Spirit Summer 2011 Thompson Healthcare : Page 8

F I NA FIN FI N AN A NC N C CI I IA AL A L FI F TNE T N E SS S S “Women are the [main inﬂ uence] on how kids view money and treat money,” she says. “The expectations from family members are that [women] will stretch it, ﬁ x it, plan it.” Getting everyone involved in the family budget should start when kids are young, with an emphasis on teaching them about the family’s money values. “Maybe it’s that we only buy things we can pay cash for,” says Briles. “Or we need to save money, so let’s put out the piggybank to have something that visually What to tell your kids about money represents what we’re saving for.” It’s not always necessary to share the family’s exact when they’re … income with children, however. “It’s more appropriate to say that it’s great that Mom and Dad have enough ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGE: “We earn money by working for it, money to take care of our family,” says Briles. and we can spend only as much money as we have.” Encour-In uncertain economic times like the present, fam-age kids to put their allowance in a clear jar to demonstrate ily money talks may need to address some the concepts visually. unpleasant realities. “It’s so important to tell MIDDLE SCHOOL AGE: “We accumulate enough money the truth. You can sit down and say, I’ve lost for our goals by saving money.” Show them how to my job, so the vacation trip is not going to use charts or graphs to track how their savings grow. happen,” she says. “They need to be told HIGH SCHOOL AGE: “We make our savings grow by that there’s been some ﬁ nancial cutbacks, investing it in a money market, mutual funds, bonds … but we love you, and we’re here for you and other investments.” Help them invest some of and we’ll take care of you.” • their money from baby-sitting or a part-time job. 8 SP I R IT O F W O M E N SUM M E R 2 011 I FI N A N C ES JUPITERIMAGES/GOODSHOOT/THINKSTOCK | ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK How to talk to your family about N ADDITION TO BEING CHIEF COOK AND bottle washer, if you’re a typical mom you’re probably also chief banking ofﬁ cer for household expenses. That makes it all the more important to be sure your family sits down regularly to talk about money mat-ters, says Judith Briles, author of “Money Smarts for Turbulent Times” (Mile High Press, 2009). w w w.s p i r i t o f w o m e n . c o m

How To Talk To Your Family About Finances

IN ADDITION TO BEING CHIEF COOK AND bottle washer, if you’re a typical mom you’re probably also chief banking officer for household expenses. That makes it all the more important to be sure your family sits down regularly to talk about money matters, says Judith Briles, author of “Money Smarts for Turbulent Times” (Mile High Press, 2009). “Women are the [main influence] on how kids view money and treat money,” she says. “The expectations from family members are that [women] will stretch it, fix it, plan it.” Getting everyone involved in the family budget should start when kids are young, with an emphasis on teaching them about the family’s money values. “Maybe it’s that we only buy things we can pay cash for,” says Briles. “Or we need to save money, so let’s put out the piggy bank to have something that visually represents what we’re saving for.” It’s not always necessary to share the family’s exact income with children, however. “It’s more appropriate to say that it’s great that Mom and Dad have enough money to take care of our family,” says Briles. In uncertain economic times like the present, family money talks may need to address some unpleasant realities. “It’s so important to tell the truth. You can sit down and say, I’ve lost my job, so the vacation trip is not going to happen,” she says. “They need to be told that there’s been some financial cutbacks, … but we love you, and we’re here for you and we’ll take care of you.” What to tell your kids about money when they’re … ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGE: “We earn money by working for it, and we can spend only as much money as we have.” Encourage kids to put their allowance in a clear jar to demonstrate the concepts visually. MIDDLE SCHOOL AGE: “We accumulate enough money for our goals by saving money.” Show them how to use charts or graphs to track how their savings grow. HIGH SCHOOL AGE: “We make our savings grow by investing it in a money market, mutual funds, bonds and other investments.” Help them invest some of their money from baby-sitting or a part-time job.

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here