for his piggy bank. $5 for church. $5 for charity. And $10 to spend on something special for the new year.

That should do for now.

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