written by @CoreyLStokes
Recently I asked, what lessons do we teach our children about money? The responses I received back all said, spend money wisely, save a portion of your income, and don’t spend more than you make. One friend said she teaches her children how to use “discretion when buying their wants”. But what do we teach our children when it comes to earning an income? I’ve heard often parents tell their children “when you earn money you can spend it on what you want.” But we never hear the question that most logically follows. The question that was most obvious for my children was “Daddy, how do I earn money?”
Dave Ramsey calls moments like these teachable moments. Moments, that you have the opportunity to teach your child a life lesson, rather than just giving them an answer. The first time my daughter asked me what can she do to earn money, my wife and I discussed giving her an allowance. The more we discussed however the less we liked the idea. Giving her money, didn’t teach her anything. We decided to give her, her first job. Teaching her that she needed to work to earn money. After all, isn’t that how the real world works!
For her first job, I gave her 5 tasks and paid her a commission of $1 per task to be completed by the end of the week. At the end of the week my wife and I had a weekly review to provide feedback so she could make corrections before payday. A process that work very well for her. As she got older however, she wanted to know how to make more money. I soon realized that I had a little Kidpreneur in the making on my hands, and she was ready for the next level of lessons.
When it comes to teaching your children about money, here are a few things I’ve learned:
1. Never let a teachable moment go by.
2. If you don’t know, you can’t teach!
3. Encouragement goes a long way.
It didn’t take long for my daughter to start brainstorming ideas and bringing them to me for my approval. She has come up with ideas from writing books to babysitting. At one point she joined her friends in starting a cookie business complete with inventory and payroll. A process she is still looking at duplicating on her own. I guess I can’t expect her to work for Dad and Mom Inc. forever.
Corey Stokes 