In our world today it’s imperative to ensure children really understand the value of a dollar. Instilling strong financial values in kids from the time they’re young will give them tools to guide the rest of their lives. They’ll have the knowledge needed to avoid unnecessary debt, the smarts to know what’s a good purchase and what’s a foolish one (and when it’s ok to make the latter!) and a true understanding of why we save for a rainy day.  If parents aren’t teaching kids these lessons, who is? This isn’t something you – or your readers’ – kids learn in school.

On April 18th Tykoon, a new online tool that teaches kids about earning, saving, giving and responsible spending, hosted an special event to discuss this issue. Personal finance experts David Bach and Stacey Tisdale lead a discussion about kids and finances – why it’s important to teach strong financial values and tips for engaging kids in the conversation – even when they don’t care.

Tykoon Creators Doug Lebda (founder of Lendingtree) and Mark Bruinooge developed the Tykoon platform with their kids as a way to teach them financial values while speaking to them in a language they “got” – through technology. Here’s how it works:

–          Parents assign tasks, chores and jobs; families give rewards (like allowance) based on their own values.

–          Kids note when they’ve completed a task, parents view and approve.

–          Kids earn allowance virtually; each family sets their own percentage parameters around how much kids save, give to charity, and can spend.

–          Through a secure partnership with Amazon and Network for Good, kids can shop (with strict parameters set by parents) and choose charities to donate to.