A solid financial education has two fundamental aspects: knowing how to manage the available resources wisely and being able to multiply them. Are your children well prepared to manage their own money? Do they have an entrepreneurial spirit that encourages them to search for and take advantage of the business opportunities that arise around them? The truth is, if you don't teach them, nobody will! Discover three powerful ways to educate your children about the money that will provide them with a solid financial education for their future.
Both financial education and fostering entrepreneurial skills are topics not taught in college classrooms. Even the majority of higher education establishments do not include in their curriculum the adequate preparation in personal finances, nor the promotion of the entrepreneurial spirit of their students.
If you have any questions about it, just analyze your own situation.
Did your academic education prepare you to handle money wisely?
Do your children know how to manage their own money?
Do they have an entrepreneurial spirit that encourages them to search for and take advantage of the business opportunities that arise around them?
If you did not learn it at home, with your parents, it is very likely that both you and your children are missing many opportunities to improve your financial situation.
Most people live like this. They were raised to earn money, but they mismanage it once it's in their hands. They do not know that the same money that gives them purchasing power is also capable of multiplying, as long as they know how to manage it well and master the ability to invest wisely.
And it is not a matter of talents or strengths with which each one is born. Nor is it luck. It is simply a lack of education. You and your children are where they are financially, because they have lacked the information to do things differently!
The good news is that this ignorance, or financial illiteracy, can be reversed.
How?
In the case of a grown adult, you must start a long process of changing your mind, your habits and your attitudes towards money. It can be achieved, but it will require diligence and perseverance during the educational process. The most complicated thing is controlling the emotions you will feel when implementing changes in your financial situation.
A child, on the other hand, is a blank sheet. As in all areas of education, the saying is true: "It is easier to prepare a child than to repair an adult."
If you can prepare your children well in the field of personal finance and foster their entrepreneurial spirit, they will be well prepared for the future.
However, the big problem is:
How to teach them something if we, the parents, do not have mastery on the subject?
The answer is easy: just learn along with them! The best way for you and your children to learn is to use everyday experiences as "study material."
Here are three powerful ways to deliver a sound financial education to your children that you can implement in your home today.
1. Help them acquire a wise mind about money
Talk about money with your children. Find out what they think about money.
In many houses money is a taboo subject, since it is considered as something vile and bad, a subject that should never be discussed. However, at the same time, parents spend at least 8 hours a day trying to do it.
It is an inconsistency that you should clarify with your children if you have never discussed money with them.
In the Bible it clearly says that the LOVE for money is the root of all evils. (1. Timothy 6:10)
Money itself is neither good nor bad, but has the power to reflect what is lodged in the heart of the person who owns it. Therefore, start with a good education of values, to protect your children from greed.
Teach them to be generous and that money, in addition to being indispensable to meet their needs, is a tool that can be used to do good.
2. Help them to relate wisely to material goods
In a world like today, in which we are bombarded with messages that incite us to consume, it is very easy to fall into excessive spending. The famous consumer debts can be considered "the leprosy of modern society," as they eat away at resources and destroy the financial situation of families.
Teach your children to live below their income level, without falling into a scarcity mentality, which says: "Money never reaches me!"
It is as easy as explaining that, of every 9 coins that come out, one has to stay inside. Explain to your children that this coin will work for them and you will have many children if you invest wisely. Talk about the tremendous power of compound interest and how they can generate significant income if they start investing their money instead of spending it all.
3. Help them understand that the power to generate wealth is in their hands
They must understand that there are more options for obtaining money than asking parents or, later, looking for a job. While a good job is an excellent option, it is important for them to know that there are other alternatives.
The best way to do this is by encouraging them to find ways to earn money themselves.
All children are innate entrepreneurs. You will be amazed at the creativity of your children when conceiving a business, no matter how small!
In a very simple way, explain how to calculate the expenses and income of your business, so that they can learn basic accounting concepts.
By introducing these three important aspects of entrepreneurship and financial education, you will be providing them with a preparation that they will not receive in schools and that will empower them with the skills and tools necessary to succeed in the area of personal finance as adults.
