Teach Your child about money
What are we teaching our children about money? Hopefully something!
I remember when I was growing up, our family did not discuss money. Money was a taboo subject, discussed by the parents and handled by my father.
This is one thing that I wish that was discussed more openly when I was younger. Just a little guidance such as “save 10% of your income” and I would have been fine!
How I wish I could turn back the clocks of time. How I wish I was encouraged to save even 1% of my income. When I look back at the year I started working until this year 2003, I’m not saying I would be a millionaire but I certainly would have been much better off!
Now a grown person I have acknowledged and accepted the past and moved on to a great future. My bank account is increasing each year, I am currently purchasing rental properties and I am feeling incredible being and doing what I love-a Business Coach!
Now I don’t necessarily encourage parents to show the kids your mortgage statements but I think it is vital that children know that (while the subject of money may be a tad embarrassing for some parents) it IS a necessary part of life. As you start teaching your child, start slow and encourage them to believe in themselves and their future.
Here are some tips to help your child attain prosperity even at a young age:
1. Buy a piggy bank for your younger children. Allow them to choose whatever color shape or size they desire. Invite them to put their pennies into their piggy bank. Help them understand that if they save a penny a day, they can buy their own toy, candy or whatever they desire, once a month. Every so often they may count their pennies and reward themselves if they desire for achieving $10 or whatever the number, they decide on.
2. When your children have proved themselves to handling their pennies, take them to the bank to open their own bank accounts. Introduce them to their own personal banker. Get them their own passbook so they can see each month, how much they’ve accumulated! Encourage them to save at least 10% of what they receive as gifts (I know I used to receive money as gifts when I was young!)
3. Your child should be encouraged to donate or contribute another 10% of their savings. Donate to the church, to the homeless, to the depressed, or to a charity of their choice. Again let them choose which organization that they want to help. Some of these even allow a pen pal relationship to be formed! This would help the youth become more rounded, become more respectful of others regardless of the situation and become more appreciative of their own lives and their own prosperity.
4. Many young children think that “money grows on trees“. I applaud this abundance in them (although they may not know that the Universe is in fact limitless) and think we should encourage and nurture this… to some extent!
5. Talk to the kids and let them know that this paper and metal stuff called money is brought about by YOU working. Whether or not you work, or you have inherited a large fortune, don’t encourage laziness in your child. They need to be able to work for free sometimes to learn the value of work.
6. Money101 is not taught in schools. Where your child’s future is heading depends on what YOU want your child to know. Encourage them to ask questions about money. Prepare your child for their future.
7. When your child is old enough encourage your child to purchase a journal or a diary where they can record their dreams and desires. This allows them to dream big and look forward to their lives ahead-filled with prosperity. Have them cut out or draw and color pictures of what they want to purchase with their own money. Trust me! They will absolutely love this!
8. If they can manage and understand the budgeting process I’m all for it. When grandma or grandpa gives them money for their birthday, after they have put aside 10% each for savings and for donation to their favorite organization, allow them to budget for the remainder. Ensure that they budget for FUN too!
9. I’m sure there are loads of chores around the house, washing the dishes, cleaning the rooms, mowing the lawn, etc. Give your children an allowance but let them work for it. Participation in household chores helps them grow and allows the children to contribute to the home while getting paid for it!
10. Let the kids participate in the family’s money decisions. They may not understand everything but their minds will open up to the energy that money has and will prepare them for their lives ahead. If the phone bill is too high, have them decide if they really want to talk to their girlfriends during peak time, for example.
The kids are our future. I know it may sound a little cliché but the fact is…they are. There are far too many children that grow up without the absolutely vital knowledge of money.
If you truly interested in your child’s future prepare them and trust that the process will work and they will be A-okay! I guarantee it!
Why Money Is Good
There is a lack of the circulation of money right now and it’s important for money to move. Money is like water. If it doesn’t flow, then it becomes stagnant and no use to anyone.
I got this article from Brian Tracy in my inbox just this morning and decided to share it with you. Sign up for Brian’s newsletters. They are great and straight to the point. Enjoy!
Why Money Is Good
By: Brian Tracy
The way you think about money will determine how much of it you accumulate more than any other factor. Your attitude toward money affects your emotions and your motivations.
Do You Feel That You Have Enough?
In psychology, money is what is called a “deficiency need.” This means that it only motivates you when you feel deficient in it, when you don’t feel that you have enough. Above a certain level, when you feel that you have enough, it is no longer a motivator. Put another way, when you have enough money, you don’t think about it very much. But when you have too little, you think about it all the time.
