As parents contend with rising costs and an overall tighter economic climate, more of them are using those challenges as an opportunity to have frank talks with their kids about money, according to a recent survey.
Honest conversations — including telling your kids “no” when they ask you to buy something, and explaining why — can give those kids an early foundation of financial literacy that can serve them well later in life, says Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist, author and associate economics professor at Creighton University.
In the survey of 2,000 U.S. parents, released March 31 by financial software company Intuit, almost two-thirds — 64% — of parents raising kids under age 18 said that recent financial challenges forced them to be more transparent with their children about how they manage their finances. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported saying “no” to purchase requests more often while explaining their reasoning to their kids.
Kids don’t always learn much about money in school: As of March 2026, 39 U.S. states make passing a personal finance course a requirement of high school graduation, which is up from just 12 states in 2022, according to the Council for Economic Education.
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Yet children can start learning permanent money habits as early as age 5, research shows. And kids who learn financial literacy early on are more likely to form healthy relationships with money that can help improve their financial and overall well-being as adults, according to a 2022 study by researchers at Brigham Young University.
You might explain to a young child that an expensive video game console doesn’t fit in your family’s budget, or catch your teenager up on how you’ve put aside funds for their college education. When parents talk to their kids about money, “those kids end up in much better financial shape later on in life, versus having to learn it the hard way,” says Klontz.
Shutting down your child’s money questions is a ‘big mistake’
Many parents find money discussions with kids to be taboo, particularly specifics about their own family’s financial status and spending habits, studies show. Some parents feel ashamed about the state of their own financial literacy, and anxiety over money being tight can cause parents to avoid discussing the subject, Klontz says.
But avoidance is a “big mistake” when it comes to discussing money with your kids, says Klontz: Never shut down your child’s questions about the topic, even if they’re asking for a purchase that’s not within your family’s financial reach at the moment. Saying “no” to your child’s latest spending request is a prime opportunity to follow up with some thoughtful and informative reasoning for that decision, he adds.
“You don’t want to give your kids the message that this is a stressful, taboo topic that ‘we don’t talk about,'” says Klontz. Such an approach can harm kids’ long-term financial literacy, he says, especially if they grow into adults who don’t talk, or even think, about their own budgeting plans.
Explain to your children what your family chooses to spend money on and why, and what you’re doing with money you don’t spend — like investing or saving for important or fun future purchases, Klontz recommends. “Sit down and say, ‘Hey, we want a new TV, or we have this other financial goal, so … we’re going to set aside X amount of money each paycheck,'” he says.
You can impart your financial values and goals to your children while showing the specific path you’re taking to achieve them, says Klontz. Otherwise, “you might be saving in the background, but they never saw it. You never had them save for anything. That’s a huge error that we make as parents.”
Offer practical lessons, don’t over-share
More than half of parents in the Intuit survey said they take their kids grocery shopping to give them a first-hand look at regular household costs, and 38% said they talk to their kids about regular expenses like rent, mortgage or utility payments. Those practical lessons help teach kids to be thoughtful about prices and how much you’re saving for future purchases, personal finance experts say.
“When you’re walking through a store and your child wants something, pick it up [and] show them the price,” Alexa von Tobel, founder and managing partner of venture fund Inspired Capital, told CNBC Make It in February 2024. “‘This costs $29. Mommy doesn’t have the $29 for this today, but we can think about saving that for your birthday.'”
Klontz offers one “caveat” to the transparency strategy: Design your conversations to be age-appropriate, and not too stressful. Elementary school-aged children can be expected to understand basic money concepts about the value of money, and the concept of cost factoring into what you buy, family wealth experts say. Middle school students might be more prepared to discuss complex concepts like budgeting and long-term saving.
Just be careful: Scaring or stressing your kids unnecessarily can cause them to develop unhealthy relationships with money, says Klontz. If money is tighter than usual, offer a matter-of-fact explanation of why your family might cut back on certain expenses for the meantime while reiterating that everything will ultimately be fine for them and the family, he advises.
“You might be passing on some of this fear [and] anxiety, and that plays itself out in very detrimental ways later on in life,” Klontz says. If you lie to them, you may face another issue, he notes: “Kids have really good bullshit detectors. I think it’s fine to say: ‘Look this is stressful, and we’re not exactly sure what’s going on. But, trust me … we’ve got this.'”
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