Money Lessons Your Kids Can Teach You

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Adults likely hold the view that because they work, pay bills and provide for their kids, only they understand the value of money. There are a few ways, though, that kids have things to teach adults about saving and spending, and some of those lessons come naturally from the playing they do without any intention of learning.

That's not to say the usual parental lessons have no value.

Kids may be viewed as impulsive, but saving is actually part of a collector instinct. Piggy banks are more fun when they're heavy and rattle than when they're smashed open or drained from a rubber-stopped belly.

"I believe that one of the greatest gifts a parent can give to a child around these matters is teaching them how to work and how to save," says Mike McGervey, president and founder of Ohio-based McGervey Wealth Management and a father of four. "I really believe in starting them with household chores with lists and things that they are responsible to do. Then, as they get older, the boys can cut lawns, the girls can babysit until they turn 16 and the job market is open for them."

"This helps them develop an appreciation for how hard it is to earn money, especially in relation to the things that they need or want. It creates a further appreciation for how easy it would be to spend through all of their earnings," McGervey says.

Another thing only a parent can help a child learn about money: the uses and abuses of credit.

McGervey is no fan of parents giving a child a credit card to use, though. He suggests setting them up with their own debit card.

"I would never want to give them a credit card, because it is just such a false sense of security," he says. "By learning first with a debit card, where they see that when they take money out to purchase something there is always an offset to it, they can see that correlation -- that this isn't a magic card the way some adults unfortunately think. Adults could learn a lot about the dangers of debt and debt service. The whole idea of going to just a debit card could be something that gives them, as well, the reality check that they need."

At the same time, parents would do well to pay attention, not just allowance, to their kids. They would learn some things: