One develops habits by doing something over and over again. These can be good, bad, accidental, and strategic. Your kids spending habits will be what they are used to doing. If you have not put conscious thought into the financial wisdom you impose you may want to educate them to be responsible. . Despite what the cultural climate might be like concerning young people and money, your kids can still have a financially healthy future ahead of them if you teach them the right lessons. Here’s how to diffuse entitlement and teach your kids about the importance of personal finance.
Model Good Financial Behavior
Our children are often the products of who we are, which can include both our positive attributes and our flaws. If your kids spend their childhood watching you buy impulsively and complain about mounting credit card debt, they’ll likely emulate those same negative behaviors in their own adulthood. Try to model the good financial behavior that you’d like to see your children have for themselves one day.
Teach Them About Banking and Checking
Helping your kids to open their own free checking account can be a great way to teach them about the value of a dollar. Utilize your financial institution’s online banking app to show your kids how their money is slowly beginning to add up and how spending it reduces the total balance.
Turn Math Lessons Into Money Lessons
When you’re helping your kids with their math homework, try to frame the questions in terms of how those numbers would represent actual dollars. For example, a lesson about subtraction can double as a lesson about how spending different sums of money affects one’s total money in the bank. A lesson about multiplication can double as a lesson about how saving a certain amount of money each week pays off in the long run.
Encourage Chores in Exchange for An Allowance
The best way to learn about personal finance is by learning just what it takes to earn money. Most young people don’t get a good understanding of how hard one has to work to make a buck until they’re working their first part-time job. Get your kids on a healthy financial path early by encouraging them to do chores in exchange for an allowance. Your kids will be less inclined to throw away money when they understand the hard work associated with obtaining it in the first place.
If you make these four techniques a habit in your home, you can raise kids who understand the work involved in making money and how important it is to spend and save wisely.
