I remember as a kid getting $5 a week for an allowance. I can’t remember if I actually got the $5 on a regular basis or if, like I do now as a parent, I was given it when my parents remembered. I also am trying to remember what I did with that money.

When I was a little bit older, I babysat and made some pretty good money, relatively speaking. I had an added advantage in that my older sister handed down a few of her jobs when she stopped babysitting, so I had a couple of regular gigs throughout middle school and high school. Sweet.

I worked during the summers in high school, and all through college. For at least a quarter and through the summer of my last months at the University of Chicago, I actually held a job and had a paid internship. I have no doubt this work ethic, on top of the somewhat neurotic way I viewed money on account of being surrounded by mostly rich kids at a prep school during the critical teen years, has crafted my view on money and finances.

Based on this, you might think I have served my child well with a financial education starting at a young age, yeah? You would be wrong! Work ethic? What’s that? Value of a dollar? Sounds fishy. It’s a lot harder to instill in your kid in this day and age, but I’ll keep trying.

It’s why I loved working on this story for GOBankingRates.com. Financial literacy is critical in this day and age, where buying items is as easy as tapping on your phone. Student loans today aren’t want they were before, and gimmicks and scams are that much more trickier to catch.

But you can start early, as the experts in this story suggest.

Read: Never Too Early: A Parents’ Guide To Teaching Your Kids About Money