AmeriServ Presents: Bank Chats

Teach Children to Save!

• AmeriServ Financial, Inc. • Episode 22

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April is an exciting month in finance. Not only is April Financial Literacy Month, but April 7th-11th is America Saves Week, AND April 24, 2025 is Teach Children to Save Day! On this episode of Bank Chats, Drew and Jeff chat with Kerri Mueller and Randy McLaughlin on the topic of savings, and how to make saving money fun and easy for children of all ages.

Resources:
Financial Library

Teaching Kids Finances

Credits:
An AmeriServ Financial, Inc. Production
Music by Rattlesnake, Millo, and Andrey Kalitkin
Hosted by Drew Thomas and Jeff Matevish

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AmeriServ by visiting ameriserv.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

DISCLAIMER
This podcast focuses on having valuable conversations on various topics related to banking and financial health. The podcast is grounded in having open conversations with professionals and experts, with the goal of helping to take some of the mystery out of financial and related topics; as learning about financial products and services can help you make more informed financial decisions. Please keep in mind that the information contained within this podcast, and any resources available for download from our website or other resources relating to Bank Chats is not intended, and should not be understood or interpreted to be, financial advice. The host, guests, and production staff of Bank Chats expressly recommend that you seek advice from a trusted financial professional before making financial decisions. The host of Bank Chats is not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, and the program is simply intended as one source of information. The podcast is not a substitute for a financial professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. AmeriServ Presents: Bank Chats is produced and distributed by AmeriServ Financial, Incorporated.

Drew Thomas:

Fast fact, the average allowance given by parents to children is $10 per week. If kids saved just one week's allowance each month, they'd have saved over $1,800 by their 15th birthday. I'm Drew Thomas, and you're listening to Bank Chats. So, welcome to the latest episode of Bank Chats, and we appreciate you actually intending to listen, because you can't just kind of stumble upon us. It's, you kind of kind of got to find us and actually hit play on the episode. So, thanks for those of you that are either a first time listener, maybe viewer, we're experimenting with video now, so you may be, may be catching us on video. Some episodes are video, some are not. It depends on when it was recorded, but we're doing our best. I am, of course, Drew Thomas your host, and with me is my co-host, my producer, a man with the skills of a superhero who also happens to be a librarian, Jeff Matevish.

Jeff Matevish:

Wow, thanks. Drew.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. So, we're talking, what are we talking, we're talking savings today, right?

Jeff Matevish:

Savings today, yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. So, savings, I'm gonna throw just a couple of things out here real quick. So, so more than one in four Americans have savings below$1,000. So, 28% of Americans as of last year have savings less than $1,000, okay. The crazy thing about that is that the average rent price in the United States and mortgage price in the United States is like $1,300 a month.

Jeff Matevish:

Wow, paycheck to paycheck, then, yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, so you got to figure you're actually, there's the 28% of Americans couldn't make a rent payment or a mortgage payment just on their savings if something happened. Wow. Which, which is pretty crazy, yeah. And April happens to also be a big time for saving in banking world. So, during the month of April, we have, we have America Saves Week, which is usually the second, I think it's the second, it's either the second week of April, the first full week of April. I don't know which one it is, but it's, it happens in 2025 it happens to be April 7 through the 11th, so that was just a couple weeks ago, based on when this is coming out. And two days from now, on the date that this episode drops is Teach Children to Save Day, which happens every fourth Thursday of every April every year. And that's handled by the American Bankers Association, right? Yeah, so.

Jeff Matevish:

April in general, that, that's Financial Literacy Month. So, yeah, lots of financial.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. So, lots of, lots of financial stuff. So, with us to talk financial stuff, we have two fantastic guests with us, one of us, one of them is a recurring guest. The other is not. So, we're gonna go ahead and here, this is Randy McLaughlin. Randy is our Vice President and Retail Sales Officer, correct, that is correct. All right. And you've been with how tell us a little bit about yourself and where you've been, how long you've been in banking.

Randy McLaughlin:

Banking? I've been here at AmeriServ for 15 years now. Time flies. Nice. I started my career up in Northern Cambria as a branch manager. Then around 2012 I migrated down back to Richland, my roots, and I've been working out of the University Heights office there, from 2012, I don't know, for three or four years, and then I ended up in retail. So, now I'm a retail sales officer.

Drew Thomas:

Nice, nice. So, I mean is, and well, we'll get back to you. But let me also introduce our second guest. So, with us also is a returning guest, this is Senior Vice President of Retail Banking, Kerri Mueller, hi.

Kerri Mueller:

Hi.

Drew Thomas:

How have you been?

Kerri Mueller:

Good. Real good.

