I remember back in the 1973 when I worked my first summer job. I was all of 15 years of age. I was getting paid to sort rivets in an aircraft sheet metal shop. The work was tedious, but the pay wasn’t all that bad – I think that I was paid $7/hour (back then that was a decent wage for a 15 year old).

Did I save any money that summer? Not one cent! My parents suggested that I should save some of it, but I thought that money grew on trees back then. Little did I realize that putting aside money was a wise thing to do. I, like many other kids of that generation, believed that money was meant to be spent not saved. Now when I look back, I realize that even if I would have saved $5/day, I would have had $300 saved at the end of the summer.

Please do your kid a favor this summer. When your kid gets his or her first pay check, sit down with your child and help him or her set a savings goal. Get your child to calculate how much could be saved over the course of the summer if $5, $10, or even $20 was saved every day. Once the calculation is made, your child will see what is possible by saving a certain amount every payday. By undertaking this activity with your child, you might be setting up your kid for a lifelong habit of saving. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? After all, learning to be financially literate is all about acquiring knowledge, putting it into practice, and reaping the rewards.

Tags: financially literate, save money, summer job, value of money