Allowance Calculator
Kids allowance by age, chore pay, save/spend/give split and savings goals
An allowance calculator turns a simple rule into a weekly amount. Under the common rule of thumb of $1 per week for each year of age, a 10-year-old gets $10 a week ($43.33 a month, $520 a year). Two paid chores at $1 each bring it to $12, and a 40/50/10 save, spend and give split puts $4.80 a week into savings, enough for a $60 goal in 13 weeks. No agency sets an official amount, so treat any age rule as a starting point.
Last updated October 2026
Method: Weekly allowance = age × dollars per year of age (or your fixed amount) + extra chores × pay per chore. Monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12. For the savings goal, the save share is deposited at the end of each week and optional interest is credited weekly at the rate equivalent to the APY you enter; the result is the first week the balance reaches the goal.
Included: By-age and fixed-amount modes, paid extra chores, weekly, every-two-weeks and monthly schedules, a save/spend/give split, a goal timeline with optional interest, and an allowance-by-age table. The interest hint uses the FDIC national savings rate published September 21, 2026.
Not included: An official recommended amount (none exists), inflation, bank fees, taxes on interest, and costs a child may be expected to cover from the allowance.
🐷 Set the allowance
Optional interest: a bank savings rate or a rate you pay as the "family bank". The FDIC national rate for savings accounts was 0.37% (September 21, 2026).
🐷 Allowance each week
🫙 Save, spend and give
🎯 Savings goal timeline
Saving $4.80 a week (40% of $12.00) with no interest, the balance first reaches the goal after week 13.
📋 Allowance by age
At $1.00 per year of age per week, before chore pay. Monthly figures are the weekly amount × 52 ÷ 12.
| Age | Per week | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | $4.00 | $17.33 | $208 |
| 5 | $5.00 | $21.67 | $260 |
| 6 | $6.00 | $26.00 | $312 |
| 7 | $7.00 | $30.33 | $364 |
| 8 | $8.00 | $34.67 | $416 |
| 9 | $9.00 | $39.00 | $468 |
| 10 | $10.00 | $43.33 | $520 |
| 11 | $11.00 | $47.67 | $572 |
| 12 | $12.00 | $52.00 | $624 |
| 13 | $13.00 | $56.33 | $676 |
| 14 | $14.00 | $60.67 | $728 |
| 15 | $15.00 | $65.00 | $780 |
| 16 | $16.00 | $69.33 | $832 |
| 17 | $17.00 | $73.67 | $884 |
Allowance calculator: how much allowance to give, by age
An allowance is often a child's first regular income, and the amount matters less than the habits around it: a predictable payday, a clear rule for extra earnings, and a plan for what gets saved. This calculator handles the arithmetic for all three. Set a base by age or as a fixed amount, add paid chores, choose a payday, split the money into save, spend and give, and see how long a savings goal will take.
How much allowance should a child get?
No government agency publishes a recommended amount. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Money as You Grow program, which grew out of 2010 recommendations by the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, focuses on the skills an allowance can teach rather than on a dollar figure. Families therefore lean on rules of thumb, and the most common one ties the weekly amount to age: $1 per week for each year of age, or 50 or 75 cents per year for a smaller budget.
The table applies the three rules to ages 4 to 17. The monthly and yearly columns use the $1 rule; for the other rules, scale them down in proportion.
| Age | $0.50 rule, per week | $0.75 rule, per week | $1 rule, per week | $1 rule, per month | $1 rule, per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | $2.00 | $3.00 | $4.00 | $17.33 | $208 |
| 5 | $2.50 | $3.75 | $5.00 | $21.67 | $260 |
| 6 | $3.00 | $4.50 | $6.00 | $26.00 | $312 |
| 7 | $3.50 | $5.25 | $7.00 | $30.33 | $364 |
| 8 | $4.00 | $6.00 | $8.00 | $34.67 | $416 |
| 9 | $4.50 | $6.75 | $9.00 | $39.00 | $468 |
| 10 | $5.00 | $7.50 | $10.00 | $43.33 | $520 |
| 11 | $5.50 | $8.25 | $11.00 | $47.67 | $572 |
| 12 | $6.00 | $9.00 | $12.00 | $52.00 | $624 |
| 13 | $6.50 | $9.75 | $13.00 | $56.33 | $676 |
| 14 | $7.00 | $10.50 | $14.00 | $60.67 | $728 |
| 15 | $7.50 | $11.25 | $15.00 | $65.00 | $780 |
| 16 | $8.00 | $12.00 | $16.00 | $69.33 | $832 |
| 17 | $8.50 | $12.75 | $17.00 | $73.67 | $884 |
Whatever rule you pick, decide what the allowance has to cover. Pocket money can be modest; an allowance that replaces what you would spend on lunches, clothes or a phone needs to be larger.
