FamZoo

FamZoo is an online “virtual family bank” that parents set up to teach their children (ages 5-18) about personal finance through hands-on practice. The parents own the bank, hold the real money, and set the ground rules.

In just a few minutes, parents can put in place any of the following learning tools:

• Virtual accounts to track income (typically from things like allowance, household chores, odd jobs, birthday checks, change found in the sofa, lemonade stand earnings, etc.) and expenses.
• Allowances that are deposited automatically and can be split between multiple accounts such as spending, savings, and charitable giving
• Budgets for tracking and controlling specific expenses like clothing
• Automatic Debits for recurring expenses like online gaming subscriptions and cell phone plans
• Compound Interest to encourage good saving habits
• Chore Checklists to pay for work that’s completed (or to deduct for work that isn’t)
• Savings Goals to help plan for larger purchases
• Loans to allow the purchase of big ticket items that are paid back over time