Saving Money at an Early Age

I will compare/ contrast saving money at an early age to saving money when one is already working using the following criteria:

1. Young children have easier access to money and should be encouraged to save what they can.
2. It is harder to save money as a teenager
3. People who save money at an early age can enjoy more benefits of life’s luxuries at an earlier age.
4. People who save money at an early age have less financial worries as an adult does.

What I will learn by contrasting these two elements is:

Saving money at an early age has tremendous benefits if managed properly.

I will organize: My thoughts point by point.

                        Gone are the days when a child had to work a paper route in order to earn pocket money over the summer in order to afford certain wants and needs. These days, the kids still have an allowance over the summer and not everybody has to pound the pavement for a summer job, or even an after school job.

But still, kids want money in their pockets and the caprices of the modern child is indeed costly.

So they personally augment their income by doing all sort of part time jobs like house sitting, baby sitting, dog walking and other light jobs they can find. The money is easily made and the child spends it even easier than it took for him to earn it. Children and teenagers of today do not tend to save even a portion of the money they earn because of this.

So, it is important for the parents and relatives of the child to encourage the child to save money for some future need.

            Children have easier access to money because relatives tend to give them money for their birthday, Christmas, and other family occasions. If the parents start teaching the child early enough about the benefits of saving the money instead of spending it all at once, the child will learn the value of money and patience and that investing money always pays off in the end. They can start simple, some parents ask the child what his or her biggest dream toy is and they tell the child that if they save the money their parents and relatives give them in the piggy bank, in a few months, they can have the dream toy. I know this works because my parents taught me how to save money this way.

            Teenagers on the other hand have much harder time saving money because the parents tend to withhold the money the child asks for due to the mounting expenses in caring for the child. They also do not receive as much monetary gifts from relatives as compared to when they were children. So the child tends to work for the money by helping around the house or doing odd jobs around the neighborhood. This is a good learning experience for the teenager because he learns the value of hard work.

But unfortunately, it does not teach him how to save the money. Teenagers tend to be one day rich because of peer pressure to remain up to date in all things from fashion to cellular phones. This is the time when the parent has to sit down with the teen and do some pencil pushing to show the child that there will be more benefits to saving the money they make. The parent should make it a point to introduce simple investment opportunities that will show the teenager that investing his or her earnings in various ways in the bank will mean more fun and luxury out of the money at a later date.

            Once the teenager is comfortable with the idea of saving and investing money for the future, he or she will come to realize that the investments allow them enough time to relax and enjoy as the days go on. The reality that the money invested gives a return on the investment and gives them a chance to enjoy more luxuries that they never thought they could afford entices the child to save even more for their future plans.

            It is no longer true that a child is too young to learn how to save and invest money. The youngest millionaires these days start at the age of 14. All because their parents taught them the value of saving and investments at an early age. They are living proof that saving money at an early age will lead to a more relaxed and worry-free life as an adult.

            My strong points in writing this essay is that I was able to organize and discuss my thoughts point by point.

            My weak points in this essay are comparison usage, comma use, and number agreements.