The allowance formulas
Weekly allowance = Age × $ per year of age + Extra chores × Pay per chore Monthly = Weekly × 52 ÷ 12 Every two weeks = Weekly × 2 Yearly = Weekly × 52 Save = Weekly × Save % Spend = Weekly × Spend % Give = Weekly × Give % Weekly interest rate = (1 + APY)1/52 − 1 For the goal, the calculator adds the save share at the end of each week, credits interest on the previous balance, and reports the first week the balance reaches the target. Without interest that is simply the remaining amount divided by the weekly savings, rounded up.
Worked example 1: an 8-year-old with chores
Maya is 8 and her parents use the $1 rule, so her base is $8 a week. She also takes on three extra chores at 50 cents each, which adds $1.50, for a total of $9.50 a week. That is $41.17 a month on average and $494 a year.
With a 40/50/10 split she saves $3.80, spends $4.75 and gives $0.95 each week. She wants a $45 building set. Starting from zero, $45 ÷ $3.80 = 11.8, so she reaches the goal after 12 weeks, with $45.60 in the jar. Over a full year her save share adds up to $197.60 and her give share to $49.40.
Worked example 2: a 14-year-old paid monthly
Leo is 14, so the $1 rule gives $14 a week. His parents pay monthly, which is $14 × 52 ÷ 12 = $60.67 a month, not $56. He saves half, $7 a week, toward a $500 laptop and already has $120. The remaining $380 ÷ $7 = 54.3, so he needs 55 weeks, roughly 12.7 months.
Putting the money in a savings account at the FDIC national rate of 0.37% earns $1.21 over those 55 weeks and does not shorten the timeline. If his parents pay a family-bank rate of 5% instead, the interest grows to $15.32 and he reaches the goal in 53 weeks. Both results come straight from the calculator; the 5% is a hypothetical rate a parent chooses, not a market rate.
Allowance, chores or both?
There are three common models. An unconditional allowance is paid no matter what and treats money as a learning tool, separate from household duties. A chore-based allowance pays only for work done, which links money to effort but can lead to a child declining both. A hybrid pays a base amount and adds money for extra jobs beyond the expected ones. The CFPB's guidance for children ages 6 to 12 covers both paths in one sentence: you can earn money through an allowance or by doing jobs for the family or others.
As a chore allowance calculator, this page uses the hybrid. Set the chore count to zero for a pure allowance, or the age rate to zero for pure chore pay.
Save, spend, give: splitting the allowance
Splitting money into jars or envelopes makes an abstract choice visible. The calculator starts at 40% save, 50% spend and 10% give, and every share is editable. Younger children often do better with a larger spend share and short goals they can reach in a few weeks; teenagers can handle a bigger save share and longer goals. If the shares do not add up to 100%, the calculator keeps your numbers and shows a warning instead of silently rescaling them.
How long will it take to save for a goal?
The table shows weeks to reach common goals at different weekly savings amounts, starting from zero and without interest. Each figure is the goal divided by the weekly amount, rounded up to a whole week.
| Goal | $2 a week | $4 a week | $6 a week | $8 a week | $10 a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| $50 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| $100 | 50 | 25 | 17 | 13 | 10 |
| $250 | 125 | 63 | 42 | 32 | 25 |
| $500 | 250 | 125 | 84 | 63 | 50 |
A $500 goal at $2 a week takes 250 weeks, close to five years, which is too long for most children to stay motivated. Break a big goal into stages, raise the save share, or add paid chores so the first milestone arrives within a few months.
Does interest matter for a child's savings?
