Grows
Money smarts that grow up with your kid.
The only money app that starts at 5 and graduates with them. Real wallet, real goals, real lessons, adapted to every age from picture-buttons at 6 to first paycheck at 17.
Vision
Grows isn't a hunch, it's built on research about how financial habits and self-control form in childhood.
Part 1 · How Grows is built
1. Doing beats listening
A child who manages real money learns differently than one who only hears about it. Grows makes every decision real: real goals, real money, real consequences.
"Experiential learning should be regarded as a principal method of financial socialization." LeBaron & Kelley, 2021
2. Pocket money alone isn't enough
Giving an allowance is a start, but research shows it's not enough on its own. Grows combines allowance, parental oversight, and structured learning, exactly the combination identified as most effective.
"The best strategy involves a combination of different methods: giving pocket money, controlling money usage, and giving advice about saving and budgeting." Bucciol & Veronesi, 2014
3. Your child is in the driver's seat, and that's the point
In Grows, children own the decisions that matter, choosing goals, deciding how much to save, managing their wallet. As they grow, so does their autonomy. Research shows that three elements are essential for real motivation and lasting growth:
- Autonomy children own the decisions that matter, at every stage
- Competence progress is visible, wins are celebrated, habits build over time
- Relatedness parents stay connected, involved, and present
"Three innate psychological needs, competence, autonomy, and relatedness, when satisfied yield enhanced self-motivation and mental health." Ryan & Deci, 2000, American Psychologist
4. Parents are the most powerful teacher
Children don't learn from lectures, they learn from watching. When a parent is connected to Grows, their everyday financial behavior becomes part of their child's education, in a way no classroom can replicate. And if you're ready to lead by example, Life is right there with you.
"Even seemingly small, everyday financial behaviors of parents inform children's financial attitudes and behaviors." LeBaron & Kelley, 2021
Part 2 · What your child gains
1. Real financial skills, for real life
Grows teaches children how to save toward a goal, spend thoughtfully, and understand that every financial decision involves a trade-off. These aren't abstract concepts, they're habits formed through practice, at the age when habits stick.
"Parental teaching to save increases the likelihood that an adult will save by 16%, and the saving amount by about 30%." Bucciol & Veronesi, 2014
2. Self-control, the skill behind the skill
Managing money well requires more than knowing the rules. It requires the ability to delay gratification, resist impulse, and think long-term. Grows builds this gradually, and the effects reach far beyond finances.
"Childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes." Moffitt et al., 2011, PNAS
"Most of the variation in adolescent achievement came from being able to wait at least 20 seconds." Watts, Duncan & Quan, 2018
Children with stronger self-control also tend to:
- Earn more as adults
- Stay physically healthier
- Make better decisions under pressure
3. Wellbeing, the bigger picture
The impact goes deeper than performance. Early financial education is consistently linked to better mental health, stronger relationships, and greater overall life satisfaction. What starts as learning to save becomes something much larger.
"The financial socialization individuals receive is associated not only with their future financial wellbeing but also relational, mental, and physical wellbeing." LeBaron & Kelley, 2021
Why now, and not later?
Grows is an investment, not an expense. Many parents assume their kids will figure out money when they grow up. But research shows that the habits and self-control shaping adult financial life are built in childhood, making early exposure genuinely valuable.
"Family financial socialization during childhood and adolescence is particularly important in laying a foundation for financial outcomes throughout the life course." LeBaron & Kelley, 2021
"The sequence of impacts, non-cognitive skills in childhood, school performance in adolescence, then higher earnings and increased wellbeing as adults." Algan et al., 2022, American Economic Review
How Grows fits the family
Three apps, one account. Grows connects to Life and Business so money moves where it should, with one sign-in.
See how the connections work
- Grows ↔ Life. A parent uses Life to log an allowance, set up a recurring entry, or accept a savings agreement. The child sees the matching record appear in Grows. When the child turns 18 (or earlier, at the parent's discretion), the Grows history carries over to Life, wallet record, goals, savings, family connections, the lot. No data lost.
- Business → Grows. A self-employed parent can mark a payment to a child directly from Business, handy for older kids who do real work for the family business, or for the formal allowance-as-employment setup some families prefer for tax reasons.