Drew Thomas:

I see you almost every day, but.. But our listeners and viewers have never seen you

Kerri Mueller:

Yes, you do. and have heard you, haven't heard you for a while. I know. Yeah. It's good to be back and it's good to talk and have another podcast on something that we feel is very important.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, yeah. So, so, so, so start, I'll let you start. So, let's talk a little bit about, about saving. And we're, and we're primarily focused, I think, on talking about teaching kids to save here. I mean, yeah, we're gonna, I'm sure we'll talk about some adults stuff and so forth in here too. But when, when is the, the best time to start teaching your kids how to save money?

Kerri Mueller:

Well, I think through, you know, we are excited to be here, obviously, because, as you mentioned, it is National Teach Children to Save Day coming up, and we believe strongly in financial literacy at all ages. And it's important at a young age to start your child out with good money habits, especially savings, and with an early start to savings and understanding and budgeting, I think children can build life skills, really as they head into adulthood. And the earlier we can teach the children about the value of money, the better. And I think as soon as a child begins to understand numbers, they begin to understand the basic concepts, really of saving. So, you know, you were quoting some statistics, and some statistics that I had found where by the age of three, they actually are beginning to grasp money habits, and really by the age of seven, they're seeing their parents and how they really deal with their money, whether they're on a budget and so forth, and they're pretty much already set. So, you know, they're not just in stone yet. So there is room for improvement, and I think that that's why it's so important to start young.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. I mean, I remember, whenever I was a kid, I remember, like, being in like, elementary school and you had, like, the coin, did you have the coins, like, the little paper or plastic coins that you play with, and stuff like, like, yeah. I mean, the idea of just, just basically understanding the concept of, you know, how to handle money and, and things like that, even in like, what, like, first, maybe first, first, second grade, something like that right?

Jeff Matevish:

We probably all had piggy banks, I'm sure, yes, yeah, yeah, we did. So, yeah, so you would, you had mentioned that, you know, kids start picking up on what you know, their parents' saving habits, what's, what's something that a parent can incorporate in their daily life with savings that would benefit a kid, but also continue their savings?

Kerri Mueller:

Absolutely, and I, I think as simple as it may sound, kids need to have their own money, and they need to have a place to store it, just as we were talking before they can understand how to make decisions about it and starting with a piggy bank as, as they age and set them up with even a savings account, um, explaining to them to what a bank is, is probably one of the biggest and most important step, I think, whether they get an allowance, whether they do chores around the house, walking the neighbor's dog, they get a check for a birthday, encourage them to put the money, you know, in a safe spot, whether that be a piggy bank or a regular bank, to keep their money safe and allow that savings to add up and then track their spending.

Jeff Matevish:

Are there concepts or techniques that are better suited for different age groups, like you had mentioned an allowance. I'm assuming that, you know, that would be for a little older child. But, you know, are there different concepts, like the piggy bank that you can start early that would make more sense for specific age groups?

Kerri Mueller:

And I do, and I think that, I think the younger you are, I'm, you know, I think that the piggy bank is probably an important concept for them to learn and to put, you know, to save that money, especially with birthdays and different things like that. And then the older that they get, whenever they start to get a job and so forth and so on, they'll have already developed those habits where they can follow through with, okay.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, I mean, I guess it is one of those things I know whenever I was, you know, I think you learn a lot when you're, your brain is a sponge. Oh, yeah, when you're younger. So, the younger you can kind of start these kinds of concepts. They sort of become a part of who you are, instead of something you're trying to learn as an adult, right? Right. So, I mean, if you can start, you know that, that concept of saving up for what you want instead of maybe using a credit card or taking out a loan. I mean, sometimes you can't, like most people, cannot buy a house without getting a loan or, or even a car these days. I mean, some cars cost more than my parents' first house did, you know.

Randy McLaughlin:

Soon to go up.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, and soon to go up, right. But there are definitely times that where, you know, we tend to lean on credit cards and things to get what we want, when, in reality, it might be better to just try to save up for them ahead of time.

Kerri Mueller:

And I think that's an important concept. I think, you know, saving up for what you need, especially for emergencies. And as you mentioned at the beginning, you know, there's the percentage of people that have savings accounts with less than $1,000 in them, yeah, is very rare. And I think that really the concept that we always teach when we go out to schools and we go out to even adult financial literacy courses is that they really need to have double the income, double their monthly income in their savings account, because emergencies always happen, whether you need new tires for your car, or your water furnace goes out, or, you know, something of the like is going to happen, and it's good to have that savings rather than, you know, rack the credit, oh, sure, up on your cards.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. So, let me ask you. Let me ask Randy, because you have, you have kids.

Randy McLaughlin:

I do, I have two.

Drew Thomas:

So, so, so how did you sort of start out whenever they were younger? Like, sort of, because if you've been banking a long time, you would think that you probably started trying to teach them pretty, at a young age, right?

