You will write a simple plan of what each child will learn about money in the next few years.
Most parents teach children about money the way Marcus and Priya used to: in reaction. A tantrum at the checkout, a surprise charge on a card, a request for a new phone. Each moment gets handled, more or less well, and then forgotten until the next one. Their three children learned something from each, but nobody had decided what they should be learning, or in what order.
This exercise turns lessons 6.1 to 6.3 into a short written plan, one section per child. It takes about twenty minutes, and you should do it together, because a plan only one parent knows about does not survive the first time the other parent is asked for money.
Write each child's name and age at the top of their own section. Then, using the stage they are at, choose the next two money skills you want them to learn in the coming year. Keep it to two. A plan with seven goals for a nine-year-old is a plan nobody follows.
Use the earlier lessons as a guide. For ages three to six, from lesson 6.1, the skills are understanding that paying gives something up, handling coins and notes, waiting for something, and choosing between two things. For ages seven to twelve, from lesson 6.2, they are living within a fixed amount, dividing money into spend, save and give, comparing prices, and seeing a balance grow in an account. For teenagers, from lesson 6.3, they are running a real monthly budget, linking work to money, handling digital spending and recognising scams.
Write each skill as something you could see the child doing, rather than a topic. "Saves for something for four weeks without raiding the jar" is clear. "Learns about saving" is not.
For each child, write the arrangement in one or two lines: the amount, the day it is paid, what it is for, and what it is not for. For younger children, add how they divide it. For teenagers who manage a real cost, write which cost, the monthly amount, and what happens if they run short.
Write who pays it and from which account. If you use a hybrid account model from module 2, pocket money is usually a shared cost from the shared account, and it is worth adding to your split calculator from lesson 3.4.
Children learn quickly which parent says yes. If one parent tops up pocket money and the other refuses, the child learns to ask the softer parent, and the arrangement falls apart.
So agree three things between the two of you. First, which requests get a fixed answer: for example, "no top-ups when pocket money runs out" and "school needs are paid by us, wants come from pocket money". Second, what either parent says when they are not sure: "Let me check with your mother" or "with your father", and then actually checking. Third, how you handle it when one of you has already said yes or no: the other parent backs it up in front of the child and raises any disagreement later, in private.
Write those rules in the plan. They matter as much as the amounts.
Review each child's section on their birthday. A birthday is easy to remember and a natural moment to say, "You are older now, so here is something new you can manage." Raise the amount, widen the budget or move on to the next skill.
Marcus and Priya's plan, with figures made up for the example, fits on one page.
Ethan, five. Skills: saves for a small toy over three weeks using his jar, and chooses between two items with a set amount at the shops. Arrangement: S$2 in coins every Sunday, all into the jar, plus S$3 to spend on one supermarket trip a fortnight.
Maya, nine. Skills: lives within her weekly amount for a whole term without asking for top-ups, and saves for something costing at least four weeks of save money. Arrangement: S$5 every Sunday, split S$3 spend, S$1.50 save and S$0.50 give. Recess money is separate. School needs are paid by her parents. A children's savings account will be opened for her save jar.
Arjun, fourteen. Skills: manages school meals and transport from his own account without running short, and checks with a parent before any online payment to someone he does not know. Arrangement: S$160 transferred to his account on the 1st for meals and transport. If he runs short, he can borrow from his parents, repaid from next month's amount. Game spending comes from his own savings only, with no saved parent cards.
Rules for both parents: no top-ups, needs from parents and wants from pocket money, "let me check with Mum" when unsure, and back each other up in front of the children. Each section is reviewed on that child's birthday.
That is what done looks like: a section for each child with two observable skills, a written arrangement, the rules for requests that both parents follow, and a review date.
If your children are not born yet, write the plan for the ages they will reach first. Start with the youngest child's section, since it is the shortest.
Write the family money plan with two skills per child and agree it with your partner.
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