How to teach kids to make their money work. Help them spot idle vs working money, feed the Sow Jar, and watch 1 cent double past R5 million
Most kids grow up thinking that money only exists to be spent. A mini millionaire, on the other hand, also learns that money should be saved.
But there's actually another level to this smart money thing: It’s money that earns while you sleep. A rand sitting in a piggy bank does nothing all day.
But that same rand, put to work, slowly but surely grows into more rands on its own. This week we show you how to teach your mini millionaire that money has two settings, idle and working, and how to help them flip the switch.
A rand doing nothing is a rand going backwards.
Teach your mini millionaire that every rand has two options: sit still or go to work.
According to the Reserve Bank, South African prices rose 65% between 2010 and 2020. So it’s risky leaving money in the bank, their piggy bank (or even the Save Jar), because over time it slowly loses its buying power as prices climb.
But working money behaves differently. Parked in the right place, it earns interest and grows without anyone lifting a finger.
Once mini millionaires see idle money as money that shrinks, the idea of putting it to work starts to click.
Takeaway: A rand at work beats a rand at rest, every time.
Money grows fastest when feeding it becomes automatic.
The Sow Jar only works if it gets fed on a schedule.
Build the habit early. Every time money comes in, whether it's pocket money, a birthday R100 from Granny, or Saturday car-wash earnings, a set slice goes straight into the Sow Jar before anything gets spent.
This is the concept of paying yourself first, and the trick is doing it every single time until nobody has to think about it.
The amount matters less than the rhythm. Even a small slice that ends up in the Sow Jar consistently is what gives compound growth something real to work with.
Takeaway: Feed the Sow Jar first, every time, and let the habit do the rest.
Nothing teaches compound growth like watching it happen irl.
Make growth visible. Open a savings account (or TFSA) in your mini millionaire's name, or use one you already have, and let them watch the interest land each month.
Even a few rand turns an abstract idea into something real.
There’s a fun game you can play at the kitchen table tonight called the doubling game: would they rather have R1 000 today, or 1 cent that doubles every day for a month?
Now let them do the sums. By day 30, that cent is worth over R5 000 000. Wait, what?
Takeaway: When kids watch money make money, they never forget it.
This week's free printable resource turns the lesson into something your mini millionaire can actually do.
The My Money At Work resource has three parts:
Print it, grab a pen, and let’s put their money to work.