Randy McLaughlin:

I did. I, you know, being in banking and prior to that, I was a mortgage broker, but I did have that concept of saving, and I did try to pass it down onto them. And we used to make a little bit, I don't know if you call it a game, but you know, you had those certain points in your life, your birthday, your Christmas, your Communion, you know, where they would get a lump sum of money. And we would make it as a family event. We would go up to the bank, you know. And back in the day, you had the passbook, you had your little and, you know, you went into the dresser, you got your passbook out. We're gonna go to the bank. And we made it a little bit of an episode, yeah. So yeah. And we would just, you know, and of course, you know, I had to try to teach them that they didn't, it's going into, well, why are they taking my money? I'm like, well, they're gonna hold it for you, and they're not really taking it, they're holding it. It's still yours. And then I said, if you ever want, we can pull the book out and we'll take a look and see your money still there in that so, yeah, it was the very first that I can remember, is raising two daughters that we got into, you know, thinking about savings and unexpected expenses and that. Of course, then you had to teach them, you know, that at that point in time, you know, it was not so much a want, but it was a need. You know, we're planning for down the road. You know, anything that you want right now, you know, we'll take that maybe out of the family budget. That's that need. Now we're looking long-term here. Let's put this money away. Let's look at maybe college and maybe look at your first car purchase, maybe, you know, cover some down payment, closing on a house. This is long-term savings. But, yeah, that, you know, we would do that, and we would talk about it, yeah. And, I mean, it took a while, I mean, and there's a lot of pressure on parents, you know, because savings isn't, you know, born with them, you know, that's, that's a learned trait, you know. You know, it's sort of out of the ordinary. So, yeah, it really relies on the parents to say, hey, this is important, trust me, I've been there. Yeah,

Drew Thomas:

And you got to wonder sometimes, like, if it's It's important to have a savings.

Jeff Matevish:

Do they get taught the wants and needs, you true that, that 28% of Americans don't have more than $1,000 in know, at an early age, you know, yeah, blow their money on what savings, it's hard to teach what you're not doing. It's hard to, you know, sort of say, like, oh, do, do as I say, but not as I do, right? You know, like.

Randy McLaughlin:

I want that new bike, yeah. Well, do you need it or do you want, right? their what their wants are. And as a kid, that's everything's a

Drew Thomas:

So, what did, you have a daughter? What did you do want. So that's with, with Alexis?

Kerri Mueller:

And, and that was in pretty much I followed the same, the same route. I mean, obviously she was a cheerleader, and along with that, comes a lot of different costs.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, been there.

Kerri Mueller:

And I think, you know, helping her identify a savings goal is a great way to get them excited about savings. So, when she was like, we would go to Disney every single year for competitions. And there are things obviously that she wanted, and she wanted to do in Disney, and, you know, it was a huge cost to me just to be able to for the flights and for the hotel and things. And so I basically told her that, you know, we needed to open up a savings account and whatever money that you get, and by that time, obviously she was, you know, getting money at for her birthday and different things like that. And so by setting a goal, I think helped, because it gives them something to strive for. Sure. You know, it's not just something that's just okay, well, I'm putting my money away, but I want it well, like, if they want it bad enough, they're going to keep that money in the bank and they're going to keep it in the savings account.

Drew Thomas:

So, so getting, I want to touch, because Randy sort of started talking about that, and you just said it too. So, let's talk, how do you teach them what a bank is? Like, what like you like, what is I mean, I think you kind of said you want to kind of go over like, what is a bank? What is it for? How do you do that? Is that really like something you try to teach pretty young?

Kerri Mueller:

Yes. I mean, I do think it is. I don't think p[eople], I don't think, like children understand what a bank is. It was just like Randy said, you know, his kids, like, when you, when someone goes and puts money and you're giving it to another person, people think, boy, that's my money. Like, I'm not giving it away. But a bank is, is, is a business, obviously, that accepts deposits. But you know, one of the biggest things is, is that your money is safe in a bank. You know, the savings account allows you to store your money in a safe place. It's insured. So, if you're, if you're saving up for a specific item, whether it's a bike or whether it's a trip like I was just talking about, I think it's a good place to store money and, and just, you know, making those trips and taking them to the bank with you. It's a big learning lesson.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, I think that's, I think it's a very good point. I mean, I remember going to the bank with my grandmother. I mean, that was sort of like in the summers, whenever I was out of school and hanging out with grandma and grandpa, like my grandmother would take me, you know, and we'd go to this, we'd go to the store, and then we stop at the bank, and then, and then, you know, the bank would get like, oh, here, have a lollipop, or whoever it was, you know, it was like, you know. And so I think that that's, that's definitely something that when you, when you sort of give people, or give kids the idea that going to the bank is kind of fun as opposed to a chore, then maybe they're more willing to try to come. What does like, what does AmeriServ do, do we, do we give this kind of stuff out. Do we do like...

Kerri Mueller:

We do. I mean, Randy's going to talk a little bit later on about, about what we do have to offer. But you know, when kids come in, you know, we, like I said, our bank really, truly believes on financial literacy, and so whenever they come into our branches, you know, they do get lollipops as well as dogs and the pets. Dog treats, oh yeah.

