Use everyday moments
The best money conversations usually happen in the middle of everyday life, not as a big sit‑down chat.
Next time you’re shopping with your kids, you could explain to them that when you tap your card, the money comes from your bank account. If you use a banking app, showing the balance change can help connect the dots.
Pocket money can give kids a sense of power
Pocket money can help make money feel real for kids, while giving them a sense of power over their choices. Seeing money build up in a money box, jar or simple savings tracker helps them understand earning, spending and saving in everyday ways.
It can be useful to talk about where money comes from, the different ways people earn it, and why adults make choices about how they spend and save.
As kids grow, that sense of power often comes from being more involved whether that’s tracking savings, talking through spending decisions, or exploring account options together when it feels right.
Let kids practice making choices
Learning about money also means learning how to make decisions. You could give your kids a set amount to spend and let them put it towards a small part of the grocery shop. Or ask them to help track spending while you’re in‑store by comparing prices of similar products.
Spotting specials or choosing between options helps kids understand trade‑offs and builds everyday money skills they’ll use well beyond the supermarket.
Use simple money language
Confidence grows when things make sense.
Introducing a new money word now and then can spark curiosity and questions. A plain‑English money glossary, like the one on the Sorted website, can help you pick a term that suits where your whānau (family) is at.
What you do matters too
Money conversations aren’t just about words.
Your kids notice how you save, spend, plan and talk about money. What you do shapes their financial future.
Learn more about money in schools
Kiwibank has partnered with Banqer to enable classrooms around the country to access Banqer’s financial literacy platform for free. More than 85,000 Kiwi kids are now learning about money, the economy, and concepts like saving, interest, KiwiSaver, tax, real estate and insurance.
Learn more about our partnership, how Banqer works and how you could get it in your school.