OUR KIDS ARE OUR BIGGEST ASSET

Our kids are our biggest assets! Our kids give us joy, a sense of purpose, unconditional love, a reason to come home, a desire to be healthy, a feeling of warmth in our hearts and much more!

As parents, we want only the very best for our kids. We try and provide them with everything that they need in their lives, or ask for or secretly desire: the best education, a lifestyle better than we received, material things, recreation, fun, love, care, and countless other things that they will need to become happy, successful, and empathetic adults.

But despite our desire to provide them with everything, one key aspect that seldom gets missed out is teaching them about money.

Schools don’t teach us about money, and there is a deeper reason for consciously not covering this most important subject as a part of the curriculum (about which perhaps I will talk another time). Most kids learn about money by observing their parents. A lot of families find it taboo to overtly discuss about money in their homes and when kids bring this topic up, they are either shut down or told that they are too small to talk about money. So often their questions around money get unanswered and keeps them guessing.

Money is something that is one of the most essential part of our lives. From the day we are born till the day we die we need money. And yet, why is talking about money to our kids or at home one of the most taboo topics?

It’s perhaps the insecurities that we breed in our heads around money. Or perhaps the social conditioning that if we talk about money then it will leave us. Whatever the reason be, our kids get bereft from this most important topic of their lives that they will have to deal with as adults.

A lack of formal education about money often results in them making wrong money decisions as adults, be it over spending to showcase indulgent lifestyles, taking huge debts, or not knowing how to optimise their investments. As adults they struggle to make sense of how to deal with this monster called money and as a result may develop an unhappy relationship with money. Money wounds can even cause adults to be fearful, self deprecating, anxious, and can destroy their self worth!

So how do we as parents correct this for our kids? How do we empower our kids to confidently manoeuvre the world of money?

The only was is to educate them at a young age! To teach then the importance of saving, investing, taxes, insurance and basically how money works!

Kids learn fast! Their retention is amazing! Once they learn they will start questioning you on what you are doing about your money and why? And that will tighten you to start thinking and to start making optimal money choices! In the process the entire family benefits.

So if you think talking about money with your kids is taboo, then think again!