I bought this for my son when he was 8 years old and I am still crazy about it. The concept is brilliant — it was a fantastic tool for him to learn how to manage his money.
INVEST: When I gave the piggy bank to my son, I told him 10% of all money he received was to be set aside to invest and he wouldn’t be able to touch it until he was 18 (long-term savings). Once enough money accrued, I used it to buy a few shares of stock for him and have added to that over the years. He’s been able to see the advantage of making his money work for him.
CHARITY: When I was growing up, my father wanted my siblings & me to understand our responsibility to share what we had with those who weren’t as privileged as us, so he had us give 10% of our allowance. That was used to sponsor a child in a developing country through World Vision. It was a valuable lesson that we have carried with us into our adult years. I wanted my son to learn the same. I suggested 10% to him, but told him the amount was really up to him. To my surprise and great pride, he decided to allocate 20% to charity.
SAVE: This was for big ticket items like when he was in high school and wanted to upgrade to a more powerful computer for gaming. We paid half and he used his savings to pay the other half — it was no small amount, either. I think he allocated 30% to this category.
SPEND: The remaining 40% was for immediate things he wanted to buy, but he was such a saver, that he hardly touched it.
Once he was in high school, he no longer used the piggy bank. He used envelopes, but he kept the same categories and same allocations of his money.
It’s now been 14 years and the piggy bank is still in excellent condition. I like that it’s transparent enough to see your money accrue in each section. It’s sturdy and the plugs fit snugly, yet aren’t hard to remove. The only drawback is that I wish the openings were a little larger to make it easier to remove bills. You have to fold them into 1/4 the size to get them in and out. That’s no problem unless the bills get pushed to the top of the piggy bank. Then it’s a little hard to reach them. But there really isn’t room to make them any bigger, given that there are four openings at the bottom, and it’s a trivial matter compared to all the benefits of it.
I have told many people about this piggy bank, but for many years, it was not available. I was just telling someone about it last night and am thrilled to see that it’s now available again!
Sadly, our schools in the US do not teach basic life skills like financial management, so our young people go out into the world without knowing how to budget, live debt-free & within their means, share generously with those who are not as privileged as they are, or set aside money for retirement. I love that this piggy bank teaches children from a young age to develop those critical life skills. Thank you, thank you to the mom who invented it. I wish every kid could have one!
(This review was unsolicited. I received no compensation for it.)
| Product Dimensions | 8 x 6 x 6 inches |
|---|---|
| Item model number | LMSP-Blue |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Material Type | Polystyrene plastic |
| Style | Classic |
| Batteries required | No |
| Item Weight | 12.8 ounces |
