Quentin has been wearing a Spider-Man costume every day for the past four weeks.
We picked it up for free at a costume swap last October and didn’t think much of it. It just recently became part of his identity.
On Sunday we celebrated his third birthday.
Like we did with his older brother Manny, we told Q we were opening a high-yield savings account and a brokerage account in his name. He nodded along, confidently unaware of what any of that means.
The goal is simple: establish places where the dollars are fully his.
For the past four and a half years, our approach with Manny has been straightforward. My dad has been giving Manny $5 every Friday, and Manny can decide what to do with it.
He can:
- keep it in his piggy bank for near-term spending, or give it to me to
- park in high-yield savings, or
- invest.
If he chooses to invest, I match his $5 with another $5. The tradeoff is that invested money is locked up until the “age of majority” (age 21 in New Jersey).
Essentially, our household marshmallow experiment.
Giving our kids agency over their money has shown up in everyday moments.
On Whole Foods checkout line. Manny wants a $16 Pokémon magazine. I don’t say no – I put the onus on him:
“That’s a little over three weeks of allowance. It’s your money, so up to you.”
Most of the time, he passes. Occasionally he buys something and sometimes regrets it. That’s part of the process. Better to learn that lesson now when the stakes are low.
More often than not, Manny chooses to invest. He doesn’t understand markets, but he understands the match. Put in $5, get $10.
From there, it gives us a natural opening to talk about his broad market ETFs + topics such as return on investment, volatility, and the value of having a long-term outlook.
I know nothing about parenting. Winging it daily.
What I do know is that giving the boys control of their own money has been one of the more effective parenting decisions we’ve made. It builds ownership, reduces friction, and turns small decisions into real reps.
Quentin doesn’t understand any of this yet.
But over time, his spidey-senses will grow and all of this will feel normal.
If you enjoyed this piece on teaching kids about money early, you may also like our thoughts on how AI is changing the way families think about saving for college and long-term education planning in Rethinking Education Funding in the Age of AI
