Smart Money Moves That Parents Can Make…Right Now


Disclosure: We’re letting you know that this post contains sponsored links which The Smart Wallet receives compensation for, which may impact their order of appearance. This site doesn’t include all available offers.

Parents have had to be the MVPs during this past year juggling both work, kids, and not strangling each other. Congrats for making it this far!

And now that things are slowly heading back into the new normal, it’s time to re-evaluate family finances if you don’t do so on a regular basis. It’s easy to forget when the day-to-day flies by and all you want do is sleep.

So here are some smart money moves to kickstart your money gears if you haven’t oiled them lately!

Set Up a Free Debit Card for Your Teen to Build Smart Money Habits

Since schools aren’t universally teaching kids about personal finance, it’s up to you to look for other ways.

Copper Banking is a free banking app built specifically for teens, and it gives you and your teen(s) freedom and convenience. You’d be able to track their spending in real-time as well as send money instantly whenever they need it. No more having to pull out cash or letting them borrow your card.

Teens will get a debit card in their own name and will be able to withdraw money for free at over 55,000 ATMs, plus use it for spending anywhere in-store, online, and with Apple or Google Pay! There are no credit checks, overdraft fees, hidden fees, and money is FDIC-insured up to $250,000.

Your teen will also learn about saving, budgeting, goal setting and just making smarter money decisions on their own with the help of Copper’s Financial Literacy experts. They’ll even earn $3 for every friend they refer. It only takes minutes to set up an account so help your teen build better money habits now!

Easily Invest in Your Child’s Financial Future (With Help from Family/Friends)

It takes a village to raise a child, and you can make it even easier for your family and friends to contribute alongside you with EarlyBird.

EarlyBird provides a meaningful way for parents and anyone to collectively invest in a child’s financial future. It’s an investment account for your child combined with social gifting, and when the child turns 18, it’s all theirs to pay for college, start a business, take a vacation, anything! (At 18, it transitions into an adult brokerage account)

Cash slipped into holiday cards or birthday checks can now be turned into gifts of investments, making it more valuable when contributors can see their EarlyBird gift for your child grow over the number of years! Even better is with each contribution, a short personal video can be recorded and your child will be able to watch, keep the memories, and be financially empowered.

So give the gift of financial freedom for your child (with the help of loved ones). The earlier, the better! For parents, EarlyBird is FREE for the first $200 invested, and then just $1/mo per child subscription fee after that to maintain the portfolio.