Teaching kids about planning
Estate Planning accomplishes many things: allowing you to retain control in how your estate is managed, preventing the need of costly and time consuming court proceedings, and making sure your loved ones are protected are a few of the objectives. It's undeniable that Estate Planning is also used as a way to transfer wealth from one generation to the next. This means that we have to start saving and learning about money at some point.
As the Community Outreach Coordinator of Fremont Union City Newark (FUN) Mothers' Club, I have been working on a "Planning for Parents" seminar series where we have professionals speak about important topics for parents. Yesterday's seminar, given by Michael Santos, was called "Money Talks" and focused on how to start teaching kids about money.
Many of my clients have young children so I felt that this seminar was very relevant. Here are some of the great tips that I learned:
-We can start teaching our kids about money from a young age in very organic ways. For instance, when you are at the grocery store, you can teach them about different prices of items. When you go to a bank, you can talk to them about interest rates and how money can grow.
-With regards to allowance, we can teach our kids that "some work fulfills responsibility. Some work earns money." This demonstrates that kids do have duties and also can do extra tasks to earn money.
-Even from a young age, kids can learn that there are different types of goals: cash for immediate needs/wants, savings for longer term projects, and charitable endeavors. Personally, for my three year old, we have focused a lot on showing her how we can give back to others. This has been through hosting baby clothing drives for a local non-profit called Loved Twice, collecting items to create care packages for cardiac patients at UCSF and Lucile Packard Children's Hospitals, and letting her know that these items are specifically for others in need.
-Parents can help kids understand the difference between needs (e.g. food, clothing) and wants (e.g. toys, vacations) and then help them create a plan.
-With any lesson for children, it's important to stay firm and not give in, even if that's the easier option. What we can do is work together to help them find a solution. This way, they can learn to wait, save, and develop good financial habits.
Thank you to Michael from New York Life for presenting on a very helpful topic that actually segued into the importance of trusts! If you'd like to learn more from our speaker, Michael Santos, please get in touch with the office and we can connect you.