Drew Thomas:

That's a big deal, yeah.

Randy McLaughlin:

But yeah, I think the stickers are a big thing now. They see this, they associate stickers with AmeriServ now you know. Oh yeah, they'll sit there and hey mom, can you ask for a sticker?

Jeff Matevish:

Oh, my wife's a teacher, and that's a big thing in schools now. Yep, you got a sticker, then you're special.

Kerri Mueller:

And then every Friday you can come and get popcorn. So, they know that, oh yeah, oh yeah, we need to go to the bank today, right? They have popcorn. So, so, yeah. So, I do think you know that, but it's like I said, it's important for that parent to explain to their child as well. You know, we're making trips to the bank and, you know, sharing with them, you know what they're doing and what their budget is, and just kind of giving them some simple lessons at first, I think has really helped them, yeah.

Randy McLaughlin:

And then as they progress, I think it's important that we talk about the safety, you know, as they, as they grow their savings, and that you don't want to leave it in a dresser or whatever, you know, I said the safety, you know, of a bank. And we'll talk later, you know, but there's interest that comes into play now. I'm talking a little bit later in life, sure, but there are, you know, you have the safety in the bank. You have interest that the bank will pay. There's a lot of good concepts as to why you want to put that money in the bank, as opposed to leave it in your mattress or in the dresser. Yeah.

Jeff Matevish:

So, we've mentioned savings accounts, and you just mentioned interest, so a different account, what's, is a savings account the best vehicle to start a kid out with, or is there other accounts that would work just as well or better?

Randy McLaughlin:

I would say a savings account is the best, okay, because initially you want to keep it simple. You don't want to overcomplicate it, because you turn kids off real quick if they don't, if they don't grasp the concept. Sure, yeah, yeah. So, the savings account, it does, you know, it puts it in a safe place. It's FDIC insured. I mean, you're gaining interest on it. All the principles of savings are there. So, I think a savings account now, obviously, as that savings account grows and it comes a larger balance, there are other options. But I think as far as kids go, get them starting the concept of savings, I think the savings accounts the best way to

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, I mean, I would tend to probably agree, go. because, I mean, the average savings account, unfortunately, across the United States, I went and looked it up, like, bank rate says that they do this every week, and they look at like a standard savings account with the interest rate is, it was like, point five 9% like a half a percent. So it's, it's not that great. But I think for kids, it's, that's all they're, they're not so much worried about compound interest and all that happy stuff. They just, they just, they just want to know that their money's safe and that it gets them into the habit of maybe going to the bank and understanding the concept of putting money in, taking money out, and with savings accounts, now, I know the, the old rule was you could only withdraw so many times, but I think that's changed a little bit, right?

Kerri Mueller:

It has changed a little bit. But as I was going to say, it's not as easily accessible to, to the kids, right? So, they can't go break open their piggy bank and, and, you know, if they're saving up for a specific toy or whatnot, versus, you know, going to the movies with their friends, right? Yeah, right. Like they need to, they need to make a decision, and they need to go to the bank. They can't just break open that piggy bank and get the money. So, I think it's the accessibility of it as well that's important for them to grasp.

Drew Thomas:

Did you ever have to actually break a piggy bank?

Kerri Mueller:

I did. Yeah, I remember that.

Drew Thomas:

That was, that was traumatic for me. I think it was like, it was like, oh, man. But in a way, that was kind of like a savings account, like it was like, I don't want to, I don't want to break this. I like having it, but if I break this thing, it's destroyed forever. So, now, you know, so you kind of had to think through it, whether you want to.

Jeff Matevish:

Now they're all plastic, so you don't even break

Kerri Mueller:

You don't have to worry about it anymore. them. Probably.

Randy McLaughlin:

Yeah, I can remember growing up in Geistown, and I had a piggy bank, and of course, you could walk down to the Five and Dime at the time. And I'd used to sit there real quiet and try to shake my, yeah, to get the money out so my mom wouldn't hear. See, that's not what that's for. That's not, you know, yeah, for you to grab that quarter and run down and buy the penny candy. Yeah, Mom, I want, yeah. Do you want?

Jeff Matevish:

That's that want. Yeah. Wants and needs. Yeah.

Drew Thomas:

I gotta try to look and see if I still have it. I might have it in my, my stuff at home, like in a box or something. But when I was a kid, I had this, I had this little black it was a little black cash register, is what it looked like. And you could put my, you put the money in, and then you, you'd pull the thing down. It would, it would drop the money in, and the little drawer, it wouldn't, it would lock. And. It wouldn't unlock until you hit$10. Oh, and so it was like, so you had to happen to put stuff in it, but then once you hit $10 the little drawer would open and you could get the $10 out. And it was, it was kind of neat. I don't know if I still have it or not, but that was kind of a neat sort of thing. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I think we started saying, like, you know about, about teaching kids taking them to bank with you, like you were saying, I think Jeff said you said something about kids mimicking parent behavior, right? Yeah. So, like, you know, how do you, you know, do you think that maybe teaching your kids to save, especially if you're not the type of person that typically saves, if you have kids for the, and you're trying to teach them, does that, then help the parents too? Like, because you're kind of like, well, I wanted to give my kids a good example, so maybe now I start saving more than I used to?

