When Jason Bosworth plays Monopoly with his sons, he’s teaching them more than how to win and lose.
While his boys might only be seven and four, the Gold Coast dad believes you’re never too young to learn the value of a dollar… even if it means losing Mayfair to your brother.
“I just want them to be further ahead than I was when I was younger, so I’m educating them on money now and making them not be afraid of it,” Mr Bosworth told news.com.au.
You might question the approach, but you can’t question the results.
James already has better financial skills than most adults.
“He’s just so intuitive of where it [money] comes from and that mum and dad don’t just go shake the tree out the back,” Mr Bosworth explained.
The value of a dollar isn’t something James is learning; it’s something he’s doing.
When James spotted a $1000 Lego set he wanted, instead of taking the easy approach of simply saying no, his father set him a challenge: if James could save $800 through his own hard work, his father would chip in the final $200.
It took him six months.
“It’s more just giving them an understanding and then appreciating what they’ve done to get what they have,” Mr Bosworth said.
The youngster didn’t just build LEGO. He had unexpectedly formed his own small business, too.
To raise the money for his desired toy, he walked around his community offering to clean wheelie bins, and he has not stopped despite reaching his goal. He has also collected recycled bottles over the past few years to earn money.
“He does that probably three days a week now; he’s still been doing it well past his Lego. So now he reckons he’s saving for a car,” Mr Bosworth explained.
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It’s also important to note that the kids don’t receive pocket money for helping around the house, meaning every dollar is completely earned.
“In our house, we’ve never really used the word chores. Everyone has to get in and help out… If you want it to work and you want everything to run smoothly, everyone has to get in and help out,” the father shared.
James is already thinking like a CEO, having initiated a “succession plan” for the family business.
With the seven-year-old moving into the ‘senior’ role of cleaning bins three days a week, his four-year-old brother, Harry, is stepping up to manage the entry-level recycling route.
“My eldest son’s done that since he was about four or five and now we’re passing that down to the youngest son,” Mr Bosworth said.
Many may argue ‘let kids be kids’, but Mr Bosworth isn’t alone with preparing his kids for their future reality of managing money.
New data from money.com.au shows 40 per cent of parents believe children should start to learn basic money concepts between the ages of six and nine.
While the data shows the average age for ‘money talk’ is 10-years-old, Finance Expert Sean Callery, says getting ahead of that curve is exactly what parents should be doing.
“Having that really strong foundational understanding of money from an early age really does matter,” Mr Callery told news.com.au.
Whether it’s giving them an old credit card to play pretend with or a game of shops, he believes parents should look for the hidden lesson in the mundane moments
“It is probably valuable that as soon as kids start to you know encounter money in the real world or in the play world that as parents we’re trying to help them along,” he said.
Much like potty training, children learn by mimicking their parents’ actions, which means a level of caution is necessary or risk the message becoming too advanced.
Callery warns that the ‘invisible’ nature of digital payments can reinforce the idea that life revolves around the device, rather than the work required to fund it.
When his own daughter asks for a treat at a cafe and hears “we don’t have money for that,” her response is often, “Well, you can just use your phone”.
“There is the potential for that to be a little bit confusing for children. When they’re maybe playing with toy notes and coins at home, but then they’re seeing mummy and daddy paying for things with their phone,” Callery explained.
He warns that the move toward digital payments can reinforce the idea that life revolves around the device, rather than the work required to fund it.
To combat the ‘imaginary money’ phenomenon, both fathers believe that starting conversations and providing concrete examples at an early age is vital.
By teaching his sons that money is a result of hard work, Mr Bosworth has undoubtedly set his boys up for financial futures that are strong.
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Thanks to that thousand-dollar Lego challenge and regular family game nights, he has also inadvertently created a very ruthless Monopoly opponent for himself.
“He definitely drives a hard bargain, and if you don’t have the money, if you’re a dollar short or something, there’s no go,” Mr Bosworth laughed.
“He’ll probably put a bit of interest on it as well”.
