Lemonade Stands and Roth IRAs
From pop-up shops to piggy bank panic: inside the kid finance era no one really planned for.
First, I’m experimenting with a Working Moms job board. Scroll to the bottom for jobs with Nanit, Gruns, and Good Inside.
Okay and full disclosure when not trolling Linkedin: I love celebrity gossip. So when I saw that Meghan Markle’s kids are reportedly (I use this term lightly) running a backyard farmer’s market in Montecito—selling herbs and lavender to the neighbors—I thought: LOL. Sure. Why not.
It’s ridiculous. Also weirdly aspirational? Because whether you’re royal or just regular tired, more of us are trying to financial-plan our way through parenthood. Yes, me and my dyslexic self included. I’m in one of those cute moments where everything’s on the table—private school, moving, job stuff. Some days I’m like: how do people do this? Actually, no—how?
Money anxiety and raising kids go hand in hand. 62% of parents expect to push back retirement to help cover their kids’ higher-ed costs. 72% overspend to fix parent guilt. And even once your kid is technically grown up? It feels like it’s still not enough.
Millennials are hitting parenthood before homeownership. We're building families while renting, budgeting, and trying to afford daycare so we can work to pay for our Whole Foods haul-slash-whatever this was. It’s fully bananas.
And that stress? It’s trickling down. You see it in the debate over whether to have kids at all. You see it in kid debit cards and allowance apps, BusyKid chores-for-cash gamification (weird, IDK?), and yes, backyard “pop-ups” with branded signage and a QR code for payment. This week, we’re digging into the rise of kid-first finance: why it’s happening, who’s capitalizing on it, and what it says about the future we’re all trying to prepare our kids for.
Let’s get into it.
Read Between the Excel Sheets
The future feels… whatever the opposite of flush with cash is.
68% of parents say they’re anxious about saving for their kids’ future. Nearly three-quarters think the next generation is financially worse off. Source
53% of Gen X parents worry their kids will need financial support well into adulthood. Source
Even the Tooth Fairy—love her—raised her rates. The going rate is now $6.23 per tooth, up 379% since 1998. Source
Forget piggy banks—parents want platforms. Greenlight alone has raised $556M, and since 2019, more than $1.2B has poured into kid-focused fintech. Source
The trend is in your search history. Searches for “kids debit card” jumped 227% between 2020 and 2021. Source
Little Big Capitalists
Financial literacy is no longer just about saving, it's about signaling. And brands are ready to help kids do both.
The Allowance App Era: Chores are getting a fintech upgrade. Apps like Greenlight, GoHenry, and BusyKid turn pocket money into prepaid debit cards—with parental controls, savings goals, and yes, monthly fees. So what? Its empowerment... with a terms and conditions page. These apps teach kids to manage money, while also onboarding them into a system most grown ups haven’t fully figured out.
Finance as a Family Value Money talk is being rebranded as emotional literacy. It’s not just “how much did you save?” It’s “how does spending make you feel?” See: Chime’s Money Talk guides or BusyKid’s investing-for-kids features. So what? It’s less about raising little Warren Buffetts and more about raising humans who are mindful, grateful, and….diversified.
The Mini-Mogul Aesthetic Entrepreneurship is the new after-school activity. One kid has a slime brand. Another’s starting a publishing empire in the Hamptons. And AI is just getting started. So what? It’s not just about the hustle—it’s about the optics. The Kid CEO moment isn’t just a phase, it’s a performance. And it starts early.
Family Content as Career Path Thanks to the Kardashian blueprint—and a million morning routine TikToks—more families are turning their households into media brands. Bedtime, bath time, even breakdowns are fair game. So what? Kids aren’t just background—they are the content. And as the followers climb, so do the questions: about consent, control, and who gets to tell the story (and cash the check).
Crypto Wallets for the Little Bros Coming this fall: a kids' show that hands viewers their own crypto wallet. Cute. So what? Screen time now comes with financial onboarding. Childhood is being packaged, monetized, and gamified—sometimes before kids can spell “wallet.”
Momstincts: Where is this all headed
The bank, obviously.
Your kid probably isn’t launching the next no-soda-soda empire—but the way kids learn, earn, and think about money is changing. Financial literacy isn’t a college class anymore, it’s Roblox content, debit cards with chore trackers, and birthday gifts that come with savings goals.
The Anti-Startup Childhood: Love a good backlash. Expect parents and experts to start questioning whether chore charts and sticker economies are just early-stage capitalism in disguise. The “let kids be kids” movement is getting a reboot, now with mindfulness expert and data to back it up. Proof point.
Money Class for First Grade: If schools won’t teach taxes, TikTok will. Startups are eyeing your 7-year-old as their next user, promising to gamify financial literacy into the next Duolingo. Expect more app-based allowance tools, “kidvesting” platforms, and probably a Lovevery start-up playkit. Proof point.
Kidfluencer Labor Laws Incoming: France passed a law protecting child influencers’ earnings. The U.S. isn’t far behind. Expect a crackdown on family content creators—consent and contracts. Proof point.
Financial literacy is going feelings-first: Think: allowance apps with give-back options, piggy banks with therapy speak, and “money values” vision boards. Money isn’t just math—it’s a mindset now. Proof point.
When Hustle Becomes a Privilege: For every mini-CEO with a logo and a launch plan, there are thousands of kids just trying to afford after-school snacks. Financial literacy is crucial—but only if it’s accessible. Otherwise, we’re just turning economic anxiety into another thing to optimize. Proof point.
TL;DR: If kid-first finance is going to work, it can’t just be more hustle. It needs to be slower, kinder, and built for more than the 1%. Otherwise, we’re not raising financially savvy kids—we’re just raising childhood’s cost of entry.
Research Dept….Everything Worth Linking About
BLF x Coterie, wipes and wisdom. Yes, I abbreviated Big Little Feelings because that’s just where we’re at.
The kids are gone. Love Island is not the mood. Put this quietly devastating doc in the queue. → Watch
As a soft boy mom, I loved every bit of this interview. → Read
I’d interview this Dusen Dusen X Little Spoon tote bag too. → Read
Fast Co on AI raising babies. No. But also… we’re tired.→ Read
And new from Mom Friends…Working Moms :)
Because I spend too much time on LinkedIn, I’ll be sharing a few jobs and ops. See something, say something + I’ll post it here.
Head of People @ Good Inside
Scale one of the most influential parenting brands and memorize Dr. Becky’s scripts in the process. YES →Social Media Manager @ Skylight
The digital family calendar you’re already obsessed with is hiring. YES →Director of Operations @ Perelel
Go build the back-end of this amazing women’s health brand because literally we can’t afford sick days . YES →Director of Paid Media @ Gruns
I have a problem (too many, too often) with gummy vitamins but if you don’t, why not shape paid strategy here. YES→Social Media Content Creator @ Nanit
You’re already taking cute overhead screenshots of your kid sleeping so maybe get paid for it? YES →
Thanks for being Mom Friends. Have ideas, suggestions, or jobs I should know about, DM me. Happy 4th!