Jeff Matevish:

Or back it up a little bit further, if you are a parent that maybe is not as financially literate, you don't know how to save, where can you find information to teach yourself before you teach your children how to save?

Kerri Mueller:

Right, right. Yeah. And I think that we have a lot of different we have a lot of different resources out there for adult literacy as well. And, you know, it's, it's rather ironic, because as many financial literacy courses as I've done and as I've taught, it's been with both adults and with children. And adults are just as much in need of that knowledge as well as kids are. And I do agree that kids mimic, um, their parents behavior, and if their parents aren't saving and, you know, let's just say that they're, they're able to go out and and do and buy whatever they want, not need, but whatever they want, that in turn, pretty much teaches that child that, you know, they can, they can go out and they can pretty much spend their money on whatever, whatever it is. And, and the savings goal kind of goes out the window. So, it's important, I think, just start early with a budget, to teach them about what a budget is, and then, you know, to also, obviously teach them about the savings. Yeah.

Randy McLaughlin:

I think a budget that's a key point right there, because your savings is what you have left at the end of the month. You have your cash flow, you have your money coming in, you pay your bills and so on, and your discretionary incomes, that's where you're going to get your savings. So, you got to have a budget, and you got to get your bills paid, and then, then you can kind of go from like, this is my, my money to entertain, but this is my money to save. I think the budget that Kerri mentioned is very important.

Drew Thomas:

So, would you, would you say that, really, I've heard this before, and I think Kerri and I talked about this the one time we were talking about different savings, on the last time that, that she was here, pay yourself like, act like you're a bill, right? Like, if, just like, the electric bill has to get paid, the water bill has to get paid, the mortgage has to get paid. You have to pay yourself at least something, right? I mean, absolutely, yeah, I think that's, that's probably an important concept for people to try to get their head around it. You're just as important. I mean, okay, I guess, I guess ultimately, if the difference is, well, I need to eat or I need to put money into my savings, you kind of got to eat, but.

Jeff Matevish:

You'll live a happy life, and you know, yeah, enjoy it, you know.

Drew Thomas:

But I think you, you have to also consider yourself as important as any other bill you know. Like to have that savings set aside, even if it's just enough to get you through a month or two, could make a real big difference

Randy McLaughlin:

There's no doubt. I mean, there's always for yourself. unexpected expenses, you know, and you need to have that, yeah, that safety net, that nest egg you can reach into. I mean, it's a lot better to grab out of a savings account if you can avoid putting it on the credit card. I mean, that's, that's, yeah, and that's usually comes down to what seems like a lot of the options are.

Drew Thomas:

So, so let's, let's, I mean, let's, let's talk budgeting a little bit, right? Because, you know, we, we touched on that before, but I think it's an important concept. So, Kerri, do you want to, like, kind of go through some budgeting tips, things like that, either for kids or for adults, whatever, whatever you want to do.

Kerri Mueller:

Sure, I mean, I think it goes back to, defining the needs and the wants. You know, the need is something that you cannot live without. Um, a want is something that you'd

Jeff Matevish:

Something complicated, yeah. like to have, but you can live without it. And I think that you know that budget that you set is going to help you decide whether you can afford to spend your money and, and whether it be on that need or that want, and determine how much money you have at the end, as Randy said, discretionary income after everything has been paid. But it's a matter of sitting down and whether it's just on a blank piece of paper, and I say all the time, that people try and make budgeting very, like they think they have like this, this program or, or, you know, some type of..

Kerri Mueller:

Exactly, where honestly, and mine is a simple binder, and my bills are written in my binder every month. And I know what my bills are every month. And every month I sit down, I put my bills in there, and then I pay my bills, you know, two times a month, and, and I know what my budget is, and so it works for me. It's simple. And I think that, you know, starting like I said, having, and Alex would even sit down with me at the time that I started to pay some of those bills to see exactly how it was that I did it, you know, yeah, even like writing a check and just giving her those simple lessons on, on banking and just really how to deal with money in general, I think is a good start.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, I mean, I would agree that I think that there are, well, you said about paying bills. I mean, you know, and wants and needs. I mean, we, I think that a lot of us have things that we want and we consider them a need, and then we use a credit card, or we buy, take a loan, or we do something else, and you end up paying a lot more, ultimately, with interest and things like that, doing it that way, as opposed to saving up for something and buying it. And I guess I'm just, I'm probably just as guilty as anybody else of doing that, you know, but to me, there's something about saving up for something and buying it and then realizing that it's mine, free and clear, like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not enjoying it. And then I get a bill a month later, awe you know, and I got like, this is mine, and it's, you know, so.

