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How can parents talk to kids about money?

With more people relying on credit and debit cards than cash, kids have less awareness of money. Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, suggests ways to talk to kids about finances.

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Video transcript

- When I was a kid we saw physical money all the time and I would see, you know, my Mom or my uncles, you know, go to a store and, you know, give a 10 dollar bill and then get a five dollars and then a little bit of change. And actually, you know, my family, my uncles ran a convenience store and then my Mom kind of worked as a manager at a convenience store. So I actually saw a lot of, you know, I was very familiar with the notion of a cash register and how to make change. And actually I thought that was an incredible experience for me even when I was, when I was very, very, very young. And what I see in my own children is now if we go to a store or we go to a restaurant I just hand them this piece of plastic. Then the, you know, it kind of disappears for a few minutes. It shows up again and I just sign it and my kids just think that there's this magic plastic thing (laughing) that somehow allows us to eat places or whatever. Or they probably don't even appreciate that not everyone might be able to go to a restaurant or be able to buy a certain type of thing. So I find it especially important because it's not as obvious for this generation. To talk to my children about what's happening when I give a credit card, when I use a debit card. You know, some parents I think take a lot of satisfaction in being able, in fact, all parents take a lot of satisfaction in being able to provide for their children and they don't want, they want to protect their children from thinking "Oh maybe there's some scarcity," "maybe we can't have everything." But, you know, one of my proudest moments was a few weeks ago when my son said, "Hey Dad, can we afford this?" And, you know, it was something very simple. It was like a pencil sharpener. (laughing) We could afford it. But I just love the fact that, you know, there was this like two dollar thing and my six year old son was asking that question. Can we afford this? And so, I would encourage all parents. You know, even if, even frankly, even if you're doing okay. Even if you don't have, you know, any financial stress. Try to make your kids feel like you have a little bit.