It is Halloween and we all know what that means – kids young and old have two things on their minds: costumes and candy! This year, consider using the candy collected as an opportunity to teach financial literacy and saving strategies.

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Start a candy bank

While it may be hard to refrain from eating those sweets yourself, opening your own “candy bank” can be a fun and visual way to start teaching your children about the importance of earning and saving. Let your kids open an account by depositing a few pieces of candy. This is much like opening a real bank account which typically requires an initial deposit to get started.

Give out candy currency

To start off, give each child candy for their own personal “bank”. Demonstrate the value of each piece of candy. Are the full-size candy bars worth more? The choice is yours. This will allow them to learn about their earnings and what the numbers mean. Doing this will help them learn about real currencies as they get older.

Sweet investments

Use this opportunity to teach about investing. Explain to them how they can deposit some or all of their sweets into the candy bank to see how much their “investment” grows over time. As they refrain from withdrawing the treats, be sure to deposit more into their accounts and let your young ones learn about investment strategies.

Once your children have graduated from the idea of a candy bank, consider opening a savings account for them. Our Cool Blue savings account is designed specifically for children under 18 and is a great opportunity to develop good savings and spending habits.

Using a candy bank is a great way to explain financial responsibility and prepare your children for their own savings account. However you plan to enjoy your candy this Halloween, we hope that you have a sweet time!