A child puts coins into a red piggy bank

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When is the ideal time to start investing? According to Acorns CFO Seth Wunder, eight years old might be about the right age.

Wunder, a top exec at the personal finance platform aimed at helping people break into markets by investing their spare change, is a strong advocate for early financial education. His view comes from his own experience. He first learned about stock trading as a member of his school investing club in sixth grade. Years later, he says that he’s imparting lessons he’s learned about money and investing to his own children.

“I think it’s really important to start with education,” he told Business Insider. “When you think about the habits you build, the way we talk about building healthy habits for the long term, financial habits are the same as physical habits like going to the gym and taking care of the body.”

His advice comes as markets are increasingly gamified, with risky bets in prediction markets and stock options booming, while social media is awash in questionable financial advice.

In Wunder’s view, early financial education allows parents to help their kids understand what separates informed investing from gambling. He shared the top three investing lessons for parents to share with their kids.

Invest consistently

First and foremost, consistence is key. Wunder cited the power of habit as an important factor that can help young people get started investing early and understand why that matters.

“If we can get the younger generation to understand that even as little as $5 a day is a starting point is the place to start, and then you know to the degree that they want to do more over time, that’s wonderful,” he said.”

Wunder added that for many people, not knowing where to start is what holds them back from investing, but getting started early and keeping at addresses that.

Realize the power of compounding returns

Compounding investment returns may not sound very exciting, but it might be among the wonders of the world. Wunder highlighted the importance of understanding it, noting that parents can frame it as money that comes with no real risk, while also demonstrating the value of patience as an investor.

“Most people don’t want to do the math, but it’s just really simple,” he stated. “A small amount of money every day compounded over time becomes a lot of money. I think that intuitively people can understand that.”

Understand the ebb and flow of markets

The benefits of compounding interest takes time, but as Wunder’s third lesson highlights, understanding the ups and downs of the market over time is key.

Wunder stressed the importance of helping young people understand that there are dips in every cycle, and sometimes that’s scary for an investor, but resisting the urge to panic is highly important. Instead, pullback in the market should be seen as as an opportunity to acquire more stock at a cheaper price.

“The vast majority of the market returns happen on very few days of the year, and you can’t time the market,” he added. “Being consistent with time, like what we say, time in the market as opposed to timing the market is really key. “

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Samuel O’Brient is an experienced financial markets and business journalist who has written extensively on a wide range of topics involving economics, technology and public policy. At Business Insider, he covers important macro and micro economic stories, including takes from leading economists and hedge fund managers, breaking IPOs,  corporate bankruptcies, meme stocks and short-selling. He also writes on other markets such as crypto, oil and real estate.He has interviewed many of the market’s most influential voices, ranging from top economists such as Mark Zandi and Richard Thalerto prominent investors including Danny Moses, Andrew Left, Anthony Scaramucci, Louis Navellier and Grant Cardone.Programs such as LiveNOW from Fox , Taking Stock and Ticker News have had Samuel on to discuss stock market and economic developments. His reporting has been cited by The New York Times DealBook, Bloomberg Radio, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Gizmodo and TheFutureParty.Samuel began at InvestorPlace, covering investing, retail trading and macro economic trends. Prior to joining Business Insider,  he served as a technology markets reporter at TheStreet. He is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Trinity College Dublin.Samuel’s work has appeared in publications such as TipRanks, EV and Observer. When he isn’t chasing down stories, he can often be found browsing book and record shops. To reach Samuel, email him at sobrient@insider.com or connect with him on LinkedIn. He is also on Signal as Samuel Clemens. Popular Articles: A Nobel economist has a warning for meme stock tradersThe business school dropout who kicked off the Beyond Meat rally wants you to know he’s not Roaring Kitty 2.0A top economist who thinks we’re on the brink of a recession says he’s eyeing these 3 warning signsTrump’s 401(k) executive order marks big changes for retirement savings — and possibly puts your money at riskWhy hedge fund icon Ray Dalio says you shouldn’t invest in real estate in this economyAI bullishness is soaring, but pros see a major opportunity brewing in an overlooked corner of the market