Financial planner gives kids tips in money management

Eleven-year-old Jackson Thomley has been trying to save up for his own laptop so he won't have to keep borrowing his mom's.

The trouble is "I'm not very good at budgeting," he said. On Thursday, he got some advice from financial planner Laura Hinton during a lunchtime event at Milestone Books in Vestavia Hills aimed to help make youngsters better money managers. Geared to children ages 7-12, the event drew 16 kids.

"What are we here to talk about? How to save our money," Hinton told the group at the start of the lesson.

To explain the idea of earning and spending, Hinton divided the group into two teams, heads and tails, and gave each team five pennies. Hinton flipped a coin, and the winning side won a penny from the other side. As she continued flipping the coin, the back-and-forth of the pennies demonstrated the flow of money in a healthy economy.

"The circulation of money is like a coin," Hinton explained. "It has two sides."

Hinton asked the children how they might earn money - baby-sitting, chores and yard sales, they said - and then talked to them about how they would spend it. They excitedly offered up examples of the things they'd like to buy, from video games, skateboards and iPods to leopard geckos and Webkinz, popular plush toys with an online component.

Then Hinton began to talk about saving.

"You have to pay yourself first," Hinton admonished. "Pay yourself first," the children echoed in unison.

Hinton suggested that the children keep three jars at home - one for saving, one for spending and a third for giving. With, say, a $10 allowance, she suggested putting $2 in the saving jar, $1 in the giving jar and $7 in the spending jar.

Hinton, president of Birmingham-based Hinton Financial Consultants, said the idea for the event grew from her experience as a financial planner for adults. "Working with adults I see so many bad habits, and it's really sad," she said.

Many adults pass on those habits to their children, she said. "If you can get young people early and they develop good habits, it's so much easier to work with them."

Thomley, who is starting at Louis Pizitz Middle School in Vestavia Hills this week, said he particularly liked Hinton's advice about leaving at home money you intend to save and bringing to the store only what you intend to spend.

As Hinton explained, if you want to save, say, $5 of the $10 you receive from an allowance, don't go shopping with all $10; avoid the temptation of overspending by leaving the $5 you want to save at home.

Hinton discussed with the children the difference between wishes, goals and plans, tossing out examples to identify. Owning every game in the video store? Wish. Going to college? Goal.

Luke Hogewood, 10, a student at Vestavia Hills Elementary Central, said he'd like to get an iPod video when he gets older, but "right now I'm just saving for things like a notebook."

Hinton said she long thought about using her experience in the financial world to teach children but lacked the time to pursue it. In February, she got help from public relations pro Nancy Wagnon of Wagnon Communications, and the plan began to take shape.

"I wanted to teach kids about money," Hinton said. But despite former teaching experience, "I didn't know how," she said.

So she did her research, reading books to develop lesson ideas. Hinton met Linda Brown, owner of Milestone Books, at a women's business event and things fell into place.

Thursday's gathering was Hinton's first presentation. She said she's not sure where she'll take it next. In the meantime, she's working to instill the lessons in her 7-year-old nephew.

E-mail: tray@bhamnews.com