3 Ways to Teach Your Kids About Money
What Money Skills Do Your Kids See Reflected In You?
We know that our children learn by what we say and what we do.
Teaching our kids how to be responsible with money can be more complex than simply telling them about money and how to use it.
Our kids will also watch how we discuss money, how much we use and how it makes us feel.
We talk at length about understanding your money mindset here at Fyvie Financial because we believe healthy money skills are developed by exploring not just how to use money, but also why we use it as we do.
Cultivating healthy money skills to pass on to our children begins by reviewing our current money mindsets, and determining what values we want to teach to our kids.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss three ways to teach your kids of any age about positive money skills, and give them the tools to grow their own wealth in the future.
3 Ways to Teach Your Kids About Money
Learn your money mindset and observe how it presently impacts your kids
Decide what money skills you want to teach your children
Involve your children in the family finances
How Does Money Mindset Affect Your Kids?
Your money mindset is composed of two main elements:
Emotion: Does thinking or talking about money make you relieved, stressed, content, anxious, etc.?
Behavior: How do you handle your money? Are you someone who usually makes impulse buys, or who regularly contributes to a savings plan?
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Our habits and behaviors are usually developed subconsciously and/or actively taught from our own parents’ and their money skills, as well as our own personal money journey.
Parenting comes with a variety of challenges, so it’s easy to forget that our kids learn by watching us as an example. As your actions speak louder than your words, they can shape what your children think and do as they grow older.
If we demonstrate patterns common with a negative money mindset, we might find ourselves fighting with our spouse about money within earshot of our children. On the opposite end, if we exhibit behaviors of a positive money mindset, our kids may see us spending time planning our financial goals.
Review how your money mindset may have affected your kids—and be kind to yourself as you are already making the conscious decision to improve yourself!
What Money Skills Are Important For Your Kids to Learn?
Think of what money skills and financial plans you already have—and the ones you want to learn yourself.
Those will be the essential skills to pass down to your little ones to help develop their own healthy money mindsets.
You don’t have to know all the answers to their questions—just do your best to guide them in the right direction!
Some examples of financial literacy you can educate your children in are:
Mathematics:
They’ll learn it in school, but taking the extra time to show them how to count denominations or make change can make a big difference in how they view the value of a dollar.
Spending and Saving:
If you give your children an allowance, or if they are old enough to work, you can teach them the importance of preparing a spending and savings plan for both present and future expenses.
Account and Debt Management:
In addition to your kids getting an allowance or earning a paycheck, you can open a bank account for them (or a joint account that you’ll share). Here, you can teach them about how to properly manage their finances to avoid debt, and how to repay it.
Get Your Kids Involved In The Family Finances
While you don’t have to share every detail of your household’s finances, involving your kids in simple money tasks helps them practice what they learn.
From giving them a small, personal spending plan for trips to the grocery store to planning a big entertainment purchase like a PS5, bringing your kids on board to your financial process encourages a healthy money mindset—and gives your kids confidence in their role as a part of the family.
Fyvie Financial is happy to assist your family in creating a financial plan that helps grow and sustain your wealth. Book a discovery call with us today and explore your options on how to give your children—and yourself—financial freedom.