My Money Game Plan

"Most people don't plan to fail.  They fail to plan."

Did you know that there's more to being good with money than paying bills on time and paying off credit cards each month?  As important as these skills are, if you don't have a money game plan, you may miss out on ways to be even smarter with your money.  So it's important to get kids to begin to think about how to maximize the value of their hard-earned cash.

It begins with a little exercise called My Look Into the Future.  Kids are given an opportunity to reflect on their life in 5, 10, and 20 years.  What do they see?  Where are they living?  What do they have?  What do they do?  What kind of person do they want to be?  What kind of relationships do they want to have?

Of course, things will change.  They may not live on the beach in 20 years.  They may not be a brain surgeon.  And they may not drive a black maserati.  Maybe it's red.  :-)  The point is, if we can get kids to think about their future dreams, then we can ask them the question, "And how do you plan on getting there?"

Which brings us to the next little activity, My Money Game Plan.  This activity will help kids reflect on making wise money choices so that they can live their dreams.  It's best done after kids have been exposed to the other steps in Kids Money Connexions.  You'll also need to bring them up to speed on the perils of credit card debt (a high interest loan) and things like buying lottery tickets (which keeps an average of 50% of your money!) 

Use the My Money Game Plan worksheet to help your child write down how they plan to use money effectively so that they control their money, it doesn't control them.  When we have strategies, we often perform better.  Let your child know that what they write down isn't set in stone...that it will probably change over time.  And that's okay.  Having a starting point is what's important. 

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