Kids know how to feed the pig

Benjamin Bankes should be proud. More kids are being exposed to some kind of financial learning these days and that’s good news, according to Money Management International, a nonprofit credit counseling agency that just released the results of its 2010 Kids and Money Survey.

The survey studied how kids today are learning about finances compared to their parents and which financial tools they are being exposed to. Nearly five times as many parents did not learn about money until they were adults compared to their kids.

Kids are also starting to bank younger these days. Three times as many children under 10 have bank accounts than their parents did when they were that age.

Piggy bank popularity is increasing (perhaps because of the AICPA’s Feed the Pig campaign? Hmm we wonder if those masks are really working...). Nearly twice as many parents use the piggy bank as a learning tool for their kids compared to how many used it themselves as kids.

Nearly seven in 10 American kids participate in fundraisers for their school or organization.

Kids mostly spend their money on wants – when they have control of it. The survey said parents are split on who actually controls the kids’ money. Forty-nine percent say that they either give their children the total decision or most of the decision.

For more information about the survey or MMI, visit www.MoneyManagement.org.