Christopher Liew is a CFP®, CFA Charterholder and former financial advisor. He writes personal finance tips for thousands of daily Canadian readers at Blueprint Financial. If you’ve been putting off the money talk with your kids, you’re not alone, and you’re not behind. The trick is that it isn’t one talk. It’s a running conversation that starts with coins on the kitchen table and ends with a teenager reading their first pay stub. Each stage needs something different from you, and none of it requires a finance degree. Below, I’ll walk through what to say at each stage, which accounts to open along the way, and the one habit I think matters more than any of it. Why this matters right now An Ipsos survey of 1,000 Canadian parents for RBCx’s Mydoh, released in May 2026, found that 90 per cent of parents talk with their kids about money regularly, yet only 9 per cent strongly agree their child is ready to manage money on their own when they leave home. Talking isn’t the problem. Talking in a way that builds real skills is, and with Financial Literacy Month starting in November, this is a good time to start. 1. Ages three to seven: Make money physical and let them choose At this age, I’d skip the lectures entirely. Hand them coins and small bills, let them pay the cashier, and let them feel the difference between a $2 toy and a $20 one. When you tap your phone at the checkout, your kid sees nothing leave your hand, so there’s no lesson in it. Cash they can count and hand over teaches them that money runs out. The most important thing to teach at this age is that choosing one thing means giving up another. If your kid has $10 and wants a $7 toy and a $6 one, don’t top them up. Let them pick, let them walk away from the other one, and let them sit with that for a day or two. That small disappointment is the whole lesson, and it costs you almost nothing. A $5 mistake at six is a bargain compared to a $5,000 one at 26. 2. Ages eight to 12: Start the allowance and open a real account This is the age to start a regular allowance, and I’d keep it separate from chores. Pay a fixed amount on the same day every week so it feels like a paycheque they have to stretch, not a reward they can earn more of by asking. Then split it into three parts: some to spend now, some to save for something bigger, and some to give away. The amounts matter less than the habit of dividing the money before any of it gets spent. Around 10 or 12, open a youth bank account in their name and let them watch the balance move. A kid who logs in and checks their own balance every week is learning far more than one who only hears about money when a parent sits them down for a talk. The same survey found only 55 per cent of kids handle money independently before 12, so if yours does, they’re already ahead. 3. Every age: Show them the RESP and the free money inside it I covered this one in my CTVNews.ca column on teaching kids about money a couple of years ago, and it’s still the most underused tool I see. The Canada Education Savings Grant adds 20 per cent to the first $2,500 you put in each year, up to $500 annually and $7,200 over the child’s lifetime. Lower-income families can also get the Canada Learning Bond, up to $2,000 per child, without contributing a cent. Showing a nine-year-old the statement, with the grant line highlighted, is the best compound-interest lesson you’ll ever give. I walked through the grant, the bond, and 13 other programs with actual dollar figures in a recent Blueprint Financial video on 15 ways to get free money in Canada. The grant stops at the end of the year your child turns 17, so this is a tip with a deadline. 4. Teens: The first paycheque and the first tax return The first job changes everything, because now it’s their money and their decisions. Sit down with the first pay stub and explain employment insurance and income tax deductions in plain language (CPP shows up once they turn 18). Then have them file a tax return that spring even if they owe nothing, because it starts building RRSP room and gets any refund back in their pocket. The year they turn 18, help them open a TFSA (it’s 19 in B.C., the Atlantic provinces except P.E.I., and the territories, but the room from 18 carries over). The 2026 limit is $7,000, and even $50 a month from a part-time job teaches them that investing isn’t something that starts after university. Let them pick a simple, low-cost investment and check it with them a few times a year. 5. Any age: Talk about your own mistakes, not just your rules This is the habit I think matters most. The Mydoh survey found only 46 per cent of parents talk through what went wrong when their child makes a money mistake, and more than one in five worry the conversation itself will stress their kid out. I get that, especially when the household budget is tight. That being said, kids notice the stress anyway. Telling them you overspent on a trip, or that a car payment is heavier than you planned, shows them money is something you manage, not something you’re ashamed of. Keep it age-appropriate, keep it short, and don’t turn it into a confession. Final thoughts You don’t need a curriculum, and you don’t need to be perfect with money yourself. You need to let your kids handle real money, make small mistakes early, and see you dealing with yours openly. That’s the whole thing. If you start this November and keep it going, the 18-year-old who walks out your door will be far more ready than that 9 per cent figure suggests.
