Educators and parents agree—age 4 or 5 is NOT too young to begin talking about good money habits. And, the lessons have never been so much fun when they are introduced by our favorite piggy banks — Siggy and Miggy.

Some of us remember the fun of having a piggy bank when we were young. But, if our financial education stopped there, it wasn't enough!

The important thing is to get children started early. Here are a few age guidelines to help parents begin.

Kids at this age are eager to please and learn. Get them started with a couple of piggy banks—one for saving and one for sharing—and a small coin purse for spending.

They need SIMPLE, QUICK, and EASY lessons, but they can definitely learn the most important lesson: Every time they receive or earn money, it should be divided into portions to be saved, and shared and spent. Here are some more ideas:

• Watching the Learning To Save Video;
• Making a PIGGY BANK BOOK (see Lesson 2);
• Identifying coins and how much they are worth;
• Earning money from small jobs;
• Making and using a Job Chart;
• Getting a small allowance;
• Sharing and helping others;
• Choosing a toy or gift they want to buy, and then saving for it.

At this age kids can understand concepts like long-term savings, and the real importance of sharing with others. They can definitely understand the BALANCING of their money into the three main categories—SAVING, SHARING, and SPENDING and they can begin to make better purchasing choices. They should begin to understand that money will grow and grow if it earns interest. Here are some other ideas:

• Opening a Savings account at a big bank;
• Picking out a charity or volunteer group to help;
• Comparing prices and values of products at the store;
• Having a small budget;
• Earning money from an allowance and extra jobs;
• Making and using a job chart to track progress;
• Starting a very small business (lemonade stand);
• Visiting a company to learn about business;
• Learning about loans and simple interest;
• Beginning to learn about banking-withdrawals, checks, etc.

If you have been teaching your kids all along about money, they will have a consistent, BALANCED spending, saving and sharing habit. They will have a permanent savings account, and will understand that some of their money is not to be spent except for big purchases or investments. They will understand compounding interest and beginning investments. Here’s more:

• Manage a weekly or monthly budget;
• Operate a real or "pretend" business for a longer time period;
• Make spending choices after comparison shopping;
• Volunteer or help in the community;
• Visit the Federal Reserve, The Mint, or a brokerage company;
• Buy stock(s) in a company;
• Learn more about stocks, bonds, money markets and CD's;
• Use the computer to track their investments.