Many parents wonder when and how to begin teaching their children about money, but what they don\u2019t realize is that they\u2019re already teaching their kids every day with their own actions and words. Everything a parent says, does and feels about money is taught to your child on a subconscious level. I typically coach parents to be very careful with the words they use around their children. Whether we realize it or not, we\u2019re constantly teaching kids what to believe about money, themselves, and the world with our actions, words, and behaviors around money. In helping thousands of people with their money mindsets, here are the top 3 lies parents teach their kids about money\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parents love using this phrase, but telling your kids you can\u2019t afford it, is basically saying \u201cWe\u2019re poor and that\u2019s not going to change\u201d. I know that\u2019s not what you truly mean, but when a child doesn\u2019t understand something, they\u2019ll make sense of it by attaching their own belief around it – even if that belief isn\u2019t true. This can become a subconscious belief they hold on to for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s say little Chris wants some Jordan sneakers that cost $125 – this is clearly not in your budget, plus you don\u2019t see why you\u2019d pay $130 for sneakers your kid will outgrow in a couple of months. So you brush it off and say \u201cWe can\u2019t afford it\u201d. When little Chris goes to school and sees a bunch of other kids with Jordans, he may think \u201cThey CAN afford it but I can\u2019t. I\u2019m not like them. I\u2019m less than\u201d. But let\u2019s be honest here, if little Chris needed an asthma pump that costs the same price, you could<\/em> afford it. You\u2019d find a way to afford it! So perhaps the statement shouldn\u2019t be \u201cWe can\u2019t afford it\u201d, it could be \u201cJordans are not a priority at the moment\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, when I was growing up, I heard \u201cWe can\u2019t afford it\u201d so much that I began to believe I could never be \u201cone of them\u201d – one of the rich kids. Over time, it built a subconscious belief that low income was where \u201cI belonged\u201d. It took me decades to break that in order to be successful. Don\u2019t do that to your children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First off, don\u2019t ever say this to your kids. Just don\u2019t. Money doesn\u2019t bring problems. Money is a beautiful tool that can be used for wonderful things like vacations, schooling, food, housing, birthday gifts, new technology\u2026the list goes on. The problems around money are created by the humans dealing the money because they bring emotion to it. Money is an inanimate object and cannot be blamed for people\u2019s poor choices around it. Period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perfect example: If you and your spouse argue about money in front of the kids or talk trash on the other – \u201cYour mom\u2019s always spending money like she\u2019s married to Kanye\u201d or \u201cYour dad\u2019s so cheap with his money\u201d, you\u2019re teaching your children to push money away in the future. Your actions subconsciously teach them that money creates problems rather than peace. Because of this false belief, they\u2019ll be afraid of making money or handling it because they\u2019ve seen it create problems firsthand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one of the biggest lies about money I\u2019ve heard. I\u2019m sure you know many people that work 10 hour days laboring at a construction site or working overtime at a factory job and still don\u2019t have enough money. On the other hand, there\u2019s people that work 4 hour days and make 6 figures easily (I\u2019m one of them). Do they work \u201chard\u201d or \u201csmart\u201d? I\u2019d say \u2018smart\u2019. Teach your children how to think strategically, how to plan, how to find the right people and network. \u201cBut how do I teach them that money doesn\u2019t come easy?\u201d you ask. Telling them to work hard isn\u2019t the answer, showing them that they create their future is more important. You can begin by making them earn <\/em>what you give them. Allowance should be earned. They want new kicks when they have a closet full of shoes? Earn it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When my son was about 12, he wanted a new gaming computer. \u201cWhats wrong with the computer you have?” I asked. \u201cIt\u2019s not for gaming,” he said. \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a priority but I tell you what, if you come up with half the amount needed for that computer, I\u2019ll put in the other half\u201d I said. \u201cBut I\u2019m only 12, where am I going to get the money?\u201d he asked with an attitude. \u201cGet creative\u201d I replied, and gave him some ideas to ponder. Well, let me tell you – this kid wanted that computer so bad, that he bought water bottles, gatorades and brownie mix. Twice a week, he\u2019d make a batch of brownies and sell them to the parents watching their kids play soccer in a nearby park. The gatorades and water bottles were chilled and right after school, he\u2019d sell them to kids playing basketball in the summer heat. He had his half of the money in a matter of months and got his computer. He\u2019s now 19 and remembers that as a fond memory. Why? Because he earned something and that makes him proud of himself. HE made it happen. It didn\u2019t come from mommy; it came from him, and that\u2019s empowering. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many parents wonder when and how to begin teaching their children about money, but what they don\u2019t realize is that they\u2019re already teaching their kids every day with their own actions and words. Everything a parent says, does and feels about money is taught to your child on a subconscious level. I typically coach parents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneymindsetadvisors.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} #2 – Money Brings Problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#3 – \u201cWork Hard For Your Money\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n