Giving your child an allowance may be a point of contention between you and your partner. Some experts think that children should be given allowances based on how old they are. Others think they allowances should be associated with household chores. While you want to help your child learn to handle money properly, you may wonder, “How much allowance should my child get?”

Most financial experts agree that the earlier you begin teaching your child about money the better off they will be to handle it properly in the future. However, you don’t want to overwhelm them with the responsibility at too early an age.

Some experts, and parents alike, believe that giving your child an allowance is a great way to teach money management. If they have to spend their own money, they may learn to be more conscious in their spending. Let’s face it, if Mom and Dad continually pay for everything they want, children will not respect the items they receive. And they probably won’t hesitate to ask for something else when they see something they like.

• Consider giving your child an allowance when they begin saying “I want that!” This will most likely be between ages three and five. Take advantage of their willingness to listen to you. They will learn more about handling money properly as a young child than when they are older and already influenced by friends and advertising.
• Some financial experts suggest giving your child $1.00 per each year of age. So a five year old child would receive $5.00 per week. Of course, what you choose to give your child depends upon two factors – what you expect them to do with their allowance and whether you can afford to give them that much.
• No matter where you start your child on their road to learning about finances, remember to give them periodic raises as they get older. Children that are five and six years old may want to buy things like toy cars or dolls. Preteens and teens, however, will likely want to go out to movies, buy music CDs, or spend time out with friends. They will need more allowance money if you expect them to pay for those items.
• Give them guidance on how to use their allowance. Let them know they can’t go out and blow their allowance as soon as they get it. Teach them to save a certain amount for college, suggest that they give some to charity, or help them learn delayed satisfaction by putting money aside to purchase that new computer game or outfit they want.

You may want to think about how much money your child asks you for each week to help you determine how much allowance to give them. If they’re continually asking for $5.00 a week, you may want to make that their allowance no matter what their age. Give them their allowance on the same day you get paid and you won’t have to worry about your child bugging you for money over the weekend – they’ll already have it.