How to Teach Your Kids When You Lack Confidence About Money

Recently, I was part of a virtual panel using Zoom. We were talking about money and confidence. Specifically, about children and how do we talk to our kids about money. One of the women on the panel with me said something that gave me an “aha” moment. She said that a lot of times even though she is a super successful business owner, she does not feel qualified to talk to her kids about money. She doesn’t feel like she has the confidence to talk to her kids about money because she really didn’t have that basic financial education when she was a kid.

So, it got me thinking is this why we are not talking to our kids about money? Because parents do not feel confident. So what can you do about it? One, don’t feel like you need to know everything. When it comes to money you cannot possibly know everything. That is why people hire Wealth Advisors like me. Money can be overwhelming for things are constantly changing. Every day is different. There is the economy, stock market, taxes, the economic environment, and the law is always changing. So, yes, it can be a lot. But this is even more reason to talk about money and have conversations with your kids about money. Part of why you want to have the conversation about money with your kids is because it’s a discussion. It is an interaction. Your kids know so much more technology and things that you can actually learn a little bit yourself. Let alone I bet that you will learn something new about money. Don’t feel like you need to know it all to have those conversations about money. Kids can teach you a lot and you can teach yourself as well as teach your kids at the same time.

Don’t feel like you have to have all the confidence in the world to start teaching your kids about money. Boosting confidence is one of the reasons that I started the Live It List. A Live it List is like a bucket list, but instead of a list of things you want to do before you pass away, it is a list of things you want to do while living your life to the fullest. So, maybe you come up with a list of things that are related to money and discuss them with your kids. Or when you are doing a live it list experience start talking about the cost of the experience and the conversations you have about money can be as simple as turning on the lights. You can discuss why you want to turn the lights off to save money. So don’t feel like you need to know everything about money before you talk to your kids. Start today and just talk about one thing a day. It will boost your own confidence and it will boost your kid’s confidence about money. We will all learn something along the way.