You’ve spent hours upon hours parenting, planning, cleaning, listening, cooking, rocking them to sleep, training and spending your energy to make sure your kids feel loved, healthy, happy, seen and heard. What you might not have yet considered is setting up their future financial cushion. Regardless of your contribution abilities, the basic discipline of setting up accounts for your kids as early as possible is one of the best things you can do for them long term. It might make the difference of them attending trade school later in life, or having enough money to take a year off to discover their true self after high school. It also might be the peace of mind for you and your family that there is always enough, and always a cushion should they need one.

Opening bank accounts and getting a free checking account for your children is easier than you might think, and can teach them discipline in savings and financial responsibility in the process. Teaching your kids the habit of depositing money and watching it grow over the years is a beautiful lesson not many have in life, and creating healthy money habits and fostering a healthy relationship with money early on in life is a gift that is beyond what most of the world is challenged with in adulthood. Creating earning and saving habits is as simple as setting up a system around it and designating a percentage of each amount earned to be deposited into savings. When there’s enough to invest, perhaps that is also something you’ll want to explore with your kids.

Going into teenage years when many get their first W-2 jobs with a checking and savings account setup is one step ahead in life. Having a safe place to park money to allow it to grow over time is one of the long term paths to wealth later in life. Learning healthy money habits is just as easy as learning bad ones, which all too many are taught by society. Building wealth starts early, and it can start with as little as depositing $1 from each allowance or bit of money earned. Slow and steady growth is often the path most relied upon for building disciplined systems of money management. Few millionaires are made overnight.

No matter your kids’ age(s) now, starting with even just a few dollars in a bank account can show them how to take the first step towards building their future, with their current day decisions and resources. Showing them how to go to the bank, make a deposit and check their balance, as well as find the best rate for their bank accounts, is a memory neither of you will ever forget, and it will be long appreciated. What can you do, today, to start the road to a healthy and positive relationship with money with your kids? Even if you don’t have one yourself, today is a new day and you can all start together!