Jeff Matevish:

I'm a cash guy. Yeah.

Kerri Mueller:

It is much more satisfying to pay for something in cash. I mean, obviously we all know that when we use our credit cards, we're normally paying like, twice as much for the item, yeah, than, yeah, a lot, than what it really did

Randy McLaughlin:

It reminds me, like, of a little story that I'm cost. going through right now. I have a daughter, and she's looking to buy her first house in the coming weeks and that. And for the last, you know, 25 years of her life, she lived at home. And I'm like, Hannah, I said, your budget, we talked about budget, yeah, we talked about budget dad. I said, that's about to change. What do you mean? I said, I'm like, like things are going to be a little different. Yeah, you know, you know, mom and dad didn't charge you, you didn't have a mortgage payment. You didn't have rent, you didn't have utilities, you didn't have any of these expenses that are kind of important in your, in your budget. And I said, now you're going to move out, you're going to get this house. And I said, you know, I says you got to pay the mortgage, you got to pay the utilities. Well, what are you trying to say dad? Maybe Amazon's not going to come to the door every week anymore. Gotta make a few changes, here. She goes, I know what you mean, and she is. She's a very good kid. She realizes that it's exciting part of her life. But, you know, as we talk about budgets, and, yeah, sit down and I say, look, you know, as life events come, you know, you buy a house, you get married, you have kids. Budget has got to change. And you got to be willing to adapt. You gotta, you gotta make some changes.

Jeff Matevish:

But, but while she was living at home, she was banking her money because dad taught her how to save at a young age.

Randy McLaughlin:

Yeah, yeah, some. Yeah. I think we could all say back maybe, you know, if I had the knowledge back then that I had now, I could, I could have done it a little bit better, but, yeah, she's, she's definitely, yeah, she definitely, you know, has done a good job of saving and putting money back and, and then now she has the money for a down payment for closing costs and that, but, sure, yeah, then a lot of that money is going to go out, and I says, you know, and you're going to have to work to build it back up again. And that's, that's all the hard part, yeah, I'm hoping, as a parent, that I instill those, those you know stuff, in her, you know, but you do what you can. And then, you know, they go out and you hope that now, as we're talking here, you know that you taught them at a very young age the importance of savings, and then you know, they can carry that on for the rest of their lives.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, absolutely. I think even buying a house, whenever I bought my, well, even when I moved out of my parents house for the first time into an apartment, you don't realize the things you need to buy, you know. And, you know, you think to yourself, oh, I'm gonna buy a new TV, and I'm gonna buy this, and I'm gonna buy that, and then, and then you realize, well, I don't own a plunger. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, these are, these are the kinds of things that you just, you just got to wonder about, like, you know, like, I need silverware, I need plates. I don't want, you know, you can't always just buy what you want.

Jeff Matevish:

And then going from your apartment to your house. You know, you need a lawnmower now, you know, like it's changing, it's evolving. Yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. What you got, Jeff,

Jeff Matevish:

Yeah, I got one more. So, we had talked about you got something else? taking your kids to the bank. And you know, that can be a fun thing. Are there any other fun ways to teach kids to save other than a pig, you know, a piggy bank? You know, getting to eventually smash it, or taking your kid to the bank and getting a lollipop?

Drew Thomas:

I was traumatized, I didn't get to smash it.

Jeff Matevish:

Maybe that's not so fun. I'm sorry you were. Oh no, no, or go to the bank and getting your lollipop. You know, are any other ways that you can teach a kid to save that is more fun than just, hey, taking your money to the bank and not seeing it for a year, you know?

Kerri Mueller:

Right, right. And I think that there are, and I think that, you know, parents can be creative in, in how they teach their kids about savings. And, you know, one of the things that I had said, and I had mentioned earlier was to set a goal. So, if they want a bike, for instance, you know, having them realize that they need to save money in order to get that bike, I mean, have, like, all they can think about is that bike, like, I need that bike before summer, or you want to go to camp for the summer. But having some site of some sort of goal that they are shooting for, I think makes it a little bit more exciting for them, yeah, rather than just, you know, stacking money away, yeah, and saving for nothing. I think, you know, having something in mind that is really, truly a want for them, I think really makes them excited about, about putting that money away. Yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Is there, is there, like, a, is there something to maybe, the idea of sort of, like matching, like, what they do? Like, yeah, kind of teaches the concept, like, in the employers' world, like, well you get, well, if I put 2% in my 401K, my employer will put 2% in as well. That's a good point. Yeah, okay. Like, so, you know, maybe, you know, as a parent, like, you can maybe instill that idea of, like, okay, well, you know, every, for every $5 you put in, you know, I'll put in two or something like that. I mean, does that, does that work? Is that a valid idea?

