Teaching Children about Credit Cards
By Debbie Dragon

Young Children Do Not Understand the Concept of Credit Cards

It’s the 21st century, and most of the kids living in the United States are constantly watching their parents put a cute little plastic card into an automated teller machine and seeing the machine instantly spit out a wad of cash. It’s like magic! A machine that gives money whenever anybody wants it!

The concept of “the money that comes out of an ATM really comes from a bank account that holds money which was earned by working” is difficult for many young children to understand. Likewise, it’s hard to comprehend the notion that swiping a credit card in a machine at the store really means that mommy or daddy will get a bill in a month that must be paid with the money earned by going to work.

Life these days is so electronic that many parents wonder how their children will ever grasp the complexities of how internet banking, automated teller machines, and credit cards work… even in the simplest terms. However, several experts in this field have come up with tips on how to teach children the value of a dollar, how to save money, and how the concept of a credit card works. Learning how to understand these concepts and how to be responsible with money at a young age is knowledge that can help children succeed and prosper for the duration of their entire lives.