Giving Your Kids
a Wealth of Knowlege

Whether you like it or not, kids learn a lot about money from their parents. While every child deserves a happy-go-lucky childhood, we don't think sheltering them from all things financial necessarily adds up to happiness. Certainly, you don't want to pass any financial worry on to young children. But that aside, it's healthy to share with them common sense ideas about money and set examples that lead to a lifetime of financial success. Here are some ideas you might want to pass along to your kids:

 1.  Work is to be enjoyed. The media and everyone else often refer to work in negative terms. "Ugh, I go don't want to work," or "Thank God it's Friday." Impress upon your children that you want to go to work. After all, going to work is an ongoing opportunity to earn money as well as gain more experience, which usually means more interesting opportunities and more money. What's so negative about that?

 2.  They should loathe debt. If you have debt, don't joke about it in front of the kids. Other than your mortgage, push the idea of paying as you go. Here are some ideas for setting a good example. Save for a car and pay for it in cash. Pay off your credit card each month. One simple lesson some adults never learn is that we all have to pay for things sooner or later. Choosing to pay later is usually more expensive and frustrating.

 3.  Decide how much you're going to spend before you buy. Yes, this is basically long-hand for the word "budget." But actually go through the motions. For instance, if you're buying a refrigerator, set an amount you can afford, then go to the store and buy the one that fits your budget.

 4.  You won't do just anything for money. Although we use it to do important things, money itself isn't important. If you spend time late at the office, don't make the mistake of saying you did it to earn money. Because that's probably not the real reason. It was probably to finish a work project that you think is particularly important, or to add to their education fund. Money itself isn't the reason.

 5.  The value of saving. You knew this one was coming. If you make $200,000 or $20,000 a year, in the end, saving is the only way to financial freedom and financial security. You don't need to outline a retirement plan for a 14-year-old, but you can impress upon a child the value of earning interest on their saved money. Sooner or later, we all learn that earning money isn't easy. But not all of us realize that banks and other institutions will pay us for doing little more than accumulating savings.