Amy Young:: Kids + Money

Okay, so I'm a little behind. Because two meetings ago, we heard from UPC MOPS founder Amy Young about how to teach our kids about money. Using tools from finance favorite Dave Ramsey, Amy walked us through plenty of ideas and strategies to show our kids that money doesn't grow on trees, yo.

Due to technical difficulties, we don't have the audio for Amy's talk. Please enjoy the summary below.

Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze, are known as a go-to team for most things financial. Their recent project is Smart Money, Smart Kids and shows families healthy ways to share about money. After all, "Your kids will spend like you, save like you, give like you, budget like you, and fight with your spouses about money...like you."--Dave Ramsey

For those of us pretty early in this parenting game, Amy began the conversation with a question: "What can we do to make sure our kids can learn about money?"

• play store
• practice counting
• ask "which is more?"when you're in the store or just out in the world.

She also shared some things that have worked/not worked for her family that were good to think about. It got the juices flowing for all of us: what are the things we do well? Amy told us that they have always put emphasis on charity/giving and discerning where they want to spend their money (i.e. if you're going to travel, you can't be a skiing family).

Then, where are the areas we may not be hitting our goals for our family? Amy shared about a lack of an organization system for the kids' money and having minimal consistency with allowance.

From there, we reflected on our own pasts with money. We all learned about it somehow, so what were some things we remember learning from our parents? From that experience, what would we teach our kids?

Then we dove into Ramsey material.
Work & Responsibility
This is important. Starting young, it's important to connect work and money--this allows kids to find purpose in their work. They learn responsibility and gets them ready for the real world. How can we show our kids that that work can be hard, but satisfying and give us a sense of purpose?

//Chart chores: What can your kids do for "commissions" or "allowance" and what can they do simply as part of the family? Once you decide what things earn money, make it visual (a crumpled $1 bill fills a jar faster than a flat one!). Or put a picture of what they're saving for on the fridge.

Spending & Wisdom
You can be a spender or a saver, there is no right or wrong. But spending is a skill. And once you figure out what kind of relationship your child has with money, you can better guide them in their decisions and habits. This is especially important in this day and age when advertising and social media bombard our kids all the time. They have constant access to what other people are up to and what other people say they should be up to. This creates a pressure to portray the best image online because the whole world is watching. And it takes money to portray and protect their image, if it means the most expensive "thing." It takes time to learn the balance between spending and saving. They need your help.

//Think about it: What are the ways advertising and social media impact your life? How could it impact your kids' level of contentment?

Giving & Generosity
"The antidote to selfishness is giving."- Dave Ramsey
We are living in "Generation Me," where there is less giving, empathy, etc. That's why it's important to make good habits. Little kids are naturally good givers, before they learn how this money thing works. Encourage that early tendency and give them a legacy to live into now. It's a gift to your kids to teach them to give. After all, God owns it all anyway. Sharing what we have shows our kids how to focus on the needs of others.

How can you begin to exercise a different muscle with our kids and get the conversation going?

//What to do: Verbalize when you give. Show them the World Vision catalog rather than just writing the check. Tell them why you're taking a meal to a MOPS mom. Don't let this giving go unnoticed.

Ultimately, it's never too young to start this conversation. Happy teaching!