Teaching Kids About Money: A CFPB-Backed Starting Point for Parents

Money habits form long before a first paycheck. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau built a free program, Money as You Grow, on a simple idea: parents do not need to be money experts to raise kids who handle money well.

What is Money as You Grow?

It is the CFPB's collection of tips, activities and conversation starters for parents and caregivers, organized by developmental stage: young children, school-age children to preteens, and teens to young adults. Each stage has age-appropriate milestones, so you can see what money skills your child is ready for and practice them together.

What do kids actually learn?

The program focuses on three building blocks: skills (like comparison shopping and counting change), habits (like saving before spending), and attitudes (like patience and confidence around money choices). Activities attach to real moments, such as paying bills, buying a car, or planning for a pet, so the lessons land in daily life rather than as lectures.

How do gifts fit in?

Cash gifts from birthdays and holidays are natural teaching moments. Splitting a gift into spend, save, and share piles is a classic first exercise, and watching a savings balance grow teaches more than any explanation. As kids get older, seeing how a saved gift is invested introduces the idea that money can work on its own.

Frequently asked questions

At what age should money talks start? The CFPB's answer is that it is not too early, and not too late. Their resources start with young children and adapt each conversation to where the child is developmentally.

Is Money as You Grow free? Yes. It is a public resource from the CFPB, a federal agency, at no cost.

Sources and further reading: CFPB, "Money as You Grow" (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/money-as-you-grow/).