Kerri Mueller:

Absolutely, I mean, that's a great incentive. And in fact, I used to do that. I mean, that, that gives the, the child a little bit more encouragement to put that money away. And, you know, it gets into a little bit more and, you know, Randy was going to talk a little bit about, you know, the small interest that you're earning right now on savings accounts, but.

Randy McLaughlin:

Yeah, the concept of compounding interest is important. I mean, you're correct. As young kids in that they're not going to look so much as how their money grows. But as you get older and as balances increase, the compounding interest is important. And what we mean by compounding interest is, it's the simple example is you put$100 in it. Well, you know, 30 days later, that $100 you look at your balance, and it's $105 what happened? The bank paid you some interest. Now we're looking at the next 30-day period, what we're gonna what's the bank gonna pay interest on not $100 that you put in initially, it's gonna pay on $105 that your account's grown to. So, that compounding interest, you know, and maybe that's not something we teach kids at a very young age, but in some point in time, that is a very important tool of savings, and that's why you do it at a bank, because you earn that interest you earn the compounding interest your money grows, and then it makes it helps with your savings account.

Jeff Matevish:

Shows the importance of leaving your money in a savings account to watch that compound interest. You can't just take that interest out and spend it and then you're back down to where you were at.

Randy McLaughlin:

Yeah, it defeats the purpose, right, of having long-term growth, right, right? So, and that's another thing, you know, it's hard with kids, because you're kind of right. You take the money to the bank and in their mind, it kind of disappears. But you need to, you need to teach them to say, yeah, it's still there. It's growing. It'll be there for you. But we're looking to save for the long-term. We're looking for, save for down the road.

Drew Thomas:

There has to also be a difficult concept I think sometimes for kids is that, you know, when you're 5, 6, 7 years old, a year is 1/7 of your life, right? I mean, waiting for Christmas is from, from Thanksgiving to Christmas is an eternity. So, when you ask your kids, like, hey, you know, we're gonna go and take your money and put it in the bank and it's gonna earn interest, and it's a long-term savings, and then they look at you a week later and say, so is my money, did my money earn interest yet? Like, that's got to be a sort of a sobering thing for them to have to try to wrap their brains around, I think sometimes too, but, but, yeah, it's that concept of, you know, you got to give a tame you got to have some patience, maybe a little bit too, with certain things absolutely.

Randy McLaughlin:

I can remember when my daughter got her first paycheck, when she went to work and she come home and she says, dad, you can't believe what happened to my paycheck. I'm like, where are you going with this? She said I made this, but I'm only bringing home this and then, and then I look at your bank, and what your bank pays me an interest doesn't equal what I'm paying in taxes. I said, welcome to the real world.

Drew Thomas:

Who is FICO and why does he get all my money? Right. You know. What other things did you want to maybe bring up a little bit Kerri that maybe we didn't touch on yet?

Kerri Mueller:

I think one of the, one of the exercises that we've done in financial literacy courses before has been just that you know, because people don't realize, and kids don't realize the cost and, and obviously, as they grow older, and I'm talking probably more middle school, maybe high school, kids to really grasp the concept of, of what you know life is all about. And we're truly going out on your own, but we do an exercise where you know, they choose what their job is going to be right, what they would like to do, and what that normal annual salary might pay. And then they choose, maybe where they want to live, whether it be a condo, an apartment, a house, and where, and then what kind of car they want to drive. And you can just imagine, right that these kids are picking out right like that they want to live in a penthouse, and they want to drive a Maserati or something like that. But they get down to the point where, at the end, whenever they're adding up all of their expenses and things, and they're adding up their income, they see the real world, and they see that, oh, geez, like, it's not adding up, right? Like, I'm like, I'm short$500 right like I can do this, right? And so it gives them a reality check as to, okay, so this is important. I really do have to, you know, live within my means. And I think that's even important for adults, actually, to learn is, is to live within your means. And you know, know that you know your income versus your expenses is what's important, and the money left over, if you if you can put away for savings, that's great. And you know, if you can't, then you need to just kind of, you know, power through it. And at some point, hopefully you'll have that discretionary income where you can put some money away.

Jeff Matevish:

Gives you a goal, yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah. Adulting is hard. I mean, you know when you're, when you are a kid, I think sometimes you think to yourself, well, my parents have it all figured out. They know exactly what they're doing. They've got all this money, and I don't have anything. And you know you're not realizing sometimes that you know, they're not, they're not buying everything they want, either. They're, they're, they're just trying to put a roof over your head and food in your belly and get you to school on time, you know. And it's not always the easiest concept, you know.

Randy McLaughlin:

So, I wonder, I like to touch this on briefly, you know, AmeriServ does have a savings...

Drew Thomas:

No. No, I'm kidding.

