Why Does Money Seem To Rule Us?

Why don’t we learn about money ourselves? Why do we seem held hostage by money and financial issues? Why don’t we teach our children about money?  Could it be because we don’t know much about it?  Could it be that our habits rule our actions about money and we don’t even know how damaging this is? Everything I learned about money, I learned from my Dad.  His rule was simple. Half of every thing I earned from my part-time jobs went into a savings account.  Every other week, my parents drove me to the bank to deposit that 50% into a passbook savings account. I would never have even thought about withdrawing money from that account. When I started driving, the habit continued, and, yes, my parents would check up on me.  Did I like putting the 50% in the bank at the time?  Of course not, but after tithing 10% to my church, I could spend the other 40% any way I liked.  My parents didn’t “control” how I spent it.  I realize now that my saving, giving, investing and spending habits today became habits when I was still at home under consistent guidance from my parents.  (I cannot stress the word consistent strongly enough.) Consistency is imperative in forming a habit, good or bad.  Repetition creates the pattern of behavior.  For instance,

•  Alcoholics drink consistently
• Smokers smoke consistently
• People in debt spend consistently
• Philanthropists give consistently
• Savers save money consistently
• Investors invest money consistently

Definition: “Habit – an acquired pattern of behavior that has become almost involuntary as a result of frequent repetition.” In order to change your life, you need to start by changing your habits.  In order to teach our children to be productive and successful adults, we need to help them form habits that produce positive results for them consistently at a young age.  It is easy to look at the list above and know that you would prefer your children to be savers, investors, and philanthropists instead of alcoholics, smokers, or debtors.  It is much more difficult as a parent to find the time to take the action NOW to help instill the habits that will propel your children toward a financial future of successful investing instead of a financial future plagued with drowning in debt. The cost to our children and our society is getting too high not to take action NOW.  It is time for parents, grandparents, and other interested adults to start educating our children today…so they can live a happy and healthy tomorrow. Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.– – – – – – – Sharon Lechter CEO – Pay Your Family First Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA.