Blog — Sisters for Financial Independence

Sep 1

Sep 1 How To Prepare Your Kids to Have a Solid Money Foundation Post Pandemic

“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.”

Here’s a fun fact. Tiffany Aliche (aka @thebudgetnista) was instrumental in getting NJ's Financial Literacy Law passed which required financial education for elementary and middle school students. NJ already had a law for high school students and is one out of 17 states that required high school students to take a course in personal finance. The state shared a series of resources for teachers to adopt and incorporate into the classroom. The 2019-2020 was the first year personal finance classes were to be added to the elementary and middle school curriculum but the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted that plan. With the pandemic and the move to remote learning, financial literacy appears to have been moved to the back burner as school administrators and teachers scramble to figure out how to deliver basic curriculum to their students. This is not only a problem in New Jersey, but globally as well.

So what will happen in this new school year, will financial literacy be taught from elementary to high school? This will be up to individual districts, schools, teachers and parents. While there’s already a lot happening in the world it’s important that we think about what kind of financial foundation we build for our kids today. According to a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), childhood financial attitudes, habits, and norms develop between 6-12 years old. With many households experiencing economic hardships, it’s more important now more than ever to have money conversations and teach kids the basics of financial literacy. Times are different and it’s very easy for kids to be influenced by social media and their peers without truly understanding the consequences of their actions. Kids who grow up without a proper financial foundation may grow into adults who fear money leading to inaction or bad decisions, furthering a cycle of bad money habits.

So what can we do?

The good news is that parents can start money lessons at home. To help you, we’ve rounded up some resources from financial educators who specialize in teaching parents AND kids all about money. There’s no shame or blame in financial education. If you are learning new money concepts along with your child, then let it be the case.

Before we get to our experts, let’s spend some time reflecting on our own money mindsets. Money is a tool, but there’s a lot of emotions tied to it. Do you find yourself whispering about money or arguing about money? Is their worry when a bill comes in? Is there uncertainty about the future? Do you feel guilty spending money or saying “No” to your kids? It’s helpful to get all of this down on paper or with someone that you trust so that you can fully express the emotions that come up with money. Most of our money hang ups come from our own upbringing, from our own experiences as children before we even really understood the role of money in our lives. It’s important to work through these old money hangups so that you can leave these negative associations behind. Our parents did the best they could given their resources at a point in time.

There’s a Chinese proverb that sums up why we need to continue our own financial education and pass that along to our children.

“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.”

Each week, we will share a post from a parent money expert to help you with tough conversations. Posts will be listed below so check back each week this month.

I, myself have a 14 month old, and while she is too young to learn about money concepts, her mind is like a sponge right now. Montessori was spot on when she said children have absorbent minds so I am extra diligent about what she sees me doing because she can quickly copy what I do.

We are all going to be having tough conversations with our kids about our financial futures. Many of the jobs in today's world are never coming back. A job loss in a family and a change in lifestyle can be very traumatic for children, in addition to all other stress children are already experiencing with this pandemic.

It’s also very clear that this pandemic is showing us the true divide between the have and the have-nots. Race remains a big issue in America leading to economic disadvantages for many people of color. Wage stagnation is hurting many families and we need to not only champion a more equitable future, but to also create a generation of kids that grow up to be problem solvers and entrepreneurs.

We have to remember that what kids experience today will form the way they see the world tomorrow.

We hope these resources help so that we can all raise children with positive money mindsets that use their money for good.

If you’d like to contribute to this series, please send an email to info[at]sistersforfi[dot]com. We would love to include various perspectives as we all come from different families, backgrounds and cultures.

Our first guest is Laurel from Mothers Teaching Money where she recommends being open to teachable money moments. Let us know in the comments if you've recently had a teaching money moment with your kids.