5 Pieces of Advice to Tell Your Child About Money is a series that ran every Tuesday until today where some of the top personal finance bloggers share their thoughts on this topic. At the end of the series, I promised to post my own 5 pieces of advice. The entire series can be found under Money Tips.
For those of you just tuning in, here is the background to this topic: One of the things that I am really passionate about is setting a good example for the next generation. It seems that so many kids these days have no idea about personal finance and have not been taught the skills on how to manage money for the future. Many of them don’t have to work hard for what they have and so they haven’t developed an appreciation and respect for money earned.
Possessions don’t matter. Stuff is just stuff. When you are old and grey you are not going to care about the kind of car you are driving or if you don’t have the fanciest house. What you are going to care about are your relationships with others, your health, the activities you have done, and the experiences you have shared. Don’t waste your money on stuff you don’t need just because you think it is cool at the time. It will just be a waste of your money later on.
Save for the future. Don’t blow all of your money at once. Save some of it for future opportunities. You never know what kind of situations are going to come your way that you may want to take advantage of that may be key to your future success. Trust me, you don’t want a lack of money to stop you.
Plan for emergencies. Just like you don’t know what great opportunities are going to come into your life, you also don’t know what bad things are going to come into your life. Be prepared. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Make sure to put some money away for emergencies and hard times so that when they do hit you, you can recover quickly. You owe it to your future self to look after them.
Do what you love. Once you start working it is easy to get distracted with high salaries and big bonuses. Fight this desire. If you end up taking a job that pays great and that you hate, you will only be miserable and your personal life will suffer. Instead, find a job that you are truly passionate about and that you can stick with. Then just adjust your spending and saving accordingly. I can promise you, you will be much happier in the long run.
Use your wealth responsibly. If you manage your money well though the years then you will have money later on that you can use for the power of good. Use this money to better the world around you. Take pride in knowing that you can make a difference in others lives. Donate to charities that feed the poor and build shelters. Support green living technologies. All of these things are for the betterment of everyone so use your money to support this.
I hope you have enjoyed this series and taken note of some great principles to teach your children. I want to again thank all of the other bloggers for participating and sharing their words of wisdom.
So, what are you going to teach your kids about money?
