Lane 专栏｜理财，要从娃娃抓起哦—美国辣妈看“零花钱”

When it comes to teaching kids about money, the sooner the better. Long before the most children can add and subtract, they become aware of the concept of money. In fact, according to a recent study done by the University of Cambridge, money habits are formed by age seven. “The sooner parents start taking advantage of everyday teachable money moments, thebetter off our kids will be. Parents are the number one influence on their children’s financial behaviors, so it’s up to us to raise a generation of mindful consumers, investors, savers, and givers.”

教孩子学习理财越早越好。对于大多数孩子来说，在学会加减运算之前，他们对于“钱”这个字已经有概念了。事实上，最近剑桥大学一项研究表示：基本财务习惯早在7岁就形成了。“父母越早利用生活中每一个小机会去教孩子理财，孩子就会从中获益越多。父母是孩子理财导师第一人，所以让我们努力培养优秀的下一代－他们不仅是头脑敏捷的消费者和投资家，也是优化社会财富的给予者。”

1. Money is earned through hard work.

财富的获得需要勤奋的工作

When children are handed money by their parents,children fail to make a connection between work and money. Children who earntheir money by doing chores around the house and contributing positively to family life develop a realistic, positive relationship with money.

如果孩子的零花钱来源只是简单得由父母控制，那么他们将无法理解财富和工作之间的关系。不如让孩子通过做一些简单的家务来“挣”零花钱，并且鼓励他们将自己的财富积极地贡献出一部分给整个家庭，这样有助于帮助孩子建立对于金钱客观全面而且积极的认知。

The benefits of an allowance are two-fold. First, allowances demonstrate to the child that money, and not just their money but yours also, is scarce and they should put some thought into how to spend it. The second benefit is that the child now has some spending money and it is no longer Mom or Dad’s responsibility to hand over the cash for every, “I want…!” Parents quickly learn that money thatbelongs to a child is much more precious to this child than money that belongs to an adult.

自己挣零花钱好处多多。首先，挣得的零花钱会启发孩子深度思考如何有计划地去消费，因为来之不易所以孩子会更加慎重。其次，孩子们想要零花钱的时候就不再仅凭一句“我想要…”呼风唤雨了（他们必须通过自己的辛勤劳动挣钱）。父母将很快意识到孩子挣的钱比大人持有的钱有教育意义多了。

An allowance is easy to set up. Choose a series of chores or household tasks the child must complete throughout the week. For example, when I was a child I folded the towels, swept the floor, and set the table for dinner every night. The final step is to choose an amount of money togive your child for completing these tasks every week. Be aware, an allowance only works if you stick to the rules! The child who does not complete ALL oftheir weekly chores doesn’t get any money.

帮孩子制定挣零花钱的计划简单易学。第一步是以周为单位，选一些孩子力所能及的家务。拿自己的例子来说，我小的时候会叠毛巾，扫地，每晚晚饭前准备餐桌等等。第二步就是制定好孩子一周的“薪水”。要注意啦！挣零花钱计划必须严格执行对孩子才会有积极作用－如果孩子没有完成所有工作将不能得到一分钱！

2. You may have to wait to buy something you really want.

要学会推迟满足感－特别是你特别想得到某样东西的时候。

The ability to delay gratification in a child can be a strong prediction of how well they will delay gratification as an adult.Teaching a child about saving money is an invaluable life lesson and enforces Rule 1- that it’s hard work to earn money. Lessons in smart saving lead to smart credit card and spending choices in the future.

一个孩子推迟满足感的能力能有效预测他／她长大之后对于金钱甚至是生活的掌控能力。指导孩子做一些必要的储蓄将会是孩子受益终生的一课－要记得坚持原则哦－要通过努力工作挣钱！储蓄意识将帮助孩子培养良好的信用记录和消费习惯。

Children as old as six are able to understand the function of a savings account at the bank. In fact, when I was a child my father opened a savings account for me.Better than that, he promised to match every deposit of money I put in my account. If I put in ten dollars, my dad put in an additional ten dollars. He and I balanced the checkbook together and watched the money in my account grow.The rules for this account were that I could not take it out for at least a year after the date of deposit.

孩子一般到六岁就知道在银行开一个户进行储蓄是怎么回事了。实际上，当我还很小的时候我爸爸就帮我开了一个专门的银行账户－属于我的哦！更棒的是，我爸爸承诺我存下来的每一分钱他都会再给我同样的钱数存到银行。比如我存了10美元，爸爸就会在里面再帮我存10美元。爸爸会带着我一起看银行流水，帮助我了解我的财富是如何一步步增长的。这一个计划的规矩是：至少一年的时间我只能存不能取。

There are many ways to teach your child about money every day. An activity as simple as giving your child the money to pay for the groceries at the store are is very effective lesson. Using every day moments to teach finance will set your child on the road to a bright financial future.

实际上每天都有很多机会教孩子理财。让孩子去买日常杂货就是很有效的一种方式。财富管理从娃娃抓起，我们的孩子将终生受益。