The best financial gift for a young person is free

That was the conclusion of an investigation Posted by Quicken, the money management software manufacturer and online service provider. Based on a survey of more than 2,000 adults, the company found that “people who learned about money during their childhood are three times more likely to have an annual personal income of $ 75,000. or more than those who have not learned about money. money in your formative years. “

However, there is a problem. About a third of adults in the Quicken survey said that no one taught them money when they were children.

Good news: there is an excellent solution to this problem. If you are ready to teach your kids money, there will likely be a big reward for them, and perhaps also for you.

In fact, whether you realize it or not, you are already teaching through your own example, good or bad.

Your kids can tell if you’re spending money like a miser or throwing it away like $ 100 bills are growing on trees.

If you have trouble paying the bills, they know it. If you spend more or less than your friends’ family on things and vacations, they know it.

But it’s not enough to give your children a better financial future. You have to talk about money.

Don’t panic. It’s easier than you think.

Even a young child can learn that if you spend a dollar on one thing, you also can’t spend it on something else. This is called making decisions.

The best and easiest way to teach children about money is to go through everyday situations as they arise.

And believe me, in most homes, financial problems arise all the time:

· Can we afford this vacation or not?

· If we need something, do we buy it new or do we buy it?

· If something is broken, do we fix it or replace it?

· When we buy something, do we save money in advance or do we buy it on credit? And why do we make this decision?

If you solve these problems without consulting your spouse or partner, you may be looking for problems. If you do this without discussing these issues with your children, you are missing a golden opportunity to improve your future financial well-being.

Quicken’s article gives some tips:

· Keep in mind that you always teach by example;

· Start talking about money concepts early. By the age of 7, children have already formed habits and attitudes;

· Talk about money often: you will likely find a natural opportunity almost every week.

I have a few ideas to suggest.

Perhaps the grandfather of all financial skills is the ability to delay gratification. This concept comes up all the time in real life, and it is worth highlighting to your children.

Quicken asked the adults in his survey what financial lessons they wanted their parents to teach them. The most common response has been to invest.

It sounds like a fairly mature topic, but you can start laying the groundwork as soon as your son or daughter is old enough to have some money:

· Encourage your children to save by offering to match what they accumulate in a month (or for older children, perhaps during a school year) for a specific purpose.

· It allows you to show how the investment works: you commit your own money to something and, if all goes well, you end up with more than what you invest.

Here’s another easy way to start a conversation in progress: At one point during a family dinner when your children are present, ask your spouse or partner what they learned about their parents’ money.

The following discussion may be fair between the two of you, but I’m sure your children will be careful. It is a natural introduction to talking to your own children.

If you can, I suggest that you find ways to present topics such as the relationship between money and happiness, and perhaps your memories of the best and “worst” money you have spent (this happens to everyone in one way or another).

Talk about what it means to have financial freedom: lots of options instead of a few, lack of worry when invoices arrive, ability to make big and small decisions.

Before your kids graduate from high school (or college if they’re already there), give them a copy of a wonderful little book by Jonathan Clements: How to think money.

If your children are lucky, they will also receive personal financial education at school. There is a growing movement underway to include this subject in kindergarten to grade 12 classes across the country.

A nonprofit organization in California, New generation of personal finance, wants all high schools in the United States to require a semester course in personal finance to graduate. This ambitious target has a target for 2030.

The organization is putting its money where it is, so to speak, by providing grants of up to $ 30,000 to teachers who persuade their school districts to include a semester of required financial education in the program.

For parents who want to teach this on their own (and I hope that includes you), the NGPF website includes all of their materials, including some great online games that are great educational tools. In my opinion, all of this material is available for free.

For example, Shady Sam“It lets you play the role of a loan officer whose job it is to extract as much money as possible from unsuspecting borrowers. It’s fun and informative.

Most states take a dispersed approach to teaching personal finance, but a handful now require such a course to graduate from high school. Check your local school here – or your state here.

If you and your children have 36 minutes, they can get together around their devices and watch a movie called The most important class you’ve ever had.

For high school or college youth, you can chat one of the most popular items I have been writing for years. It drew a lot of attention. Maybe it will also catch your children’s attention.

Whichever way you do it, teaching your kids money can be a good investment for you.

· Invests part of his time and shows his willingness to build relationships with his children.

· The reward: as you and they age, they will be less likely to come to see mom or dad for a financial bailout.

It sounds like a win-win for me.

Richard Buck contributed to this article..