Randy McLaughlin:

Stop. I don't think I'd be doing justice if I don't bring out the savings account. But the savings account that we has a little bit different than some of the traditional account we were kind of getting away from, where the as a kid, you would have the passbook, and you would take it and they would run it through the machine and they would put your deposit or you're withdrawing there, but we have a Soar Statement now. And basically, instead of the passbook, just like anything, you have a monthly statement that comes and if that, if you only had a savings account with AmeriServ, then that's on there. But you have, if you have a checking account, you have investments, whatever, you can combine that all into one statement. But there is, like, a minimum balance, I think, to open it up, it's like only a $25 and like I said, you can consolidate it. We have, you know, e-statements, so you don't have to get the paper statement in the mail if you want. You can get it through your computer. It's a variable rate, and it's based on it's teared up. I think it goes from zero to $25,000 is at one rate. Anything over$25,000 is a little bit more. Yeah, I talked about the minimum deposit. Your savings account can be tied to your ATM if you want a debit card, not only your checking account, but your savings account, all can be tied to a debit card. And AmeriServ has quite a few ATMs at all their branches, so it's very easy. You have the ability for direct deposit. You can do automatic payment options out of it, but basically you have with Internet Banking, I mean, you have 24/7 access to your account information, yeah. So, I mean, it's a good account. I mean, and like I said, it's kind of set up to handle all ages.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, and, I mean, if you don't live in the, in the same area around, around an AmeriServ bank, if you're listening to this in California or something, I'm sure there are banks and credit unions out there that have similar programs. And some of them even have specialized programs for kids and things like that too. So, you could always look into that, you know. But.

Kerri Mueller:

Right. And the savings account actually, if you are but if you are not, or you're under the age of 18, there is no service charge, and there's no minimum balance that you need to keep that as well. Yeah, yeah. So, that's, it's a free account. So, it's, you know, we offer that for, for the children to come in and put their money in there and, and let it, let it grow. Yeah,

Jeff Matevish:

Good incentive. Yeah, yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, awesome. Well, I mean, you guys, thank you very much for joining us and for talking about all this stuff with us. You know, kids, I think, like you said, like sometimes they have a hard time grasping the general concept of patience and understanding that, you know, putting your money away and not spending it immediately gives you the ability to, hopefully spend a little bit more on something down the road or something a little bit bigger, like, you know, if you're spending all your money on penny candy, you're never going to get that bike, right the Kerri was talking about, you know. So, you know, you got to be able to put some of that money away and save it for, I don't want to say, a rainy day, but, you know, sounds very cliche, but you know what I mean.

Kerri Mueller:

I do, and I think it's never too early, you know, to start talking to your children about money and about savings, because, like I said, they develop habits pretty quickly, and to develop the right habits, especially whenever it comes to money, I think, is, is probably one of the most important things that, that we can do for our kids. And so hopefully, you know, we've been able to give you a jump start on that today, yeah, and, and hopefully, you know, through the months of financial literacy and different things, and you know, even in some of the programs that we offer in the schools, you know, they're learning even more, but, but, yeah. I mean, hopefully we, yeah.

Drew Thomas:

Yeah, absolutely. And there are, there are things on our website, too. If you go to ameriserv.com there is a whole financial library of information on there, and there are coaching sessions that you can do, like, there's, there's little games that you can play with kids, especially younger kids like lemonade stands and things like that, to sort of teach them the concepts around some of the money and things like that too, which I guess that's more about maybe making money than saving money. But still, it's all important, you know. So, check that out as well. You can find a link in the description. We'll, we'll make sure we put the link down there. I say we, it'll be Jeff, you know, but, but Jeff will put the link down the description for you and everything. But thank you very much to both of you for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

Kerri Mueller:

Thank you for having us.

Randy McLaughlin:

Yeah, it's been fun.

Drew Thomas:

This podcast focuses on having valuable conversations on various topics related to banking and financial health. The podcast is grounded in having open conversations with professionals and experts with the goal of helping to take some of the mystery out of financial and related topics, as learning about financial products and services can help you make more informed financial decisions, please keep in mind that the information contained within this podcast and any resources available for download from our website or other resources relating to Bank Chats is not intended and should not be understood or interpreted to be financial advice. The host, guests, and production staff of Bank Chats expressly recommend that you seek advice from a trusted financial professional before making financial decisions. The host of Bank Chats is not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, and the program is simply intended as one source of information. The podcast is not a substitute for a financial professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. Teaching children how to save money could be one of the most valuable lessons a parent can give their child. It's not only sound advice from a monetary point of view, but it also teaches patience, discipline, and provides a fantastic feeling of accomplishment when their goals are met. All things that adults could greatly benefit from as well. We want to thank Kerri Mueller and Randy McLaughlin for joining us as our guests on the program today. AmeriServ Presents Bank Chats is produced and distributed by AmeriServ Financial Incorporated. Music by Rattlesnake, Millo, and Andrey Kalitkin. Our executive producer is Jeffrey Matevish. If you haven't taken the time yet to subscribe to the program, we'd really appreciate it. You can also find all of our episodes on your favorite podcast app, and you can now watch the vodcast on YouTube. For now, I'm Drew Thomas, so long.

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