"It is never too early or too late to start working with kids, even when they are adults who don't know a thing about handling money," according to Scott Farber. He is an attorney, certified public accountant and certified financial planner with the Wealth Management Group, part of the Boston-based Woodstock Corp.

Delessert's take is a little different. She says clients should bring up the subject of money once their children start to earn some. "Then it will be more useful to talk about how to spend a salary and whether or not some of it should be put aside for college," she adds.

Farber stresses that advisors should be proactive; they should ask about their client's children and what they are learning or not learning about money.
Space agrees with Farber. He says age five is not too soon to start a child's money education.

"In most cases," Space says, "I suggest to clients that they first begin when their children are at an age when they are intrigued with the notion of having their own money to spend. Let them earn an allowance, then pay them weekly but have them put 50% of money earned into a savings account that they can watch and see the amount grow over time."

He adds that clients should tell their children to shoot for a goal, such as enough money for a video game or a bicycle.

"This will instill the power of accumulation and the power of goal setting at an early age," according to Space. Some clients resist the call to start early, but he tells them that delaying a child's money education can be dangerous.

It is easier to hook children at an early age on the value of saving, because at that age they are usually fascinated by it, the advisor believes. "However, beyond ages 10 to 12, it gets more difficult to get them to think about saving and goal setting," Space warns.

So those who wait until the client's children are almost adults to have serious talks on money are skirting potential disaster. They may find that their financial plans will fail, warns Jon Gallo, who believes that parents must be counseled to take heed of the stages of a child's development.

At different ages, children need to be taught different things about wealth, he says. They need "to be gradually phased in to an understanding of money through allowances, checking accounts, debit cards and a pre-paid credit card," he adds. And sometimes it is the family advisor who should be a part of the teaching.

"For example, let's say you have a client who has children who are three or four years old," says Jon Gallo. "They are starting to be exposed to television commercials that teach them to want or need everything they see on television." The parent must be able to explain the difference between things that "are nice to have and things are necessary to have," he says.