Teach Your Pre-Teen Kid Essential Money Management Skills with a Prepaid Card

A prepaid card is a great tool for teaching essential money management skills to kids under 13. Why?

• It’s safer than cash in a piggy bank;
• It’s widely accepted in stores and online;
• It automatically tracks transactions; and
• It introduces your child to modern banking and personal finance concepts.

Why start all this before the age of 13? A recent Cambridge study concluded that many money habits are set by age 7. Yikes!

“Wait a minute,” you say. “Don’t kids have to be at least 13 to get a prepaid debit card?”
Yes, that certainly seems to be the norm.

So how do kids under 13 get a hold of a prepaid card?
They don’t. You do.

Here’s how you can teach your pre-teen good money habits with a prepaid card:

Is Your Card the Target of Fraud? Know Instantly

By now, everyone has heard of the huge breach of credit and debit card data at Target affecting up to 70 million people. Or, is it 110 million? Either way, all I can say is “YOW!”

Are you sitting around wondering whether some fraudster is out there right now making a purchase with your card? You’ll no doubt be scanning your regular statements or scanning your transactions online.

Not me.

Your Kid's Good Money Habits Could Pump $200 Into Your Family Economy

If you stumble upon your youngster or teen doing something financially savvy in the next week or so, then pull out your phone, and snap a quick picture.

Why?

That photo could pump $200 into your family economy!

Just submit it to the FamZoo Good Money Habits Photo Contest by Monday, January 27, 2014 at 11:59 AM PST. Our panel of judges will award one grand prize of $200 for the best photo as well as three runner-up prizes worth $50 each. The prize money will be delivered either as a credit to the winner’s FamZoo prepaid card or as a separate standalone gift card.

What kind of habits are we talking about? The same ones that FamZoo helps parents teach, like:

• earning diligently,
• saving patiently,
• spending wisely,
• giving thoughtfully, or
• any other money habit that your family values.

So, how do you enter? Here are the highlights (but read the official contest rules before sending us your entry):