We teach our children how to brush their teeth, how to read, and how to ride a bike. Yet, when it comes to the tool they will use every single day of their adult lives—money—we often leave them to figure it out on their own.

Many of the women and men I work with feel frustrated because they feel they started investing too late. The best way to break that cycle is to ensure your children start early.

In Europe, we are often taught to be conservative with cash—to save it in the bank. But with inflation, cash in a bank often loses value. Let's help our children evolve from the mindset of "saving pennies" into "building ownership."

Here are five concrete ways to get started in January.

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Open a ‘Junior’ Investment Account

Piggy banks are fun, but they are terrible for building wealth because inflation eats the value of cash.

• Look for a Junior Investment Account at your bank or an online broker. In Europe, it is often a standard investment account in the child's name.

• Instead of picking single stocks, you can start with a low-cost "Accumulating ETF" (Exchange Traded Fund) that tracks the global market.

• It separates "spending money" (pocket money) from "wealth-accumulating money" (investments).

The "Buy What You Know" Strategy

Charts and graphs are boring. Owning a piece of your favorite video game is exciting.

• Ask your child to look around the house and pick 3 things they love. The iPad?(Apple). Their sneakers? (Adidas). Their favorite movie? (Disney)

• European online trading platforms are starting to allow you to buy fractional shares.This means you don't need €200 to buy a share; you can buy €10 worth of a company.

• Explain that every time their friends buy new sneakers, their company makes money. This shifts their mindset from Consumer ("I spend money") to Owner ("I make money when others spend").

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The Parent Match

We parents save in company pension schemes because the employer offers a "match"—it’s free money. Use the same psychology.

• Tell your child, "For every €10 you choose to invest instead of spend on sweets/games, I will add €5."

• Gamify the process. It teaches them that saving isn't a punishment; it's a way to unlock a bonus.

Seeing is believing

Compound interest is abstract. Make it concrete.

• Ask your child: "Would you rather have €10,000 right now, or a 1 cent coin that doubles in value every day for 30 days?"

• Most children take the cash. But show them the math: that doubling coin turns into over€5 million by day 30.

• Use a simple online "Compound Interest Calculator" together. Show them what happens if they save €50 a month vs. €500 a month. Let them play with the different assumptions.

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The Quarterly "Shareholder Meeting"

Make it a routine and build a habit

• Every three months, sit down for 15 minutes to review their account.

• Did their portfolio go up or down? Why? (e.g., "Oh, the tech companies did well this quarter," or "Energy prices went up").

• Normalise talking about money. This can remove the fear and mystery of the stock market so that by the time they are adults, a market dip doesn't lead to panic, but it looks like an opportunity instead.

Lets tap into that super power called time and start building our children’s bank accounts and building their confidence around money. Helping our children understand money early on is one of the greatest gifts we can give them for their future.

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