The best financial education you can give your children is far more internal than external. Money habits are skills, but financial good sense is something derived from within.
The key process is to help your kids develop a healthy appreciation for money and the things it can buy. Teaching your children to value money and their purchases will greater ensure their success and happiness later in life.
Like most things you teach your children, the first step is becoming a good role model. A great place to make this effort is to reduce materialism. In general, this word implies the desire to possess large amounts of worldly possessions in order to be truly happy. Unfortunately, this process rarely creates true happiness.
The first step in reducing materialism and teaching financial security comes from appreciating the true value of things. Kids are naturally inclined to want more. As soon as you buy them that new toy they have been dying to get, they want another new toy. If this habit continues, then materialism is starting to raise its ugly head.
Another habit we fall into as parents is the use of material goods as rewards or to show love. I am not suggesting you stop buying your kids presents, but instead buy them ones with more value. Value is a tricky word to teach, but it is the key to reversing materialism in our society.
Teach your kids to appreciate what they do have, before they get more. Do this yourself as well. Don’t replace an item that hasn’t worn out just because there is a new gadget on the marketplace.
Learning to avoid these pitfalls is tricky and there is no simple cure. The best method is to start evaluating your thoughts about spending. Then, look to how your kids view it too. As a team, start to approach the material items in your life as second to the truly valuable items like a loving home and time together.
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