Parents and caregivers who have discovered the awesomeness of bankaroo.altair-digital-solutions.com/wp/ know what a terrific tool it is for teaching kids to manage money and set financial goals. The site allows you to track real funds with your child if desired, even letting you monitor allowances and decide whether you want to match your child’s savings. To make Bankaroo even better, though, we’ve added points, stars and hearts into the account options for your kids.
In a Nutshell
Previously, when you set up your child’s account on Bankaroo, you could select what real currency (e.g., USD) you wanted to use for the account, as well as other details such as fund matching. Now, if you don’t want to use a real currency, when you set the currency option, you can set it to your child’s choice of heart, star or point. When you set up your goals, you can decide how many hearts, stars or points the goal is worth. You also can add hearts, points, or stars at your discretion for your child and track how many are left when you use the “currency.”
Getting Started
Setting yourself and your child up with the new point, star and heart system is simple and takes just minutes. Use the following steps to get started:
- Create a user account with Bankaroo if you have not already done so.
- Click the “Accounts” tab.
- Click “Create kid account.”
- Fill out the basic information (name, user name, birthday, etc.) for your child’s account in the form that pops up.
- Select points, hearts or stars under the currency drop down menu. Then set how many stars, hearts or points you want your child to have initially.
- Fill in the rest of the funds and allowance information according to your circumstances and preferences.
- Add a profile picture for your child if desired.
- Click “Add kid.”
If you’ve already created accounts for your kids, you can switch to the heart, star or point options by clicking the notepad icon under your child’s account listing.
After Setup
Once you’ve got your child listed with a Bankaroo account, simply click on the currency icon to change how many points, hearts or stars your child has. You also can click on the currency icon to access the sections for setting goals, looking at recent activity and seeing what badges your child has earned.
Who Should Use the System
The point, heart and star system from Bankaroo is ideal for families with very young kids just starting their financial education. Kids in these families are able to understand basic values and numbers, but they aren’t necessarily ready to work with real money. The system also is a bonus for families that might not be able to give steady allowances or where money is tight or unpredictable. The system allows you to determine how much of the chosen currency something is worth, so it’s also terrific for parents or caregivers who want more control over the significance of meeting a goal or the time necessary to save.
Notably, the hearts, points or stars don’t have to connect with money—they can connect with tasks, too (anyone up for cleaning their room?), letting you teach the effort-reward concept with any child no matter what your income and savings level is. You can always modify your child’s account to use real currencies once they’re older or your circumstances change.