Wants, Needs, and Wish Lists: Supporting Financial Wellness for Indiana’s Kids
The second in a series on children, youth, and the Eight Dimensions of Wellness
by Tami Silverman, President & CEO of Indiana Youth Institute
The holiday season brings wish lists, shopping trips, and conversations about what families can afford. For children, these experiences offer lessons that extend beyond the gifts under the tree. They provide opportunities to understand the difference between wants and needs and to begin developing habits that will shape their relationship with money.
Financial wellness is one of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness, first defined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These dimensions are interconnected, with growth in one area supporting development in others. Learning to make financial decisions can build confidence and reduce uncertainty. Financial wellness skills also connect to emotional well-being and future educational opportunities.
The importance of fostering financial wellness is evident across Indiana. According to the 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book, 16% of Hoosier children, approximately 254,000 young people, live in poverty. Another 23%, or 369,000 children, live in households facing a high housing cost burden.
These figures reflect economic challenges that financial education alone cannot solve. Family income and access to opportunity shape the choices available to children. Yet learning how money works remains valuable across income levels. Understanding financial trade-offs can help young people develop confidence in making decisions.
The holiday season provides a natural opportunity to begin those conversations, and these discussions can be structured based on the child’s stage of development.
Elementary School Children: Learning Wants from Needs
For younger children, financial wellness begins with understanding the difference between wants and needs. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) defines needs as things necessary for daily life. Wants are things we would like to have but can live without.
Holiday wish lists can become teaching tools. Ask children to review their lists and identify which items are wants and which are needs. Talk about why they made those choices. While shopping together, discuss how families decide what to purchase and what to postpone.
Children can also begin learning how money serves different purposes. An allowance or gift money can be divided among saving, spending, and sharing. This practice introduces financial planning while helping children recognize that generosity can be part of their decisions.
Middle School Youth: Learning to Plan
As children grow older, they are ready for greater responsibility.
Middle school students can begin setting savings goals and creating simple budgets. Encourage them to develop a plan for earning or saving the money needed for something they want, rather than purchasing it at their request. Working toward a goal provides opportunities to practice patience and consider the consequences of financial choices.
Families can also involve young people in household purchasing decisions. At the grocery store, ask them to compare prices and consider whether a less expensive option offers similar value. Discuss what the family might give up by choosing one purchase over another.
These conversations introduce an important lesson: financial decisions involve trade-offs. Understanding those trade-offs helps young people recognize that spending choices reflect priorities rather than simple right or wrong answers.
High School Students: Preparing for Financial Independence
For teenagers, financial wellness becomes more connected to the responsibilities of adulthood.
A part-time job or checking account can provide experience managing money. Teenagers can learn to review pay stubs and understand how taxes and credit work. Comparing borrowing costs or examining the interest charged on a loan can make financial concepts more concrete.
The holidays offer another opportunity for practice. Give teens a budget for purchasing gifts and let them decide how to use it. Afterward, discuss how their choices reflected their priorities and what they might approach differently in the future.
Conversations about education and career pathways can also help teenagers understand the financial implications of their decisions. Exploring the cost of postsecondary education, for example, can connect current planning with future opportunities.
Building Habits That Last
Financial education extends beyond the home. Youth-serving organizations can incorporate budgeting into activities that require planning and resource decisions. Mentors can help teenagers explore the financial implications of education and career choices. These experiences give young people opportunities to practice decision-making with guidance from adults they trust.
Financial wellness develops through experience. Children need opportunities to make choices and understand consequences. Those opportunities matter whether a family has substantial financial resources or faces difficult economic circumstances.
During a season focused on giving and receiving, we can also give children something less tangible: the knowledge and confidence to make informed financial decisions. These lessons will not eliminate the economic challenges they may encounter, but they can help young people approach those challenges with greater understanding and a stronger sense of agency.
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