National Bank of MomBeing a parent can be tough. You want so much better for your kids than you had and want them to be so much more informed than you were.
But how can you be a good role model (especially when it comes to money), when you’ve made mistakes and aren’t 100% perfect on the topic?
Don’t worry — you still can be. Here are four quick ways you can be a good money role model RIGHT NOW.
Letters from Mom is an ongoing series where I share words of wisdom with my son. Read more letters from mom.
Dear J,
When I graduated from college, I was really fortunate to get a job immediately at a great company with an excellent starting salary.
I got paid monthly and took home $2,673.61 in my first full month of work. Curious to see the actual pay stub?
At the time, I knew enough to put some money aside into a savings account. I set up direct deposit to deposit $100 to my savings account per pay period and the rest to my checking account.
With each raise, the rest got bigger and bigger. The amount I was saving did not.
Guess what happened?
Does your family take a vacation every year (or every few years)? It doesn’t have to be a big trip or far away, but something special and out of the ordinary.
Last year I participated in a round table discussion on the Stacking Benjamins podcast about family vacations. (Listen here!) I had more to say on the topic and it’s a great time to start planning your next vacation, so let’s talk about how you can get your kids involved and work in some money lessons, too.
10 years old is a great age to teach kids how to earn extra money — they’re still young enough to listen to you, but old enough to do some actual work. Here’s the story of J’s first side hustle — selling Christmas cookies to family and friends.
Do you know how much your parents made (or make)? Or how they really spend their money? I don’t.
What about your friends? Even the close ones?
I can think of just one person whose salary I know (my signifiant other), and even then, I don’t know the details of how much he’s saving or spending in various categories or what his big picture looks like.
We tell our kids not to worry about what other people are doing, so why should we be concerned with what other people make, have or spend?
For MANY of reasons, but here are two.
