I think a great way to teach kids about money is to teach them how to garden first – there are a lot of similarities and it helps to foster a culture of hard work, patience, care and delayed gratification- all core concepts for finance and investing
Children are like sponges. They absorb much of what they see and hear. They have the potential to learn so much from their parents. They are watching us as we go through life talking, spending, loving and generally interacting with others. How we spend our money will be learned by our children; we set an example. If we live within our means, children will tend to simulate our lifestyles.
One of our “go-to” strategies was to install “Quicken” on our kids laptops before they left for college and setup automated downloads of checking account expenditures from their bank. Mint (free online tool also owned by Quicken) offers comparable functionality. Playing good defense (i.e. tracking their consumption habits and budgeting) is just as important as playing offense (Saving and investing) in the early years of a young adult’s journey into the workforce.
Plus, and having them open Roth IRAs, with a parent match of their $50/month contributions – but match only comes at the END of the full year.
Even though we are doing fine from a financial perspective, in many areas of life, we try to live frugally to set a good example… Target for clothes, much second-hand furniture (we buy nice used stuff from our affluent neighbors on Next Door), we just stopped using a landscaping service and now mow our own lawn, we got a rescue Covid puppy instead of a designer dog, we use a lot of You Tube videos so we can do-it-our-selves (dog training, dryer repair). I feel so proud when she exclaims how over-priced something is.
Our neighborhood is too affluent for my comfort – my daughter has no idea of what normal is, but the schools are excellent and managed to stay open through most of Covid. I try to use the surrounding affluence as motivation. One of our cars just died and she wants a Tesla like her friend’s family has. I tell her to study hard, work hard and save a lot and then she can buy herself a Tesla someday. My hope is that by then she’ll have learned enough to buy a Toyota.
I just bought my twins a Dad book for Xmas – The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. It is the book I wished my parents would have given me.
I think a great way to teach kids about money is to teach them how to garden first – there are a lot of similarities and it helps to foster a culture of hard work, patience, care and delayed gratification- all core concepts for finance and investing
Children are like sponges. They absorb much of what they see and hear. They have the potential to learn so much from their parents. They are watching us as we go through life talking, spending, loving and generally interacting with others. How we spend our money will be learned by our children; we set an example. If we live within our means, children will tend to simulate our lifestyles.
One of our “go-to” strategies was to install “Quicken” on our kids laptops before they left for college and setup automated downloads of checking account expenditures from their bank. Mint (free online tool also owned by Quicken) offers comparable functionality. Playing good defense (i.e. tracking their consumption habits and budgeting) is just as important as playing offense (Saving and investing) in the early years of a young adult’s journey into the workforce.
Plus, and having them open Roth IRAs, with a parent match of their $50/month contributions – but match only comes at the END of the full year.
Even though we are doing fine from a financial perspective, in many areas of life, we try to live frugally to set a good example… Target for clothes, much second-hand furniture (we buy nice used stuff from our affluent neighbors on Next Door), we just stopped using a landscaping service and now mow our own lawn, we got a rescue Covid puppy instead of a designer dog, we use a lot of You Tube videos so we can do-it-our-selves (dog training, dryer repair). I feel so proud when she exclaims how over-priced something is.
Our neighborhood is too affluent for my comfort – my daughter has no idea of what normal is, but the schools are excellent and managed to stay open through most of Covid. I try to use the surrounding affluence as motivation. One of our cars just died and she wants a Tesla like her friend’s family has. I tell her to study hard, work hard and save a lot and then she can buy herself a Tesla someday. My hope is that by then she’ll have learned enough to buy a Toyota.