The CFPB describes compound interest as earning interest on the money you have saved and on the interest you earn along the way. It is a powerful idea, but at the rates most savings accounts pay it is slow. The FDIC's national rate for savings accounts, a deposit-weighted average of rates paid, was 0.37% on September 21, 2026. The table shows $5 a week saved at three rates.
| Saving $5 a week for | 0% interest | 0.37% APY | 5% APY (family bank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year (52 weeks) | $260.00 | $260.47 | $266.32 |
| 2 years (104 weeks) | $520.00 | $521.91 | $545.96 |
| 5 years (260 weeks) | $1,300.00 | $1,312.03 | $1,471.60 |
Over a child's time horizon, deposits do almost all the work. A parent-paid rate makes compounding visible sooner.
Money skills by age: what the CFPB suggests
The CFPB's Money as You Grow pages organize money skills by stage, with milestones parents can watch for:
- Ages 3 to 5: the key idea is that you may have to wait and save up money before you can buy something you want. The milestone is persistence: keeping going even on hard tasks.
- Ages 6 to 12: children can earn money through an allowance or jobs, start a habit of putting money aside for things they want, and compare prices and features before buying. The question for parents is whether the child is planning, saving and sticking to goals and priorities.
- Teens and young adults: the milestone is independent decision-making, such as setting a goal, looking up missing facts and following through.
The FDIC's Money Smart for Young People program, developed with the CFPB, adds parent and caregiver guides for each grade band.
How to use this calculator, and who it is for
- Choose By age and enter the child's age and a rate per year, or choose Fixed amount and type a weekly figure.
- Add the number of extra paid chores per week and the pay for each, or leave them at zero.
- Pick the pay schedule. The headline shows the amount per payday; the tiles show weekly, monthly and yearly totals.
- Set the save, spend and give shares and a savings goal, with any amount already saved and an optional interest rate.
It is built for parents setting up a first allowance, and for caregivers and teachers who want savings targets children can actually reach.
What changes the result, and what the calculator leaves out
- Age and rate: under the $1 rule each birthday adds $1 a week, which is $52 a year.
- Chores: three extra chores at 50 cents add $78 a year; at $2 each they add $312.
- Schedule: monthly pay is weekly × 52 ÷ 12. Rounding to four weeks a month loses one week of allowance every quarter.
- Save share and goal size: doubling the save share halves the wait, and a goal already half funded takes half as long.
The calculator does not know your budget or what the allowance must cover. It ignores inflation, account fees and taxes on interest, and its age rule is a convention rather than advice from any agency.
Related calculators
- For bigger goals with monthly deposits, use the Savings Goal Calculator.
- To show a teenager how interest compounds over decades, try the Compound Interest Calculator.
- For a teen's first budget, the Budget Calculator applies the 50/30/20 split.
- For percentages of an amount, the Percentage Calculator handles any split.
- Planning bigger family costs? See the Wedding Budget Calculator and the Moving Cost Calculator.
Sources
The allowance amounts are arithmetic on your inputs, and the dollar-per-year rule is a rule of thumb, not an official guideline. The guidance and rates on this page come from these primary sources:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Money as You Grow, with the stage pages for young children (ages 3 to 5), school-age children and preteens (ages 6 to 12) and teens and young adults.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: How does compound interest work?
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: National Rates and Rate Caps (savings national rate 0.37%, September 21, 2026).
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Teach Money Smart (Money Smart for Young People and its parent and caregiver guides).
⚠️ Common mistakes & edge cases
Converting weekly to monthly by multiplying by 4
A month averages 4.33 weeks. A $14 weekly allowance is $60.67 a month, not $56, so the four-week shortcut costs the child $4.67 a month, or $56 a year.
Paying late or skipping paydays
An allowance teaches planning only if the income is predictable. Pick a payday, keep it, and pay the exact amount, or the lesson becomes that money arrives at random.
Setting a first goal that takes years
At $2 a week, a $500 goal takes 250 weeks. Start with a goal reachable in weeks, not years, and let the next one be bigger.
Changing the chore rules after the fact
If extra chores earn money, write down which ones, the rate, and what counts as done. Renegotiating after the work is finished undermines the deal.
