Make Your Money Grow

What they’ll learn

Three things they’ll come away with.

• That a bank pays you a little extra just for keeping your money with it, and that extra is called interest.
• That interest then earns interest of its own. It can sound like magic, but it isn't: it's one simple rule, repeated again and again. (Adults call it compound interest.)
• That time is the secret ingredient. Ren's cousin Jun started later, and it turns out starting early matters more than starting big.

Talk about it

Open questions that work.

• “If your money earned you one extra coin every year, how many extra coins would you have after five years?”
• “Ren and Jun both save the same amount each week. Why does Ren end up with more?”
• “What could you save for that you wouldn't need for a really, really long time?”

Try one thing this week

Pick one small thing.

If you don't already have a savings account for your child, this week's the week. Most UK banks and building societies and plenty of banks around the world offer kids' accounts. Don't worry about the perfect provider; just open something.