Tip 24: Talk to Your Children

Involving your children in your financial lives at a younger age will help put them on the path to financial freedom. You don’t have to share every nitty gritty detail of your finances with them, but if you can begin teaching them lessons they will be much more prepared to deal with the world of instant gratification around them. Show them how to balance a check book or use online banking, what the difference between an asset and a liability is or how they might be able to start earning a little money on their own. While on the way to the mall or grocery store talk about various types of businesses they might start like a lemonade stand or gumball machine. Talk to your kids about what you are doing with your bills. Our children are always with us when we are using our credit cards, but rarely when we are paying them! This often creates the, “just charge it” mentality. Let them pay your bills with you. They lessons they learn they will carry for life.