When there are so many things that children need in the here and now, it can be difficult to put money away for the future too. A tight budget can mean having to be frugal just to get by each month. But saving for your child’s future is important, and could give them a huge helping hand in their adult life. So if you’re able to, it’s something well worth thinking about. Here are some of the ways you could go about it.

Choose a High-Interest Savings Account

Choosing the highest interest savings account you can get is a given, and accounts that are designed for children tend to offer the best rates. Your child’s money will work harder, and gain them some additional cash over the years that it sits in the bank. Children pay no tax on their savings too which will help to boost them even further. Choose an account that cannot be accessed until they are eighteen years old.

Save What You Can

Having a plan to put aside a certain amount each month is good. But if for whatever reason life gets in the way, don’t feel bad if you’re not able to reach that every time. Rather than giving up, just save what you can. Even small contributions will add up over the space of months and years, and so even a couple of dollars will help. And if you can’t even manage that some months, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just save what you have when you have it, and over time it will accumulate.

Set a Good Example

Being responsible and careful with money yourself sets a good example for children, who will more than likely go on to mirror your attitudes. If you know, you’re not the best with it, setting goals and savings targets can help. You could work on getting organized with your monthly bills, and making frugal choices where possible. You could also read financial advice articles or websites online much like The Fortunate Investor to educate yourself about money issues.

Encourage Kids To Save

Encouraging children to save and be savvy with money teaches them a valuable lesson in life. When they receive money for birthdays and Christmas, or cash from family members- encourage them to save some of it. Even if it’s a quarter of whatever they have, which allows them to spend the rest. It lets them see that it’s good to save. They could even put some aside from their pocket money. Once it reaches a certain amount you could put it into their high-interest savings account for them. Alternatively, when friends and family members ask what your child would like for special occasions, you could ask them to make a deposit into their savings account. Having the funds available for things like college tuition, a car or a deposit for a house in the future is so much more worthwhile than getting extra toys and gifts now. As let’s face it, your children probably have lots of this kind of stuff already!

How do you go about saving money for your kids?