Babysitting as Financial Teaching Tool

It is said that the children are the future. If so, maybe we can ensure the future by using babysitting as a tool for helping them learn essential values, such as responsibility and money management.

Most recently, after a long partisan standoff, benefits have been reinstated for millions of Americans in need. Such bills remind us that now more than ever are financial values needed, especially with the ongoing financial crisis and seemingly constant need to offer aid.

President Barack Obama is taking the lead in using the babysitting method. He said that his daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, are getting their own allowance, but that they are reaching the age where they can earn their own money by babysitting. He has already been teaching them basics they have their own savings accounts and are learning about the importance of savings and interest.

In addition to teaching his own children about finances, he is trying to help Americans decipher their own. For example, when it comes to your credit card bills, there is much more transparency in communication. For one thing, there must be a 45 day notice period before a credit card company decides to jack up rates. Additionally, companies show how much extra money you will end up paying if you only pay the minimum fee. He says, That wasnt something that the credit card companies just decided to do out of the goodness of their heart. They did it because we had passed a credit reform law earlier and now we've got additional enforcement mechanisms for it.

While Obama is passing bills to make finances easier to manage amongst Americans, many should have taken charge of their own financial responsibilities a long time ago. Maybe babysitting when they were younger could have helped.