Determine Your Attitude Toward Money
The effect money has on your emotional life depends on your attitude toward it. If you feel that you have too little, money can become an obsession for you. It can dominate your thinking, feelings and actions. Arguments over money are a major reason for marital breakdown. Problems with money are the primary reason for business failure, the ruination of friendships and psychosomatic illnesses of all kinds. It’s not uncommon for people to even kill themselves over money problems.
Practice the Reality Principle
The Reality Principle applies especially to matters of money. This principle states that, “You must deal with life as it is, not as you wish it were, or could be.” Most people live in a world of partial self-delusion, with regard to money. They wish, hope, and pray about their financial futures while at the same time, deep in their hearts, they know their dre ams will never mat erialize. In Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Won derland, one of the characters says quite happily that he is quite capable of believing several impossible things before breakfast each day. In the same way, many people believe quite impossible things about money and then they wonder why they are having so many financial problems.
Overcome Deep Sea ted Beliefs
One of the most common obstacles to achieving financial ind ependence is a deep-sea ted belief that somehow money is wrong and that people who have a lot of it are inherently evil. This belief is not based on any factual foundation. It goes back to early childhood conditioning when the growing child is often told this because of other people’s desire to rationalize away their own financial failures.
Money Is Good
The fact is that money is good. It takes money to buy homes, cars, clothes, food and most of the good things in life. Money has an energy of its own and it is largely attracted to people who treat it well. Money tends to flow toward those people who can use it in the most productive ways to produce valuable goods and services, and who can invest it to create emp loyment and opportunities that benefit others. At the same time, money flows away from those who use it poorly, or who spend it in non-productive ways.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to improve your attitude toward money:
First, be perfectly honest to yourself with regard to money and to the amount you want to acquire in life. Pretending that you don’t care about money when you really do will only make you unhappy.
Second, begin today to think about all the wonderful things that you could have in your life if you had more money. Then, begin to think of all the things that you could do to increase the amount you ear n and the amount you keep.
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Brian Tracy has been empowering business professionals by sharing his knowledge all over the world. His techniques will allow you to reach your goals and achieve the unthinkable.
www.BrianTracy.com
Fearful About Money?
Would you agree that many of us have a real and absolute fear about money?
Yes? No? Not sure?
Let me explain what I mean.
How many times have the bills arrived and they are either not opened or are opened days, weeks and maybe months later?
How many times have you been shopping, only to be found a few hours later at the cashier searching for money to pay for that item you just picked up? Realizing you have no cash on you, you decide to purchase it on your credit card. Unfortunately it has just been rejected by the machine and you turn away incredibly embarrassed at the entire situation.
Have you been brought up to believe that money is evil or that people who have lots of money are selfish, greedy and evil?
My friends, all these instances that occur in out lives form our relationship with money.
These relationships with money whether negative or positive, have a profound effect on our ability or inability to attract prosperity into our lives!
If we feel that there is never enough money to buy what we want, I can almost guarantee that this feeling of scarcity (or lack of NOT ENOUGH!) will invade and affect our lives in every conceivable way.
In her book “The Courage to be Rich” Suze Orman states that there are “…countless examples of clients whose deep-seated emotions kept them from achieving great wealth-be it in the form of emotional or financial security. Fear, loss shame about the past.”
What does this mean for you?
You have to create new money memories for yourself! Doesn’t that sound exciting?
Yes, but how do you do this, I hear you wondering?
Make them up, of course!
I’ve been saying this for years and it works…
Your mind does not know if your thoughts are real or imagined; your mind does not know if your thoughts are from the future, the present or the past.
We need to create a new wonderful relationship with money!
Decide right here and now if you had more than enough money… what would that bring to you, to your business .
Write down in a diary or a journal everything that you could with this money. What would you do with it? Buy Your dream home, a car, donate some to charity, give away some of it to your family? Write it all down.
Be clear and exact. Be creative and have fun with this exercise.
Having done this think about you feel! (My heart’s beating faster just writing this!)
Write these feelings down as well.
For example, “When I think about purchasing my dream home I feel excited, my heart beat increases, I feel ecstatic and thrilled about having enough money to pay these bills and I have lots left over to put aside for a rainy day”.
Do this every week or every day if you need to. Enjoy this process and trust that it IS working for you. Eventually you will notice that your fear of money diminishes and prosperity will flow in abundance into your business !
Remember what you think about you bring about!
Create a Fab Life !
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@Oprah Winfrey - About.com Readers' Most Admired Entrepreneur
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