- Family view. Multiple guardians can be linked to the same child, a parent, a step-parent, a grandparent. They each see what they sent, and what's still pending.
The connections are designed so that the everyday case is one tap. Most parents won't think about which app is which after the first week.
What's in the app
- A wallet the child manages. A live record of their money, what came in, what went out, what's saved.
- Savings goals with parents. Child proposes, parent sets terms and confirms. Earmarked and visible to both.
- Learning that builds over time. Concepts expand by age, from basic spending to loans, interest, and economic principles.
More features
- Lessons that match the experience. Short exercises grounded in the child's own financial decisions, not abstract theory.
- A points system. Earned by completing lessons. Spent on small rewards, designed to motivate, not to hook.
- A parent view inside Life. Parents see wallet, goals, requests, activity, from their own app. The child still feels they're managing their own money.
What's intentionally not in the app: ads, gambling-like mechanics, social/friend features, in-app purchases for kids, and any data-sharing with third parties.
Your role at each stage
The single most important thing: the app works best when the conversation happens out loud. A child seeing a savings agreement on a screen is good. A parent and child talking about it for two minutes is the lesson. The app is a prompt for that conversation, not a replacement for it.
Ages 5–9 (levels L1–L4)
Kids see pictures and big buttons. Money is concrete, coins, bills, a wallet that goes up and down.
- Pay allowance on a consistent day, even a small amount. Predictability is the lesson.
- When you give cash for a birthday or holiday, log it together in the app. The act of logging is half the point.
- When the child asks to buy something, let them check their wallet in the app first. It's surprisingly powerful for a 7-year-old to discover they have or don't have enough.
- Set up one savings goal together, something they actually want, not something you think they should want.
- Don't optimize. Let them spend the allowance on the wrong thing. The whole point is that the wrong thing is recoverable at this scale.
Ages 10–13 (levels L5–L8)
Savings accounts appear, with interest as a real percentage. Budgets show up. Custom categories. Income types diversify, birthday and holiday money from family, savings interest, occasional outside work for older kids. Lessons get longer and more abstract.
- Talk about interest the first time it appears. Why did the savings number go up overnight? Two minutes of explanation, not a lecture.
- If they ask for a savings agreement, accept it the same day. Delay is the enemy of the practice.
- Start letting them make medium-stakes decisions, the school trip souvenir, the birthday present for a friend. Coach, don't decide.
- If they overspend in a category, look at the budget together. Don't bail them out instinctively. Sometimes the right answer is to wait until next month.
- Introduce the idea that money has a job. Some of it spends, some of it saves, some of it gives.
Ages 14–17 (levels L9–L11)
Bank accounts, cash and card together, part-time work, loans with schedules, investing concepts, and at L11, paychecks, taxes, pensions, and the graduation card.
- If they have an actual bank account, sit with them once and connect it conceptually, what they see in the app should match what's in the real account.
- When they take a part-time job, do the rights conversation. The app has a checklist; use it as a starting point for the talk, not the whole talk.
- If they ask for a loan (a real one, with repayment), say yes when it's reasonable and put it through the app. Borrowing from a parent with terms is a better lesson than getting it free.
- Around 15–16, look at the government's long-term children's savings program together. They're old enough to understand what's been saved for them. Look at the options.
- At graduation, do it together. It's a moment.
Who uses Grows
A few real families we built for. Tap any name to see how the app fits their week.
🎒 Maya, 7, first allowance, first jar
Level 2, Explorer. ₪10 a week from Mom + Dad, one savings jar for a stuffed animal she's been pointing at for months. Picture-buttons, not paragraphs.
- Weekly: the parents' recurring allowance entry appears in her Grows wallet, they confirm the cash actually changed hands.
- When she asks to buy something: she checks the wallet record first. Sometimes there's not enough, that's the lesson.
- Tooth-fairy money: after the tooth went under the pillow, she and Mom log the ₪5 together. It shows up as a +₪5 record with the sparkle emoji.
- Six weeks in: the wallet record matches the cash she's been saving in her drawer. They go to the store together.
🎮 Yoav, 13, Switch goal, savings with interest
Level 8, Investor. ₪40 weekly allowance, occasional babysitting income, a real savings account with monthly interest, and a Nintendo Switch goal he's been saving toward for four months.
