If you have children, teaching them about how to manage their money is not an option. Teaching them about money is just as important as teaching them how to read or how to drive a car. It’s a necessary skill for anyone to function in society. Unfortunately, most of us drop the ball in raising our children up in a manner where they are ready to manage their financial situation when they head off into college or enter into the business world.

You don’t have to teach your child about derivatives trading or specific tax deductions, but they should have a solid foundation and understand the importance of giving, saving and spending. One tool that is extremely helpful to teach their kids to save is a savings account. By teaching your child to save up for something and pay for it, you are teaching them the concept that delayed pleasure equals success.

Perhaps the best savings account for children is SmartyPig. SmartyPig allows its customers to create savings goals and then develop a savings plan in which they save a certain amount of money each month to meet that goal.

Once the goal is met, SmartyPig will transfer your savings amount back to you or provide you with a gift card (with a bonus) to the retailer that you want to make your purchase at. If you opt for the gift card option, you are also teaching your children the value of being intentional and savvy about their finances. If they do research and figure out how to do things the right way, they can get even more money than they had to begin with.

Bet setting your child up with a savings account, you will also teach them the power of compound interest .Watching a saving account grow via compound interest can help teach a child the importance and benefits of saving and investing at an early age.

Perhaps the most important lesson that your child will learn with a SmartyPig account is the power of setting and achieving goals. They will see the direct correlation between the amount of effort that they put in and the results of their success.

At SmartyPig, your savings are FDIC insured and there are no monthly fees. The initial deposit is just $25.00 and you’ll earn a 2.15% APY on balances under $50,000– one of the best rates available for an FDIC insured savings account.