Financial Responsibility

Teaching children the basic precepts of financial responsibility at a young age can serve them well in later life. Unfortunately most school programmes are geared towards academic skills and consequently life skills such as money management may be neglected. Consequently it usually falls on parents to teach these skills.

First and foremost kids tend to learn by observation and imitation. Its not enough to say do I as I do not as I say, ideally what parents do and what they say should be consistent otherwise children will not learn the correct behaviour, so if you are constantly preaching about the importance of living within your means but behave in a spendthrift fashion you are obviously sending a confusing message to your children.

Simple things like making children do chores for their pocket money rather than just handing them their allowance can inculcate a better appreciation of the value of money. Discussing basic financial matters with your children and the importance of saving regularly can help them develop beneficial habits that will last a lifetime. If there is an item that they particularly want you can develop a savings plan with them so that they set aside a portion of their allowance each week until they have reached their target. Giving in immediately to a crying child in the supermarket or toy store may bring respite in the short term but this type of instant gratification is not good for the childs long term development.

Most of the suggestions above are just common sense however implementing them consistently is not an easy job but if you can manage it you can look forward to a stress free retirement courtesy of your wealthy offspring!