There are 3 keys to raising children that become financially responsible and independent children.

  1. Model – it for them
  2. Teach – it to them
  3. Save – for them

Model

Our children watch us and learn from us. If we are not being financially responsible, how will they learn to be? The problem is that most of us didn’t learn a whole lot about money management from our parents, or in our schools, and so many of us, as parents are also trying to figure this out – meaning we need to learn it before we can model and teach it.

A good starting point is GPS. Using GPS will help put you in the right direction.

  1. Give – to help others.
  2. Protect – the income you make with insurance.
  3. Save – for your future.

After we’ve got GPS in our financial plans, we can use our money to live today, and meet today’s needs.

Give

We’re asked to give. It breaks the power of money over us when we challenge ourselves to give. Brings joy and it’s contagious. When done together as a family it can build camaraderie. It brings the family together, working together to do something greater than themselves.

Protect

Our health is our greatest asset. It allows us to work, to bring in an income and serve our families. Personal Insurances such as Life, Critical Illness, and Disability are designed to replace our income when we aren’t able to bring in one, or to cover the costs for what the stay at home parent can no longer do. When bad things happen, we never know how we’ll respond emotionally and physically, but we add a whole different level of stress when we also must worry about our finances. It’s much harder to recover either from illness, or the pain of loss if you are financially stressed as well. Be adequately insured.

Save

Intentionally put money aside for your future. It’s good stewardship to sacrifice a bit today and think about the future. When you do not have money saved for your future, you become dependent on Government and Family. One thing I see regularly is parent’s wanting to provide for their children, and so they begin saving for their kids before they are adequately saving for themselves. Prepare for your future first, before your kids.

After GPS, you can use your money to live now.

It’s important to enjoy today too. We need to live, eat, have fun. If we use all our money on today, however, we’ll have little available if something bad happens, or in our older years when we aren’t working as much.

Fresh Ground Financial can help you get started today!