Say it like this

A way to trade what you have for what you want, without having to find one person who has both.

For the grown-up

Money is a shared agreement that certain tokens can stand in for value, which removes the need for two people to want exactly what the other is offering. It works as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a way to compare unlike things.

The easy mistake

Careful here. Money is not valuable in itself. A coin is metal and a note is paper. It works because enough people agree it works, which is a much stranger and more interesting fact than it first sounds.

The full explanation

What Is Money?

A glossary entry is the short version. This one has the child explanation, the grown-up explanation, the questions and an activity.

Read it

Words next to this one

Value How much something is worth to you. It can be different for two people looking at the same thing. Trade Swapping something you have for something you want. Price How much money somebody is asking for a thing. Not the same as what it is worth to you. Save Keeping something now instead of using it, so you still have it later. Invest Using something valuable now, hoping it becomes more valuable later. It might not.