As a young parent myself, I do understand that speaking to a 5 year old child about money might seem like a wasted effort. He might not have fully understood whatever I was trying to instil. Afterall, what I interpret of my parent's teachings may be very different from what they intending to communicate.
Here are six key lessons which I believe are impactful that all parents should strongly consider communicating to their little ones...
1. The more people you help the more money you make
I’ve said this to him like a million times.
Mummy helps people get well fast. That is why she earns money.
But she can only help one person at a time.
If you build something that helps everyone in some way or other, you will be paid even more money.
If you agree, find a way to relate your own story of helping and earning.
2. Never relate money to emotions, emotional spending
Teach your children that money only solves money problems such as bills and mortgages. They DO NOT solve emotional problems.
It is too narrow minded to think that money can buy happiness, and therefore indulge in emotional spending.
Show them what is the difference between a NEED and a WANT.
It can be at a departmental store or even a supermarket.
3. Make money with your mind and not physical effort
Working smart brings you further than just purely working hard.
Not dismissing the fact that working hard is important and certainly necessary, one should focus more on working smart which is to develop ideas that speak louder than effort.
The difference between a high and low paying job lies in how one can provide more value addedness to his/her organisation.
In a big company, the accountant is paid more than the janitor.
4. Nobody can take away what you know how to do
There will be ups and downs in life.
Steve Jobs got fired from APPLE many years ago and all but lost everything there. As the legend goes, he bounced back. Teach them the only thing that cannot be stolen away is their skills and knowledge.
Even if they might be penyless, such ability can generate wealth themselves.
They need to be independent as in the real world, they can not rely on anyone to feed them all the time.
5. Money reveals who you really are
Money does not give one the right to do whatever they want.
Even if your child were to be rich one day, teach them to remain humble and respectful of every individual.
Not judge someone by their wealth.
Someone who is self centred will be worse with more money while someone generous will help even more people when they become rich.
6. Some people LOOK rich and some people ARE rich
Teach your child to determine what is the true rich. Instead of chasing the trend of off-white sneakers, what shapes a decent person bows down to the richness of their experiences.
Money richness does not mean that you are wise as an individual.
PS you might be interested in earning some passive income to better sustain your living expenses especially when you have a new addition to your family!
To conclude....
Practice what you preach. They pick up what they see you do quickly. Not setting them the good example makes it hard to infuse the values you want to teach them.
Hence, do what you want to see them do in future. Last but not least, patience leads a long way. Happy parenting!
Last updated on October 20th, 2020 at 09:27 am