UCG Portland Mini Study
How well do your children understand and manage money? Do they understand basic concepts such as saving, budgeting, borrowing and debt? Use these helpful tips to teach them!
Watch Your Own Example
It was mentioned at the outset, but it’s worth repeating. Your children learn a lot about money just by observing you. They watch what you do at the supermarket, department store, bank, mall, etc., and then to mimic your financial attitudes, values and behavior. Depending on what you’re doing, they could be learning some very good lessons or some that are not so good.
Luke 6:40 declares, “Everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (NASB). If you shop to entertain yourself or make a lot of impulse purchases, your children are probably going to see that as normal behavior and do the same. On the other hand, if you always go to the grocery store with a shopping list or only make major purchases after you’ve saved up for them, your kids are likely to adopt those practices.
You need to model good monetary habits. “If you set the wrong example, any talks you’ve had with your children about money management will fall on deaf ears,” says Shirley Anderson-Porisch, a financial adviser with the University of Minnesota Extension. Your children aren’t going to be careful with their money if you’re careless with yours—even if you tell them to do otherwise.
That’s not to say that talking with your children about personal finances isn’t important. As has been stated throughout this series, it most certainly is. Your children need instruction and guidance from you about how to budget, save and shop wisely. But it’s your example—your showing them that you’re carefully managing your own money—that helps them to see that these steps are more than just an academic exercise and that they really do matter.
Clearly, you may need to change some of your own spending habits so that you are modeling the right behavior. But with today’s economy as uncertain as it is, that’s something you should be doing anyway. Now is the time to cut out unnecessary purchases, pay off credit card debt and build up your savings—for the sake of your family’s financial well-being.
The fact that your children are watching your example makes these steps even more vital. They are learning lifelong money habits from you—both in terms of what you say and do. They’re looking to you to show them how they should manage their own household finances someday. It’s up to us, as parents, to make sure our children are developing good money habits.
Read more about Finances in our publication:
The Good News Magazine
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