The landscape of business and work is changing.
All of this change might have you thinking about how we preparing our kids for the future economy.
From money and thinking about how to manage it, to how dipping a toe into understanding budgets and profit margins, there is something kids of all ages can do to start preparing to deal with money in a way they don’t teach in schools.
Don’t have kids and think this episode isn’t for you?
Check it out! You may learn something for your niece, nephew, friends, kids, or have a tip for us to share in the comments!
You don't have to Google far to know that entrepreneurship is on the rise. It's growing rapidly and more and more people are growing up wanting to be entrepreneurs. In fact, 91% of millennials expect to stay in a job no more than 3 years and 54% of millennials want to start a business or already have one. As the landscape of work changes and evolves, I want to make sure our kids are prepared to grow their businesses, are comfortable managing money, and that they think like leaders.
In case you're thinking about this with your kids to, I wanted to share the three things I do with my three girls who are at very different age levels, in case it sparks an idea for you or you have something to share with everyone in the comments. If you don't have kids yet and don't plan on it, you might even get some ideas for your own money mindset. I think about these things for myself too.
What To Do with a Teenager
My kids are currently ages almost 2, 4, and 16. Clearly, our 16-year-old has some money stories already and can also do more advanced work with money. She actually has a job of her own. She has her own bank account, and she's developed her own savings strategies. When she was about 13 we also showed Lilly how to build a budget in a spreadsheet. She uses her spreadsheet skills to this day to document how much time she's babysat so she knows how much we owe her. She has no problem asking for what she has earned. She also has no problem gifting her friend’s money or saving because she has a budget for that. She stresses less about where the money is because she has total awareness.
We also discuss our family budget with her so she knows where we are and why we make the decisions we make as a family.
What To Do With A Young Child
My 4-year-old is a bit trickier. Audrey is a consumer. Every time we go through a store she wants it all, dress up clothes, bedazzlers, sewing machines. This year we're giving each of the girls a budget to give to the charity of their choice. As much as she wants to receive, we also want to start the practice of giving as well.
What To Do With A Toddler
Lastly, sweet Harper. What can you do with an almost 2-year-old around money? With our littlest ones we're conscientious of the money stories, we are creating with them. I was at an event where I heard the story of a woman who had a very unique money story growing up. Her grandparents would give her real money to play with. That completely changed her relationship with money growing up, not play money, but real. She had less attachment to it and more familiarity with it. We've adopted that practice with Harper like we did with Audrey. She literally plays with money.
These days it's typically my credit cards because I don't carry a lot of cash. She just runs away with them. It can pose some problems when I get through the Starbucks drive through. We also give her cold hard cash sometimes.
You can see different examples of how we can start to engage with our children around money in different ways as they're growing up and start to craft a different money story for them.
Your Turn
How are you helping create a different story with your kids or the children around you about money?
It’s exciting to think about how we can start to shift the way our kids think about money to give them a leg up over where we started.
You in?
Let us know in the comments!!
