If Your Child Can Do This, They’re Ready to Learn About Money
When parents tell me, “I’m waiting until my child is ready to learn about money,” I understand exactly what they mean.
They’re not avoiding the topic because they don’t care.
They’re avoiding it because they don’t want to teach it wrongly.
The challenge is this:
Many parents are waiting for signs that don’t actually determine readiness.
And while they wait, their child is still making money-related decisions, just without a framework.
What Parents Usually Think “Ready” Looks Like
When parents say “ready,” they often mean one (or more) of these:
My child is more mature
My child can do maths well
My child can think logically
My child has better emotional control
My child has reached the “right age”
These are understandable assumptions.
But money readiness doesn’t begin when a child becomes perfectly rational.
It begins when a child can make small choices and reflect on them, even if they’re still messy.
Readiness Is Behaviour, Not Age
From a behavioural standpoint, readiness often shows up earlier than parents expect.
Here are a few simple markers:
1) They can choose between two options
Not just choosing what they like, but noticing there are trade-offs.
For example, you can ask:
“Would you rather eat at a hawker centre or a restaurant today?”
Even if a child doesn’t talk about money directly, they can usually understand trade-offs:
comfort vs cost
convenience vs effort
experience vs simplicity
2) They can follow simple instructions and complete small tasks
This matters because money decisions require follow-through: plan, choose, act, and accept outcomes.
3) They show preferences and curiosity
The most underrated marker of readiness is this: they ask “why,” or they can explain why they want something.
That ability to explain is the start of decision-making.
A Simple Test: Give Them Small, Low-Risk Decisions
If you want to know whether your child is ready, don’t start with a lecture.
Start with a small decision.
One of the most practical ways is a controlled spending limit, a simple budget.
I tried this recently with my children during a recent trip to Japan. I gave each of them a fixed amount of yen to spend as their own holiday money.
What happened was interesting:
One chose lower-cost items so they could buy more items.
Another chose a higher-cost item because they valued quality or meaning over quantity.
Both were valid choices.
The point wasn’t whether they ‘spent correctly’. The point was that they could choose within limits and live with the outcome.
And here’s the part that matters most:
I didn’t dictate what they should buy. I asked questions.
“Why this?”
“Did you consider that?”
“Are you happy with your decision?”
That reflection completes the learning loop.
Why Waiting for “Perfect Readiness” Backfires
There’s a perfectionism trap many of us fall into, particularly in Singapore.
We wait until:
the plan is perfect
our child is perfect
we are confident we won’t mess it up
But habits don’t wait for perfection.
Children form patterns anyway, through:
exposure
convenience
peers
observation
If we wait too long, guidance becomes harder not because parents are weak, but because influence naturally shifts as children grow.
So instead of aiming for perfect readiness, aim for something more realistic: early, guided exposure.
What to Do When You Notice the Signs
Once you realise your child is ready, the healthiest response is neither:
doing nothing, nor
overreacting and controlling everything
A better approach is:
1) Give more opportunities to decide
Start small. Keep the stakes low.
2) Observe without shaming
Let the decision be theirs, even when you disagree.
3) Ask them to reflect
“Do you regret it?”
“Are you happy with it?”
“What might you do differently next time?”
The goal is not perfect decisions.
The goal is ownership.
Because a child who only makes “good decisions” to please adults doesn’t actually learn decision-making. They learn compliance.
What Parents Should Not Worry About Yet
If you’re starting now, here are a few things you can release immediately:
You don’t need a perfect money system at home.
You don’t need your child to fully understand everything.
You don’t need to teach everything yourself.
You don’t need to rush or “catch up.”
What you need is consistency over time: small decisions, guided reflection, repeated exposure.
That’s how habits form.
The Quiet Truth About Readiness
Your child doesn’t need to be older to start learning about money.
They need to be able to choose something, experience the result, and reflect, even in small ways.
If they can do that, they’re ready.
And if you begin with calm, guided exposure, you won’t be teaching “money” too early.
You’ll be teaching something more valuable: how to think before they choose.