This post is about how I manage my kid’s angpao money.
During the Chinese New Year celebration, my kid received quite a number of angpaos from thoughtful relatives and friends.
My kid is now 2 years plus. So, this year is his third year celebrating Chinese New Year.
Being among the youngest in both my husband’s and my own family, he has accumulated quite an amount of angpao money over the last few years.
So, for this post, I am going to share how I managed my kid’s angpao money.
How I manage my kid’s angpao money
This year, towards the end of the Chinese New Year celebration on Chap Goh Mei, I sat down with my kid to open and calculate his angpao money.
Compared with the previous 2 years where I was the one doing everything for him without his participation.
That is because this year, my kid is more alert to the value of money and what he can do with it.
He is able to recognize the denomination of some of the money. For example, the green colour is RM5 and the red colour is RM10.
During the angpao calculating exercise, I asked him what he wants to do with his angpao money.
Our conversation went something as below:
Me: Boy, what do you want to do with this angpao money?
Boy: I want to buy Kinder J**. (This Kinder J** is his favourite sweet treat with a surprise toy)
Me: How many Kinder J** do you want to buy?
Boy: 2
Me: What else? Because 2 Kinder J** cost less than RM10. You still have money left.
Boy: Hmm… I want to put it in the bank.
Me: Why do you want to put it in the bank?
Boy: Mama said for my study. (He means for his education)
Isn’t he a sweet little boy?
Actually, when he received angpao from relatives and friends, I shared with him that he can put his angpao money in the bank, to prepare for his higher education.
Seems like he can remember what I told him.
Now, back to how I managed my kid’s angpao money.
Below are the existing 2 things I did with my kid’s angpao money:
1. Deposit into a bank savings account
When my kid was a few months old, my husband and I decided to open a savings account for my toddler. We want to help him to cultivate good personal finance habits at an early age.
So, we went to one of our banks and open a savings account for my kid.
Since then, we have deposited all my kid’s angpao money into his savings account.
This year, we brought my kid along to deposit his angpao money through a bank ATM.
We showed him and let him press the ATM selection button and place his angpao notes into the ATM.
He looked very curious when the ATM machine closed the lid and start calculating the notes.
Then, he said, “now my angpao money is with the bank“.
Aside from angpao money, from time to time, my husband and I also give coins to my kid.
My kid will excitedly put it into his piggy bank which gives him a huge ‘dong’ sound whenever he drops a coin into his piggy bank.
After a few months, I will sit down with my kid to calculate the coins.
Then to exchange the coins with notes and helped him to deposit the notes into his savings account.
From my kid’s junior savings account, I can see that the interest rate is quite good.
And the interest is credited on a monthly basis to my kid’s savings account.
If you are looking for the right savings account for your kid, you can check through RinggitPlus where you can learn, compare and choose the best junior savings account for your kids.
2. Use a small portion to buy his favourite things
Since my kid is now more alert to the value of money, I believe it is wise to let him enjoy a small portion of his angpao money.
After all, the angpao money belongs to him.
So, we let him have about 5% of his angpao money and put it inside his little purse.
He can use this money from his little purse to buy his favourite things.
As a mother, I am so tempted to pay for him and not let him use his own money from his little purse.
Any advice or sharing from mothers reading this?
Other ways to manage kid’s angpao money
Those I mentioned above are what I am currently practising to manage my kid’s angpao money.
As a personal finance blogger, I am also aware that there are better ways to manage my kid’s angpao money rather than just letting it sit in the bank savings account.
Below are other ways I am considering managing my kid’s angpao money:
1. Put into investment
I am aware that I can invest and grow my kid’s angpao money using low fees investment methods. Among those in my planning is investing in robo-advisor such as StashAway or KDI Invest.
Any other recommendations for those reading this?
2. Buy children education saving plan
Aside from investing my kid’s angpao money, I am also thinking to have a children’s education saving plan for my kid.
Because I know the cost of my kid’s education can be very high.
Final thoughts
As a mother, I wanted to instil good financial habits into my young kid as early as possible.
As a kid myself, I always remember what my parents have taught me about handling money such as start saving early and being prudent with money.
Parents should encourage their children to start saving in the piggy bank at a young age.
Yap Ming Hui
I also remember how my parents encouraged me and my siblings to save our angpao money for the future.
At that time, we don’t have a piggy bank but we just put our money inside an old steel mooncake container.
Those habits really affected how we managed our money when we grew up.
So, in my opinion, for my young kid, angpao money is among his early encounter with money.
I hope my kid will learn good financial lessons by engaging him to manage his angpao money.
I also hope to be able to help to manage and grow my kid’s angpao money into something useful for his future.
How about you? How do you manage your kid’s angpao money?