How We Can Teach Our Children To Be Financially Mindful

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Is learning about how to manage finances as important as learning about sex education? According to the Church of England, it is. The Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s financial education initiative, The Just Finance Foundation, warned that financial knowledge was being neglected in favour of sex education. See Full Article Here[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Church of England’s warning inspired me to think of Financial Mindfulness and how the benefits of establishing mindful habits around money might be beneficial to children of all ages. There is no doubt that giving children financial education will help them cultivate healthier spending, giving, and saving habits. However, this is a component of education that is also missing from the US curriculum as well. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In an ideal world, I would like to see financial education receive parity with physical, emotional, and mental health. Raising children with good financial health in today’s fast-paced, dynamic, and instantly gratifying environment and the need to manage the current “more, more, more!” mindset presents quite a challenge. All is not lost though, and there is plenty you can do at home.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

• Talking to our children is the first step:  Is it true for you, that “parents find the subject of money difficult to broach with their children, in a similar way to sex, leaving children in the dark about good practice” as this church asserts? As long as you have created an environment based on mutual trust and understanding, there are simple ways to start a dialogue. Play games – my children loved to play pretend by “setting up a cafe at the playground”. We used pebbles as money and with each purchase, I was handed an invisible cup of ice-cream sundae, hot cocoa, cupcakes etc which I “devoured” to their delight. Talk to them about the value of everything from a pencil, hot cocoa, to the home they live in. Point out all the free alternative resources available to them – the local library, discounted services and coupons and get excited when you knock a few dollars off an item that was marketed at a full price elsewhere, etc. Ask for their opinion – you will be surprised at how much they already know!
• Model the habits you want them to develop: It is important that you align your routines and habits with your goals. It’s common knowledge that children will do as we do and not as we say. So, let’s get to it. How would you rate yourself if you could envision a Financial Mindfulness scale? Do you spend impulsively or are you a planner? What is your relationship with money – how does money make you feel? Do you model gratitude for what you have and give service to the community? How do you look after your money? The answer to these questions, is the roadmap to your spending, saving, and giving habit – you are everything to your kids and their first role model. They are watching, absorbing like little sponges.
• Teach them them to honor who they are: One of the most empowering gifts you can give to a child, is the lesson that they are enough, just as they are. That they are responsible for filling their own happiness bucket so that they may not seek happiness, fulfillment, and gratification from external sources. Who they are on the inside (their essence), is good, giving, independent, strong, and kind. Teach your daughters that they are equals and deserving of every opportunity and reward that boys are given. Teach your sons that they are also deserving and that girls are their equals and help them grow into men who will work hand in hand with women. Teach them all to shine their light unabashedly, and remind them it is not their job to dim their light so that others can shine, but it is their responsibility to use their light for good. An empowered child is a wise child, and a wise child will likely become a smart spender.
• Teach them that they can’t always get what they want: When Mick Jagger and Keith Richardson penned this song, I bet even they could not predict this would be every parent’s go to line. Along with “you get what you get”, it is one of the most common phrases in our household. There is a time for everything. There is a time for spending, there is a time for saving, there is a time for giving and there is even a time for doing nothing – a time for contentedness. Think about that for a minute. A time to just be. Teach them that experiences can be complete without “add-ons”. For instance, every trip to a museum does not have to involve a purchase from the (already overpriced) gift store. Every stroll in the neighborhood, does not have to involve a purchase. Stick to your list the next time you go grocery shopping. One of my favorite lines is “Oh, that’s not on our budget/list today. Perhaps we can see if we need it and add it to the list next time?”. Don’t waiver, it pays off once this becomes a habit and the kids suddenly ask “Mom, is pirate booty on our list today?” or “can we add pirate booty to the list next time?”. Sometimes we cross an item off – of course pirate booty can replace goldfish but we didn’t ADD on to our planned expenses.
• Teach them to have a positive relationship with money: Teach your children the value of money but do teach them that money is a good thing and eliminate the FEAR of spending. The idea is for them to want to save, and not be afraid to spend when the want or need to. Teach them all ways that money is good for the family. Having a roof over the head, paying bills, buying books, learning tools etc – this instils gratitude for all the ways money has made these necessities possible! Teach them how money can allow for simple pleasures (even the splurges if your family can afford them). The trip to the museum, the family meal at their favorite pizzeria or taco place, the ice-cream and candy treats, the family vacations, etc. “What a treat!”, is another phrase I love when we skip cooking to eat out. Spend it with joy! Be spontaneous once in a while and teach them to that once in a while. Life is here and now, and when the time for spending comes, do it joyfully!
• Teach them that it’s OK to make financial mistakes: Parents, this it without a shadow of doubt, the BEST time for children to learn and make mistakes. Your child saved money and ended up spending all of it on one toy or the latest pair of sneakers. Toy doesn’t turn out to be that great, or the novelty of the sneakers wear off and our child is suddenly poor. These are real consequences for them and while certainly not permanent they present an unforgettable lesson (hopefully). Have fun with it and grow with your child.
• Finally for older kids, try playing games like The Stock Market Game: There are so many companies that kids are familiar with on the stock market (Apple, Disney etc) and you can make a fun and competitive virtual family game out of tracking the stock prices to see how the companies you chose are doing against each other.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What are your thoughts on raising a generation of financially savvy and mindful children? How are you practicing financial mindfulness at home? What is working and what isn’t? Share your tips with us![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]