Thank you DiversyFund for sponsoring this post. It’s never too early to learn about investing for your future!

When your kid comes to you with wild dreams and wishes, take it as a learning opportunity. Talk to them about how kids can make money!

Fun Ways Your Kids Can Make Money

There’s one in every family of this I am sure. You know the kid: the spontaneous one, the funny one, the “fly by the seat of his pants” one. He’s the one who cannot hold on to a dollar to save his life.

Our family is no exception, we have a kid JUST like that! This kid, if you gave him $5, somehow within 10 minutes, he would have spent the money AND borrowed additional money from his brothers. This kid was a black hole of money. He had NO ability to save or hold on to money for more than mere minutes.

It got to the point where I started to worry about his future, his financial literacy, his ability to earn an income, spend it responsibly on living expenses, and save some for future goals. I worried and was sad because raising financially responsible kids was always one of my biggest parenting goals.

Then it happened, the turning point. I don’t know WHAT prompted the change, but it was sudden, it was drastic, it was an EXACT 180-degree change. Not 179 degrees or 181 degrees, but 180 degrees – and it was glorious!

Read on, if you also have a kid who is a money sieve, financially irresponsible, and in need of a lesson in how to make money – and hold on to it!

I remember THE DAY it happened clearly. He was working on something that required his full attention and he was secretive. He asked me strange questions about office furniture. Since when did a 10-year-old care about something as boring as desks and office chairs?

Our Kid’s Financial Transformation

I gently knocked on his door and asked if I could enter. There he was, sitting up in his bed with papers spread all over the place. I sat down on his bed, careful not to disturb the random sheets of paper covered in his helpless handwriting. After a few minutes of silence, followed by careful questioning, he finally spilled the beans.

He was working on plans to turn his room into a YouTuber’s studio. He wanted his room “tricked out” with the best tech gear a 10-year-old could dream of. There, on his papers were lists of light-up mouse pads, gaming chairs, gaming mice, and of course a gaming computer.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I am not sure WHAT I had expected, but this was definitely not on my shortlist of possibilities.

Fast forward through a long conversation where he educated me on the various technical features of every item on his list. (I never knew the “speed of a keyboard” mattered, but apparently, it does if you are “a gamer!)

He then looked at me with his big blue eyes, toothy smile and said “I am going to put these things on my birthday and Christmas wish lists and then I will get them, right?!”

This is when we had a talk, one of many over the next few months, about the value of a dollar – and that we can’t expect mom and dad to fill every wish on a wish list.

After the initial shock of realizing that neither Santa nor his parents would magically make his wildest dreams come true, he came to the conclusion that making money himself would be the only way he would have the YouTuber studio of his dreams.

The next day, we sat down together to talk about ways he could make money. Some of the ideas were quick fixes, others had a longer time horizon.

Below is the long list of ideas we came up with. The ONE idea that spoke to my heart, after spending 20+ years in the financial services industry was # 3: Investing.

It was so much fun talking to our tween and teen about investing money for long-term goals and how diversifying your investments works.

During our conversation, we talked about different investment choices and investment vehicles. The kids were really interested in learning about investing in real estate. I told them about DiversyFund

DiversyFund is a Real Estate Investment Trust (also called a REIT), which is a great way to diversify an investment portfolio.
- DiversyFund invests primarily in cash-flowing apartment buildings.
Their private REIT is available to the everyday investor with a minimum investment of only $500 and no management fees.
In broad terms, their expert real estate investors and professionals handpick the real estate properties for the investment portfolio.
They have a hands-on approach of buying the properties, managing, renovating, improving, and selling the projects when the time is right.
The profits from the sales are then split among the REIT investors.

After a lot of deliberation and talks, our son decided to spend an entire summer offering pet and house sitting services to the 100 houses in our neighborhood.

*** Print the “My Savings Goal” workbook FREE today! It’s perfect for kids of all ages. Our workbook helps kids have big dreams, plan how they are going to reach their goals, and keep track of their progress and savings. I made something similar for our kid when he was working towards his big goal and it was incredibly helpful to him – and it’s FREE! ***

How Your Kids Can Make Money:

(Disclaimer: these money-making ideas won’t be appropriate for every child. A lot will depend on their age and maturity. Adult-supervision or participation may be required, but is also a great opportunity to spend quality time together.)

Allowances
Birthday money
Investing
Chores at home
Babysitting siblings/ neighborhood kids
Dog walking
Pet SittingPetsitting
House sitting: water plants, empty mailbox, watch porch for packages
Mow lawns
Pull weeds
Mother’s helper for families with young kids or puppies
Dusting and light house cleaning at home or at the grandparent’s house
Gardening for grandparents or neighbors
Filing papers or light office work for “work from home” parents
Teaching other kids a skill: Pokemon card game, video game, an instrument, art, a sport
Trade-in used (but no longer needed) video games.
Sell toys they have grown out of
Sell packs of Pokemon cards or other collectible cards
Lemonade stand/ snack stand/ bake sale in the neighborhood
Garage sale

*** Print the FREE “My Savings Goal” workbook. Help your kid dream and achieve big dreams! ***

Fast forward several months after the busiest summer of our lives, he has now purchased most of the things he wanted for his “YouTuber studio” including an incredible “gaming computer.”

This kid now has an amazing set-up, but most importantly, he has learned valuable life-skills of working for the things he wants. AND the best part, he continues to reap the rewards from this incredible life-lesson: his YouTube channel is now earning a small, but steady income.

He recently came to me and said “Mom, I am ready to start investing some of my income for my long-term goals!” Oh, swoon! To say I am proud is the biggest understatement.

Take away: when your kid comes to you with wild dreams and wishes, take it as a learning opportunity. Teach them about finances, investments, share age-appropriate ways they can make money.

Financial literacy cannot start too soon. Teach your kids not to fear money, but to respect it and invest it.

Our younger kids love these fun financial literacy learning activities and we have borrowed several of these books about money for kids from the library. Personally, I have also enjoyed reading several of these books about finance – because even mom and dad are never too old to brush up on their own financial literacy.

Also, spend some time looking through the Learning Center on the DiversyFund’s website. I found myself reading article after article, learning and brushing up on my financial know-how.

Remember, we as parents need to stay on top of our financial literacy game too – for the sake of our family’s financial health.