Eight Financial Mistakes Parents Make When Teaching Kids About Money

As parents, we must educate our young ones on various crucial topics to prepare them for the future. Money is a critical subject to touch on, seeing that most things revolve around it.

Money is pretty complex and as with other topics we introduce to kids, it is easy to make some mistakes. We will discuss some of the errors we as parents are prone to making when talking about money and how to deal with them.

Read on to learn more.

1.      Late Introduction to Money

Timing is essential when bringing up the money subject with the young ones. The mistake many parents make is to introduce the subject late, sometimes too late when they have already formed their concepts about money.

It begs the question, when is the right time to introduce money and financial lessons to my kids? The best answer is as early as possible. The earlier you teach them the better they will grasp and absorb the lessons.

2.      Making the Lessons Tedious and Boring

While money is a complex topic, it shouldn’t be when teaching your kids about it. Incorporating the lessons into their playtime is one hack on making them fun and your kids will look forward to learning more about money.

As they age, you can introduce them to more interesting and strategic games, like Monopoly, which can help them get a bigger picture of finances and planning.

3.      Bailing Them Out When They Mess Up

With money, everyone messes up at one point, and for kids, it might be more frequent. You can cut them some slack if they mess up some coins, but as they grow, you should go slow on bailing them out.

Regularly bailing your young ones out when they make financial mistakes, like going out of budget, does away with their sense of responsibility. They may grow up with a depreciated sense of being money-smart, which can be pretty catastrophic if not checked early.

Teach them how to take responsibility for their financial errors, which will help them be good planners.

4.      Failing to Lead by Example

Children are like sponges and they absorb everything we do including our financial decisions. As we teach our young ones about financial literacy, we can unknowingly make the grave mistake of not leading by example.

Failure to show our keenness on money matters makes them lay back and take the lessons for granted. For instance, you cannot expect your child to save when you hardly save or regularly break the piggy bank.

5.      Bribing Your Kids

Bribing comes in many ways, sometimes thinly veiled as a reward. Bribing your child slowly diminishes the value of money and it may end up corrupting their morals. Money should be earned and should not be used as a shortcut to get the best out of them.

Genuine rewards are all right, but they should not be too regular to the point that they lose their essence.

6.      Not Teaching About Debt and Credit

Debt and credit are crucial aspects of finances that we should teach our children as soon as they start learning about money. While they are critical financial subjects, they can be easily overlooked.

When talking about debt and credit, you should teach your kids that not all debt is bad, provided they know how to manage them. They require immense discipline when indulging in debts, as matters can go haywire if not controlled.

You should also teach them about credit scores and what it means to maintain a good standing.

7.      Not Involving Them in Financial Decisions

Most of us grew up when our parents were the word of the house, meaning we didn’t have any say regarding most matters, including finances. However, times are changing and our kids want to be involved in such aspects, even if it is a minor role.

As you teach your children about money, you can put the lessons into practice by involving them in some financial decisions. For instance, you can let them budget for their school utilities. It is a one˗step˗at˗a˗time process that will nurture their budgeting and planning skills.

8.      Failure to Instill the Virtue of Patience

Patience is a virtue that you should instill in your young ones as part of their financial literacy lessons. Learning about the essence of delayed gratification, insisting not everything comes when they want, will help build their character.

Most money deals and investments take time to mature and being patient will help them go through with the process for great returns.

Closing Remark

It is necessary to teach your children about money to double up on what they get from their school curriculum. Leading them on financial literacy will aid them in making essential decisions when they come of age.

This discussion looks at some mistakes you may make when talking to your kids about money. They are avoidable and always remember to lead by example and make the lessons more interesting to instill the proper financial discipline in them.