Topping up whenever the money runs out
Rescuing a child who spent everything on day one removes the consequence that makes the lesson stick. Small mistakes with a $10 allowance are cheaper than big ones with a first paycheck.
Not raising the allowance when it covers more
When a teen takes over paying for lunches or a phone plan, the allowance has to rise by roughly what you used to spend, or the new responsibility becomes an unplanned pay cut.
❓ Frequently asked questions
How much allowance should I give my child?
There is no official amount. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Money as You Grow guidance treats an allowance as one way children can earn money, but it does not set a figure. A common rule of thumb is $1 per week for each year of age, so a 9-year-old gets $9 a week; families on a tighter budget often use 50 cents per year of age. Pick a rule you can pay every week without strain, then adjust it to what the money is expected to cover.
How much allowance should a 10-year-old get?
Under the $1 per year of age rule, $10 a week, which is $43.33 a month and $520 a year. At 75 cents per year of age it is $7.50 a week, and at 50 cents it is $5. If the allowance has to cover school snacks or outings with friends, set it higher than if it is pure pocket money.
What is the dollar per year of age rule?
It sets the weekly allowance equal to the child's age in dollars, or a fraction of it: $1 per year gives a 12-year-old $12 a week, 75 cents gives $9 and 50 cents gives $6. The rule is popular because it is easy to explain and builds in a raise every birthday. It is a rule of thumb, not a guideline from any agency.
Should allowance be tied to chores?
Families split three ways: an allowance with no strings, pay only for chores, or a base allowance plus paid extra chores. The CFPB puts it simply for children ages 6 to 12: you can earn money through an allowance or by doing jobs for the family or others. This calculator supports the hybrid: a base amount by age plus a number of paid extra chores each week.
How much should I pay per chore?
There is no standard rate. What matters is that the pay is predictable and the chore is clearly defined. In this calculator, three extra chores at 50 cents each add $1.50 a week, which is $78 over a year, so even small rates add up. Bigger jobs such as mowing a lawn or washing the car usually earn more than daily tasks like setting the table.
How do I convert a weekly allowance to a monthly amount?
Multiply by 52 and divide by 12, because a month averages 4.33 weeks, not 4. A $10 weekly allowance equals $43.33 a month. Paying $40 a month instead quietly cuts the allowance by $3.33 a month, or $40 a year.
How much of their allowance should kids save?
No agency sets a percentage. This calculator starts with 40% to save, 50% to spend and 10% to give, an editable split. On a $12 weekly allowance that is $4.80 saved, $6 to spend and $1.20 to give. Raise the save share when a child has a goal in mind; a concrete target makes saving easier to stick with.
At what age should kids start getting an allowance?
There is no official starting age. The CFPB's Money as You Grow material begins with children ages 3 to 5 and the idea that you may have to wait and save up money before you can buy something you want. Many families start once a child can count coins and wants to buy small things, often around school age.
Should I pay interest on my child's savings?
It is optional, and the calculator lets you test it. At the FDIC's national rate for savings accounts, 0.37% in September 2026, $5 a week grows to $260.47 after a year instead of $260, so bank interest barely shows. Some parents pay a higher family-bank rate to make growth visible: at a hypothetical 5%, the same deposits reach $266.32 after one year and $1,471.60 after five.
How long will it take my child to save $100?
Divide the goal by the weekly savings and round up. At $4 a week it takes 25 weeks, at $6 a week 17 weeks, and at $10 a week 10 weeks. Money already saved shortens the wait, and interest at today's typical savings rates hardly changes it.
💡 Good to know
The $1 rule builds in a raise every birthday
Each year of age adds $1 a week, or $52 a year. From age 6 to age 16 the yearly allowance grows from $312 to $832 without anyone having to negotiate.
Deposits beat interest for children
Saving $5 a week for a year gives $260 with no interest and $260.47 at the FDIC national savings rate of 0.37%. Raising the deposit from $5 to $6 a week adds $52 a year, more than 100 times the 47 cents of interest.
A give jar is a small, steady habit
Ten percent of a $12 weekly allowance is $1.20 a week, or $62.40 a year: enough for a child to choose a cause and see a real contribution add up.
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