She starts class 7 in June and has lately been reading about interest. Her case is that her gift money sits in an envelope in my cupboard earning nothing, which is true. I'm fine with the idea. What I can't picture is the ordinary part. Do children this age really use the account, or does it become one more thing a parent manages? And did yours start with a passbook, or a card and an app?
Not a parent, so take this lightly. I opened my first account at 22 for my first salary and spent two years learning things a 12 year old could have learnt with small amounts. If she wants it, I'd let her, and let her make her small mistakes while the amounts are small.
Agree on the small mistakes. Our daughter got an account at 12 with just a passbook, nothing on the phone. She enjoyed getting the passbook updated more than the money itself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The card came much later.
agree, start small. mine is 10 and gets paid for sticking labels during our festival orders. it goes into a jar for now. she counts it far more often than she spends it
One practical thing. At our bank we had to be joint holders, and she couldn't use the app herself till she was older. She lost interest for a while because she couldn't see the balance without asking us. So check what she'll be able to see on her own before you pick a bank. Once she could see it, she started checking it every week ❤️
got my son one at 14. used it twice and forgot. the interest lost out to a cricket bat he wanted. still glad he had it, he knows how a bank works now
Keep going
More from the parents who were here.