The following is a guest post about teaching your kids about money. If interested in submitting a guest post please read my guest post policy and then contact me.
Greetings, Modest Money readers! Jeremy has been kind enough to allow me to guest post today in order to share with you all about an exciting new e-book I’ve written called How to Teach Your Kids About Money. Up until recently, most parents didn’t find it necessary to teach their children in the area of how to manage personal finances. What followed was an inordinately large group of people who, due largely to a lack of education, entered the adult world knowing next to nothing about managing their money. This, in my opinion, left them getting much of their education about money from marketers and retailers, whom we all know are eager to get us to spend, spend, spend, and to live beyond our means so that they can pad their pocketbooks. I know – my husband and I fell head first into thousands of dollars of consumer debt simply because we’d never been taught about money. Then, when the marketers and retailers came, telling how much greater life would be if we had “this, that or the other thing”, we immediately signed up for that “great life” – a life filled with lots of stuff, and lots of credit card debt.
On January 1st, 2013, we began our journey out of debt, which we talk about at our site, The Frugal Farmer. Part of our journey toward financial freedom is making sure that we teach our kids the money management lessons we didn’t learn until our forties. We want to do our best to make sure our children avoid the many financial mistakes we made in our 20’s and 30’s, and to have a good, solid understanding of how to manage money earlier rather than later. Why do we feel it’s so important to teach our kids about money?
If You Don’t, Someone Else Will
If you don’t teach your kids an effective way to manage money, somebody else will teach them about money, and it will likely be to spend it rather than save it. Most school districts don’t offer any type of comprehensive class about personal finance management, so kids are left to learn about money from the retail and marketing arenas, who we all know have only their own best interests in mind.
If you want your kids to learn good techniques for spending, saving and investing money, it’s going to be up to you to get the job done. People – especially kids – learn from those around them, whether that education in any given area be a good one or a bad one. Make sure to take charge of what your kids learn about money into your own hands, so that you know that they’re learning healthy money management techniques that will help them to secure a good financial future.
Good Money Management Education Doesn’t Just “Happen”
People aren’t born with an innate knowledge of how to manage money. I can verify this from my own experience. We were quite poor growing up, but money was never really talked about. I knew we were struggling, though, when the power was turned off and there were days with no food in the cupboards. What did this teach me about personal finance? It taught me that I didn’t want to “do without” ever again. The problem came when I started using credit cards to make sure I never had to “do without”. Instead of innately managing my money well because I didn’t want to repeat my parents’ mistakes, I instead focused on the fact that I didn’t want to not be able to buy stuff. However, I never learned how to make value-based spending choices, instead spending largely wherever and whatever I wanted. That, obviously, didn’t work out so well, and we are now working to teach our kids specific tips and techniques for earning and managing money, so that they don’t repeat our money mistakes.
Teaching Your Kids Smart Money Management Skills is an Invaluable Gift
When your kids are ready to leave the nest, of course you want to make sure they’re prepared to take care of themselves. They need to know how to do laundry, how to cook basic meals, etc., etc. However, one of the very best gifts you can give your children is the gift of teaching them smart money management skills. Teaching your kids to make healthy and wise choices about how they manage their money will keep them out of a whole host of financial, physical and emotional problems.
In our book, How to Teach Your Kids About Money, you’ll find unique and valuable tips on how to go about making sure your kids know how to manage money, and manage it well. Do your kids a favor and learn how to teach them what they need to know about managing money.
