Gregg Murset has six children. From Murset’s perspective, it made “cents” to teach his children how to make money at a young age.
“They learned early that they had to do chores to earn money to buy the things they wanted,” said Murset. “They had to mow the lawn, feed the dog, and perform other chores. By aligning their chores with incentives, I was able to motivate them easily. But I had to stick with it.”
He added, “They learned by doing, and that was very powerful. I gave them a chance to earn money by performing chores. From there, they started looking for other ways to make money, such as washing the car, or performing chores for their grandparents. It gave them the spirit of entrepreneurship.”
Murset knew he was on to something. He believed an App was needed to reinvent chores as a youngster’s first job. He also felt this would give them an early start to financial success. So, the certified financial planner and consultant assembled a team and created the first chore/allowance App where children can earn, save, share, spend, and invest real money wisely.
The name of the App is “BusyKid”. The exciting new App provides real “life lessons” through hands-on experience of earning, saving, sharing, spending, and investing real allowance each week.
Courtesy Photo
BusyKids allows kids to log into their account, review their tasks and mark them off when completed.
Murset is the CEO and co-founder of BusyKid, which features pre-loaded chores based on children’s ages that parents can customize as needed. Kids easily log into their account, review their tasks and mark them off when completed. Kids receive allowance every Friday (Payday) after parents check the work to verify that it was completed and approve a text message to “ok” the transfer of funds.
After getting paid, children can save some money, donate some and use the rest to buy gift cards, get cash, buy shares of real stock or make purchases by using the BusyKid VISA Prepaid Spend Card. Murset also pointed out that children have to get their parents’ approval via the App prior to any spending.
According to Murset, BusyKid launched its iOS App in February of this year. iOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware.
“BusyKid allows kids to start learning about donating to charities early in life,” he said. “If a kid wants something from Walmart, this App allows them to make their own money doing chores and to buy it themselves. That’s a great thing and a real-life lesson. That’s what we need. Kids are getting too lazy. They are on social media and watching television all the time. They need to earn their own money and make some decisions.”
He added, “We suggest that parents help their children to overcome the challenges of being raised in the digital age by introducing chores as early as age three or four. I also think using a system that functions like a real-world job instead of relying on chore charts or rewarding kids with stickers and points provides life lessons that will be needed soon enough.”
According to Murset, BusyKid is being used by 10,000 families and growing.
“As a certified financial planner, I understand that you have to work hard and be smart with money,” he said. “I had to get those two things through to my kids so that once they move out, they wouldn’t move back in. Your first job with Direct Deposit describes Busy Kids. Parents are raving about it, and telling me it is making their lives a lot easier.”
He added, “Parents are struggling and need some tools. If not, their kids will be living with them at age 35. It is a problem many parents are facing. That boomerang generation is coming back and living with us. This has a huge impact on parents. It impacts parents financially in many ways. The kids come back home and run the utilities up, drive their parents’ cars [using] their gas, and eat up the food. It’s a real issue. If kids can become self-sustaining, it sure helps. And, it’s better to start early.”
Murset is the groundbreaking inventor of “My Job Chart”, an electronic chore/allowance platform, which grew to nearly one million members in four years. He is a leading advocate for sound parenting, child accountability and financial literacy.
In 2014, he was named Chairman of 2014 “Smart Money Week” for the state of Arizona, as well as, the National Financial Educators Council Financial Education Instructor of the Year.
“BusyKid is allowance simplified,” said Murset. “We have to incentivize our kids. I encourage parents to give kids chores and pay them. Where else can a kid earn money at age 11? The best place to teach them is at home.”
BusyKid is only $14.95 a year for an entire family and is available in the Apple Store and Google Play. For more information about BusyKid, visit http://www.busykid.com.