If you want your children to learn the value of a dollar and willingly unload the dishwasher and even clean out the garage, there’s an app for that.
The BusyKid app is the creation of a certified financial planner and father of six children.
“BusyKid is your kid’s first job with direct deposit,” said BusyKid CEO Gregg Murset. “You’re like the boss approving payroll.”
The purpose of the app is to teach children as young as 5 the fundamentals of managing money in a format they truly get -- on their screens.
“More and more money is invisible,” he said. “So we took the piggy banks and the jars and the little things on the refrigerator and threw them out the window.”
Here’s how the app works:
Parents set up an account and customize the chores. They can assign anything from clearing the table to mowing the lawn to washing the dog and the amount of money each completed task yields. The app offers suggestions, but parents rule.
Once a chore is checked off, the funds are pulled from the parent’s bank account and divided into the child’s three digital buckets: savings, sharing and spending.
The spending money can then be loaded onto plastic, a Visa prepaid spend card, that the child can swipe.
“When they do that, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, shoot. You know how long it took to earn that $7, $12, $15, $25?’” Murset said.
The app is free, but the loadable card is $7.99 a year.
The app is also designed to plant the seed of philanthropy. The money designated for sharing can be directly donated to a number of designated charities.
While other apps teach children financial responsibility, BusyKid also allows them to invest in the stock market. They can buy (with parental oversight) fractional shares of various companies they can relate to, such as Apple, Netflix, McDonalds and Barbie.
The way Murset sees it, the chores need to be done anyway.
“Why not let them learn work ethic and responsibility and accountability and those things we want to teach them, and at the same time get them money so they can start making financial decisions and practice?” he said.