The list of items to which your kids wants to buy is beyond anything that you could ever have imagined, but now is the time to give them a dose of reality in the form of perspective and priority. Everything they want is not necessary and some items may have priority over others. This is not different than teaching your kids to stay clear of fire not just because its hot but because its dangerous to them and everyone around it. However, as your kids are chomping at the bit to hit the candy store, head to the bank and open a savings account. A savings account is a great tool to help them properly manage funds and is key to starting a good financial education. Always incentivize their bank visit efforts with a treat each to encourage increased visits to the bank. I offer an extra dollar or two if they schedule bank visits with me and even more if they walk to the bank to make ATM deposits. If the day is nice, bank visits for deposits are rewarded with ice cream…okay that’s for me, but you get the picture. I want them to associate dealing with their finances as a privilege and not a task or act of labor. Make a small, if not big, production of their opening this bank account by making conversation on the subject leading up to the day and moment and afterwards. Take pictures during their opening transaction and present them with a wallet or record book in which to record their transactions and later to illustrate account reconciliation with account statements and their personal records. Opening a bank account is great but using the account is a larg3e component to a good financial education. Make sure to call relatives (grandparents ) to inform them of the account, not to request money, but to develop healthy conversation with adults the kids like, so that there is a positive re-enforcement of the act of saving. Remember that placing the money in an intangible account may lead to a slight disappointment to a kid. They relate the bank to the last moment they had money in their hand…and now its gone with nothing to show for it, so some pictures, phone conversations with loved ones that use a bank and an account statement with a balance in their name can go a long way for a kid that’s nervous about where their money goes when they leave the bank.