Being financially well off is a truly great thing. Whether you’ve earned a fortune from real estate investments or if you’ve become rich through other business endeavors, it’s nice to know that you can provide for your family. However, it can make certain aspects of life tougher than usual. For example, raising kids can wind up being difficult in ways that you might not have imagined. How can raise kids that aren’t jaded by wealth when you’re rich?
Many have struggled with this situation, and it’s not always going to be easy to figure out the best path forward. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to teach your kids about the value of money. You can ensure that your kids understand wealth while also imparting family values. Keep reading to dig into the details.
Give Your Kids An Allowance
Giving your kids an allowance will be a good way to teach them about money. If you just give them whatever they ask for, then they’re never truly going to understand the value of money. You should try to give your kids an allowance that seems sensible based on their age. It isn’t necessary to give kids access to thousands of dollars that they can splurge each month just because you can afford to do so.
When children have reasonable allowances, it teaches them that they need to make wise choices with money. For example, your child might want a specific toy or video game. Their weekly allowance might not be enough to buy the item that they want. If they have to save up to get a big item that they want, then they’ll have to learn about the value of saving. It even teaches them about sacrifice to a mild degree.
This is going to be one of the most basic ways that you can start teaching kids about money. It’s practical, and it’s going to make sense to do this whether you’re wealthy or not. You can still buy your kids presents, but it’d be wise to save things like that for special occasions. Otherwise, you should try to let your kids save up for things on their own.
There is likely going to be some value to making your kids work for their allowance, too. For instance, you might have certain chores around the house that they will need to finish if they wish to receive their full allowance for the week. This teaches them about work and what you have to do to get money. Yes, this is a very simple idea, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a perfect fit for this situation.
Teach Your Kids About Wants and Needs
Teaching your kids about wants and needs might be tough at first when they’re younger. Sometimes young kids can’t understand that the toy that they want isn’t a need. As your kids start to grow up just a bit, it’ll be easier to help them to make important distinctions between wants and needs. People need food to be able to keep on living and they also need shelter.
Being able to get the latest video game or fancy new clothes won’t always be that important. You might want those things, but it’s important to ensure that your needs are taken care of first. Kids that have a basic understanding of these principles will have a much easier time succeeding in life. Just make sure that your children understand that wants need to wait until it’s safe to buy extraneous things.
Teach Your Kids About Investing and Managing Money
It’s also going to be wise to try to teach your kids about investing. If your kids can learn the basics of investing, then they’ll have a better idea of how to use their money properly when they reach adulthood. You could do this by allowing your kids to invest small amounts of money to see if they can grow more wealth. Some parents let kids pick out stocks sometimes when they’ve earned it through doing some type of work.
You could also teach them about simpler things such as compound interest and savings accounts. This knowledge will be more valuable than you might realize. It’s also good to ensure that kids understand how to manage money. Learning basics about business math and how to balance a checkbook will be useful life skills no matter what they choose to do as adults.
Teach Your Kids About Your Values Outside of Money
It’s not going to be a good thing to let your kids think that money is the only thing that matters in the world. Financially success is certainly an important thing in life, but you likely have many other values. Let your kids know about your values and the things that you place importance on outside of wealth. This can help them to paint a better picture of what truly matters in life.
Teach your kids about love, respecting others, and other things that you find to be important. Some families might place importance on religious beliefs. Others might find the pursuit of knowledge to be important. Just spend time explaining things to your kids in ways that they will understand.
Finding the Right Parenting Style Matters
Finding the right parenting style matters when you’re trying to get your kids to learn about the value of money. When you want your kids to be responsible with money later in life, it’s going to be imperative to start teaching them at a young age. If you use more of a permissive parenting style (see more), then they might not wind up taking things seriously. You must do your best to teach what you know to your kids so that they can continue to use family wealth properly.
Teach them that family wealth should be respect and treasured. If you nurture it and attempt to grow it, then you’ll be able to continue to help future generations live happy lives. It might be necessary to take on a more serious parenting style instead of spoiling your kids. They will appreciate what you’re doing for them later on in life when they realize that you’ve done a good job to prepare them for the realities of the world.
