I’ve been looking around for additional resources for parents who want to teach their kids about money.

If you want to invest in a mutual fund that caters to kids, you might try:

Royce Trust & Giftshares Fund (RYGCX)
www.roycefunds.com

Columbia Young Investors Fund
www.columbiafunds.org

Stein Roe Investors Fund (800-403-KIDS) or www.steinroe.com
Read the Forbes article (a bit dated, but useful) on the fund www.forbes.com/2000/10/27/1027funds.html+stein+roe+young+investors+fund&hl=en&gl=us ct=clnk&cd=3

Of these, I think the Stein Roe fund does the best job. They have a lot of tools on their website that would be interesting for kids.

BIG CAVEAT: However, be aware that these funds may NOT have the best returns. Think of them more as teaching tools. And, don’t forget to have your child compare expense ratios. You can check out their returns at www.morningstar.com.

As far as games go, check out a game called “Mutual Mania,” which appears to be a board game that teaches kids how to make good mutual fund investments. Each player is given $25,000 and given a chance to buy mutual funds when you land on different squares (it looks a lot like Monopoly). The types of funds you can buy include goverment bonds, balanced funds, money market accounts, U.S. equities (stocks), Asia Pacific funds, European Equity funds, Small Cap company funds, Energy, and emerging markets. You can Google the fund to find out how much it costs and where to buy it.

Finally, two more website that might help:

The Mutual Fund Education Alliance (www.mfea.com)
www.360FinancialLiteracy.org

As I find more good stuff on teaching kids about investing, I’ll post it on the blog.

July 11, 2006