How to Teach Kids About Finance — Show Them the Virtual Money

Dan Tynan is a contributing editor for Family Circle, where he writes about the intersection of parenting and technology. Follow him on Twitter @tynanwrites or at his blog Hopeless Dork.

Anyone who's ever had kids of a certain age knows what it feels like to have their pockets picked.

"Dad, I need $10 for a school field trip. Dad, I need $20 for a haircut. Dad, I owe $30 to the school cafeteria. Dad, I need $50 for clothes."

Even though as adults we live largely on electronic payments, I always like to have a little cash in my pocket. After all those requests, that's all I usually have — a little cash. Everything else is sucked out out of my wallet and into the kids' hands moments after being disgorged by the ATM. As our children morphed from needy tweens into insatiable teens, I knew this had to stop. Read more...