<prompt> Human: How can I interest my future child into savings and finances? My wife is pregnant and I want to raise my child to become a responsible adult with a better knowledge of the opportunities. Im concerned, though, because I know personal finance and investing isnt taught in schools. My parents tried to influence me into being successful by leaving car magazines around the house for me to read which gave me something to aspire for. I feel that those magazines jaded me because it kinda influenced me into buying a car that I couldnt afford for my first car. Im sorry if this is the wrong subreddit.  <response>: My parents were really into teaching their kids how to manage money responsibly, and also to value it like an adult. We all got fairly generous monthly allowances that were increased with age, and also twice annual clothing allowances. After a certain point, maybe around age 12, we were expected to pay for everything we wanted-- clothing, movies, snacks we bought ourselves, outings with friends, etc. Everything other than medical expenses, housing, and food we paid for. We were told that is was a good idea to save, but we werent required to, and some of my siblings saved more than others. How we wanted to manage our money was largely left up to us, but we still learned to manage it regardless. We were also all required to get jobs as soon as possible, and two of my siblings started work at 14 grocery store bagger on weekends, and golf caddy, and two of us started work at 16 grocery store cashier and restaurant hostess. We didnt have to work many hours, and our parents made sure we put school first, but having a paycheck of our own made a vast difference in how we each saw money. We were told as teenagers that our parents would pay for in-state public university costs, except for the fairly minor expenses like books, travel, clothing, eating out, etc. They paid our tuition, our room and board, and when we moved off campus they paid our rent and gave us a decent amount for groceries. Everything else was on us, and so we worked summer jobs and internships to fund our lifestyles and to build our savings. When it came to college, my parents were also very careful to guide us into good but inexpensive schools, and into majors that had good career potential. They didnt require us to be any specific major, but since money was commonly discussed around the dinner table, we were raised understanding that some adults made more money than others, and that this difference was often the result of different career choices. My parents would also comment on career choices neighborhood kids had made-- some were successful and in good jobs, and some were underemployed or unemployed. It was also made clear to me that pursing a passion would not guarantee a good job related to that passion, which I think is a lesson a lot more high school students need to learn. When I was a junior in high school I spent several months looking into average salaries for different majors, unemployment rates, and projected job growth in different fields. I ended up a finance major, two of my siblings are in engineering, and my kid sister is still in high school, but will probably also do finance. As far as investing goes, my parents actually made contributions to Roth IRAs on our behalf from the point we started working until the time we graduated college. Any money we made up to the 5k limit was matched by my parents in an investment account, and as we got older they would talk about the returns and how well the accounts were doing. Most people probably cant afford to do this for their kids, on top of funding their college educations, but I was super proud to be the only high school and then college student I knew with retirement savings. 