We shield our kids from lots of things. We don’t want them exposed to violence, vulgarity, or content we deem inappropriate. We’re very careful about the media we bring into our home.
One thing we don’t shield our kiddos from is our finances.
Keeping finances hush-hush does more harm than good. Learning to talk openly with your kids about your own finances is one of the best ways to give them the financial education that they’re not getting anywhere else.
Do I need to talk specifics?
If you were totally new to knitting, but wanted to learn how to make the cute washcloths your friend was always making, would you want her to give you a general overview and not bother you with specifics or would you want her to sit down with you and show you her secrets step-by-step?
If you really wanted to be successful at making a washcloth, you would definitely want the step-by-step detailed instructions, rather than a basic overview.
The more we give our kids in the way of knowledge and experience, the more successful they will be.
Don’t get me wrong, teaching your kids in general terms is way better than skirting the whole topic of finances, but opening up your real budget can be more beneficial in the long run.
But how specific?
The depth of your answer will depend on your children’s ages and understanding, but even at a young age kids can grasp more than you might think.
At the same time, older children may know much less than we think they do. What is second nature to adults who have been managing their own finances for years, can be mysterious to kids and teens who haven’t had firsthand experience with it.
How specific you get when it comes to numbers will depend not only on the age and maturity of the child, but also on what you and your spouse are comfortable with. Seriously consider being a little more open than society says you should be comfortable with.
Case in point
Our oldest is 8, but as a Boy Scout merit badge counselor, Mr. SixFiguresUnder regularly talks with 12- to 17-year-olds about money and finances. To illustrate the principles, he openly shares our family’s income, expenses, liabilities, budget, and the rationale for our financial decisions.
It’s amazing how excited the boys get about seeing how money really works in a family. It’s also amazing (and a little alarming) how few of these teenagers have ever seen a paycheck, or a budget, or know how taxes work, or how to prepare for a major purchase, or why carrying a credit card balance is expensive, or how much compound interest can grow the money you owe or have invested.
Some of these boys will be on their own within a year. Some of them will learn the hard way, through stress, heartache, and debt, that they weren’t well-prepared to manage their own money. Don’t let your kids enter that world blind. New-found independence carries enough challenges without adding a financial handicap to the mix.
Here are 4 things you should tell your kids about your finances.
1- Where the money comes from
Your kids have probably gathered that money doesn’t grow on trees, but they may not really understand where it comes from. Unless you have a job where you receive cash tips, then your kids probably never see the money that you bring in.
Understanding where the money comes from helps kids understand the importance of work. My kids would love for Daddy to stay home every day, but they know that he goes to work so that he can earn money so we can pay for the things we need (and owe).
Tying money to honest hard work is a principle that even young children quickly grasp.
2- How much stuff costs
Kids have no idea how much the electric bill is. Property tax is a foreign concept. Do your kids know how much a gallon of milk costs?
If your kids are like mine, they will likely suffer from some sticker shock when they learn the cost of everyday essentials. And boy do they all add up!
The nice side benefit of being open with your kids about how much things cost is that they will sometimes take better care the things all that money bought.
3- How you decide what to do with your money
Show your kids how you budget your money. You are their first example and teacher. They might learn budgeting principles later in school (if they’re lucky), but faceless scenarios will not be nearly as powerful as personal examples.
Show them how you put your money first toward the most important or pressing expenses, plan ahead for upcoming expenses, and actively manage your money (instead of letting it manage you)! Show them how you save for a rainy day and how you choose to give.
4- What debt is, how to deal with it, and avoid it
Debt is an aspect of finances that we might be inclined to hide from our children because we are embarrassed, ashamed, or in denial. However, letting kids know about debt, even if you don’t divulge all the details, will help the family to understand why some needs and wants may go unmet and why sacrifices are made.
Children will learn to be frugal for a purpose and get the satisfaction of working toward a goal. Working as a family to pay off debt can be a great opportunity to work together as a team and strengthen your family.
Our kids are pretty smart about debt because we’ve been completely open with them about our payoff process. They understand what interest is and why we are in a hurry to pay back Daddy’s student loans. It’s very humbling to have your kids want to contribute toward the family goal to get out of debt.
