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Thursday, December 17, 2009

First Bank Deposit

I often take our five year old daughter with me to the bank to make deposits or withdrawals. I do it primarily because our bank has refreshments and she enjoys getting a snack when making a visit. However, I also hope that she is learning as she watches me make deposits to our account.

Yesterday, our five year old daughter asked to make her first bank deposit, from a bag of coins that she had been saving. I estimate she has saved about $15 to $20 of coins. After some contemplation, she decided to deposit $0.77 to her account. However, before doing the deposit, she had several question about the concept.

  • Will they give me my money back? As with most children, she was concerned that whoever she gave anything to would keep it and not return it. Probably a reasonable concern given the number of banks that have failed, but I didn't think that was the question she was asking :-) My answer was, " The bank is just holding your money for you. You can get it back anytime by asking for it."


  • How will they know which are my quarters? Another good question. If she gave a friend a stuff animal to use, she certainly would want the same one returned. I tried to explain that the case for money was different. I showed her two different quarters and asked if it mattered which one she received, because they were both worth 25 cents.

    • After her question were answered satisfactorily, I filled out a deposit slip and we drove to the bank. I modeled the activity by making our deposit first. She then put her money on the counter and said, "I want to make a deposit." After getting her receipt, the teller gave her a child friendly balance book to track her savings.

    Hopefully, our daughter will make many more deposits and begin to learn the virtue of saving :-)

    For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

    This is not financial or parenting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

    Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC
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    3 comments:

    1. pfstock12/17/2009 8:09 PM

      This reminds me of a post that I wrote a few years ago about opening my first savings account when I was 7 years old. See The Squirrels Club. The bank used to offer a youth savings account which was intended to teach children the benefits of savings. They gave out T-shirts, coin banks, and a newsletter that was published quarterly. I wish that I could find something similar to the Squirrels Club nowadays.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Sue12/17/2009 8:55 PM

      I like the idea of teaching kids to save their money. As the saying goes "teach them while they're young". I will do that to my kids.

      ReplyDelete
    3. sekishin12/18/2009 12:32 PM

      "Will they give me my money back?" we should all be asking that question, these days . . .

      ReplyDelete

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