There is nothing you would cherish greater than to sit down and have a chat with your kids regarding the best habits about money. Unfortunately, just any other lesson you provide, kids learn more from our act than what we say.
If your words say opposite to your behavior, then the kids will get confused and will follow what they can see us doing. So, how you should behave with your wealth will be the best and important lesson that you can teach your kids. Similarly, there are some financial habits you don’t want to see in your kids, ever! Some of them are given below:
1. You operate without a budget
If you spend by crossing your budget and buy anything you need without thinking about the whole cost, your kids will also pick up the same attitude. They’ll automatically tend to ignore buying under budget. In that way, your behavior towards budget will become their legacy. They’ll stop thinking about having a budget, and will get the negative outcome that comes from the lack of financial discipline.
2. Debt is your friend
This is one of the biggest financial problems we’re having in almost every house in our country. It’s not the debt, but the behavior of accepting debt as a friend. If you see debt as a part of your life, your kids will too.
But, actually, debt reduces your future financial income. You are basically paying off for previous expenses now, and today’s expenses tomorrow. If you continue to gather debts and continuously paying them off, there’s a very little scope for saving in your life. And your kids will have the same fate as well. This isn’t a healthy view of debt. You can and should talk to your kids about debt, but how you handle it yourself is much more important.
3. If they have it, we must also
If you are spending by seeing your friends, you’re deliberately teaching your kids to make their spending habits uncontrollably like other people. If others can indirectly control your money spending, then it means you don’t have any control over yourself and your finances. That’s a lesson your kids don’t need to learn.
4. Credit cards are essential for us
Do your kids watch you use credit cards in every possible way? If yes, then you must control using credit cards while making any financial transactions. It’ll be good to teach them spending cash instead of using too many cards. They’ll have the an opportunity to see the difference between credit purchase and purchase with available cash in hand. It’s a visual lesson, but a powerful one that works better for kids.
5. You deserve the best
Do you sometimes purchase things because you think you deserve it? It’s OK to treat yourself every now and again, but the more important criteron is “Can I REALLY afford it?” If your kids watch you regularly purchasing things because you feel you deserve them, they may also develop the same attitude. They can’t afford all the things they think they can, but primarily you need to teach them that lesson. Stop buying things that you can’t afford or you just don’t need right now. Your kids will see you and adopt that habit.
To be continued…