But what if I’m not a good example?
You don’t have to be the best example to teach your children about finances. Kids are pretty amazing. They can learn from your good choices and bad choices. It’s actually good for kids to see that you aren’t perfect.
If you’ve made bad financial decisions, wouldn’t you rather have your kids not make the same mistakes? If they can learn the lesson from your experience, they can avoid the school of hard knocks.
Let’s stop making our personal finances so personal. Let’s give our children the leg up they need to be successful!
How about you?
- Did your parents share their finances with you?
- What do you/will you tell your kids about your finances?
- For those of you who no longer have young ones at home, what do you wish you had done differently? Let the rest of us learn from your mistakes!
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Erin says
April 20, 2016 at 4:15 amReally great ideas, especially for the younger age range which can be hard to find.
I have actually been looking around at parenting/finance books lately. Do you have any suggestions? I know Dave Ramsey wrote one.
Stephanie says
April 21, 2016 at 9:44 amI’ll keep my eye out. I haven’t actually used any finance books with my kids yet!
Laura says
May 9, 2016 at 7:47 amI’m a financial literacy coach at a non profit..I use curriculum from the FDIC to teach my adult classes. The FDIC also has free curriculum for pre K – grade 12.
https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/young.html
Maureen says
May 18, 2016 at 8:36 amThank you! I’m going to check it out. I was planning to teach my kids (12, 9, 5) more about finances this summer and this will help me figure out where to start.
Stephanie says
May 24, 2016 at 11:27 pmPerfect! The summer is a great time to teach finances! 🙂
Laura says
May 9, 2016 at 7:50 amalso – this free webinar is on May 25th discussing the topic
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b24c32c109afff561bb2c0129&id=5e9feb3568&e=c67abad95a
Lizzy says
April 20, 2016 at 6:42 amMy parents never discussed finances with us. Unfortunately, they believed it was not really our business. They were really careful with money, and we all went to Europe every summer. In retrospect, this would have been a wonderful teaching tool: I wish that they had explained by being frugal with certain things we could afford to do things that were truly important to my family. Sadly, I thought we were poor!
Stephanie says
April 21, 2016 at 9:44 amThat sounds like it would have been a great opportunity to learn. I’m sure they had good intentions (maybe thinking that knowing they had money would make you feel entitled or something like that). That’s really neat that you traveled so much!
Casey Ray says
April 24, 2016 at 5:53 pmMy parents rarely talked figures with us (although when my dad told me it cost him $24,000 per year to pay for our family’s health insurance I certainly never forgot it!) but they spent a lot of time talking about investments, the difference between credit and debit cards, and the importance of budgeting – even starting when we were 7 or 8. (My grandmother went so far as to explain and encourage me to attend and vote in shareholder meetings for stocks I had been gifted at that age!)
Even though my parents were financial comfortable, they always told us ‘we buy what we need, not what we want.’ They also talked a lot about the importance of paying for experiences versus things, which now seems to be a pretty common philosophy. I still live by it and I’m now in my 30s!
(Side note: I still remember a second grade student of mine proclaiming loudly that her dad was rich because he had $100. Knowing her family I knew they struggled, but it was interesting to see her interpretation of what $100 meant!)
Not having kids myself I’ve never really thought much about when to share specific figures. I was around 15 when my dad told me the real cost of our health insurance, and it certainly made me think a lot about budgeting and the real world, but I also immediately assumed he was rich if he could afford that (we definitely were not), which meant I felt we should be able to afford new shoes or a new top when I needed them! Not the lesson he wanted me to learn, but I eventually figured it out 🙂
Stephanie says
April 25, 2016 at 6:01 pmIt sounds like your parents were pretty money savvy and probably shared more with you than most, even without all the exact figures. That’s really interesting that the cost of health insurance stuck with you like that! Thanks for sharing Casey Ray! 🙂
Deitra says
May 10, 2016 at 7:52 pmI had to definitely share this article! I love how you talk about discussing with kids how you decide to spend money. This was rarely discussed as I grew up and I think it’s an essential in the money conversation.