- Saving for the Switch: Yoav splits each allowance record, half allocated to the goal, half to spending. He chose those percentages himself.
- Interest: his tracked savings number ticked up overnight, matching what the real bank credited. Two-minute conversation with Dad about why.
- Budgets: a monthly cap on snacks-and-treats. He overspent in March; he chose to wait until April for the next round.
- Parents' view: they see the progress bar from Life. They don't edit the data. He's running it.
💼 Noa, 16, first paycheck, real bank account
Level 11, Graduate-track. Part-time job at the local café, ₪3,200 a month after tax, her own bank account, and a graduation card unlocking in 18 months.
- Paycheck day: after the bank deposits her salary, she logs the entry. The app shows the tax + Bituach Leumi withholding so she sees the math behind "after tax."
- Cash + card together: some Bit, some cash tips, she records each as it happens. Both feeds in one wallet view.
- Loan from Dad: Dad handed her ₪800 cash for a school trip; both logged the loan with a repayment schedule. As she pays him back, she records each payment.
- Graduation prep: at 18 her records, wallet, goals, work history, family connections, all carry over into Life. No starting over.
👨👩👧👦 The Levy family, two parents, two kids, one calendar
Parents on Life + two kids on Grows. ₪10 to Maya (7), ₪40 to Yoav (13), one weekly grocery routine, one shared family calendar that shows both kids' birthdays in June.
- Allowance day: the recurring weekly entry appears in both kids' Grows wallets, ready for a one-tap confirm once the actual cash has been handed over.
- Goal nudges: the parents see Yoav's Switch progress bar from Life. They don't touch the data, he sets the pace. If he asks for a savings agreement (the parents add a matching contribution), they accept it the same day.
- Birthday gifts: calendar reminder a week before each kid's birthday, recurring family event, never forgotten.
- Grandma too: added as a second guardian on Maya's account. The holiday gifts she gives Maya show up alongside the parents' records.
"Maya asked us last week 'how many more sleeps until I have enough for the toy?' That's the question we wanted her to start asking." Yael & Tom Levy, Jerusalem
Frequently asked questions
What ages is it for?
Ages 5 to 17. The youngest kids start with a short welcome experience that figures out reading readiness, then the app meets them where they are. We don't ask kids under 8 to read paragraphs.
Is it free?
Free during soft launch. Eventually there will be a paid tier, we'll be honest about what's free and what isn't well before that happens. No ads, no data sales, ever.
Is my child's money actually in the app?
No, the app tracks your child's real money, but doesn't hold it. The balance they see reflects the money your child actually has. Nothing connects to a bank account or card. Every decision they make in the app is a decision about that real money, where it goes, how it's saved, what it's for.
What happens at 18?
The child graduates into Life. Their wallet, goals (active and archived), savings agreements, work history, and family connections move over. There's a 24-hour window to undo if something looks wrong.
What about Hebrew?
Hebrew translation is shipping in stages, the core interface is bilingual already, and the rest is landing through the soft launch. RTL is supported throughout.
Is my child's data safe?
The child's app state is readable by the guardians you approve, and writable only by the child. Parents act on the child's account through approval flows, never by editing directly. We don't share data with third parties for any reason.
My child is 14, is it too late to start?
No. The app has separate stages for teens, bank accounts, cash/card splits, part-time work, real budgets, loans with repayment schedules. A teen will skip the picture-button stage and land in something that fits them.
Plans
Our mission is to raise a financially literate generation. That's why Grows has one simple, affordable plan, with no tiers and no upsells. We charge a small price on purpose: it keeps the app sustainable without ads or selling data; it builds a genuine shared commitment between a child and their guardian; and it lets us properly safeguard the guardianship link with the security and privacy a child's account deserves.
- An age-adaptive wallet that grows from 5 to 17
- Allowances and savings goals
- Spark Jar rewards (points, not money)
- Guardian oversight and approvals
- A smooth graduation into Life
No ads, no data sales, ever. Free during the soft launch.
Request access for Grows
Invite-only soft launch. If you've got a 7-year-old who keeps asking how money works, or a 15-year-old who just got their first paycheck, we'd like to hear what you'd want from an app like this.