This week for our Teach Kids Money Series, we have Maya Corbic, CPA, CA from Dinarii Financial Education Academy. Maya stresses the fact that financial literacy begins at home and that parents already have the basic knowledge to teach their kids the basics of money.

Why is it important to teach basic financial literacy to kids?

We live in a consumer oriented society that has over the last few decades developed a distorted way of looking at what is financial success. We are influenced by unrealistic portrayals of celebrities and reality shows. For many of us, a wealthy person is someone who is spending an exorbitant amount of money instead of a someone who has an exorbitant amount of money in their bank account and does not live a flashy life style. We have to teach our kids what true financial freedom looks like. If we do not teach them, they will learn from their friends, TV or social media. 

Many parents do not feel confident talking about money, let alone teach money topics. What advice/tips do you have for parents to start the money conversation?

All parents need to keep in mind that they know more about money than their children. They don't need to teach the kids topics that require more expertise like investing or cryptocurrency, but every parent can teach their child the importance of saving and spending money smartly by looking for best deals, using coupons, etc. When it comes to topics that the parent does not understand, such as investing, they can learn along their children. 

Many parents are struggling to juggle work, kids, etc. while home. How can parents incorporate teaching financial basics seamlessly into their daily lives?

Yes, teaching kids financial literacy should be incorporated in the parents' daily activities. This allows for the lessons to be tied in to the real life situations and the parents do not have to worry about carving extra time to teach the kids. An example of this would be working with the child on the budget for their birthday party, then subsequently comparing the actual costs to the budgeted amounts and drawing lessons from it.

Do you recommend any tools (your own or other organizations) to help parents in this process?

Our organization, Dinarii Financial Education Academy, offers webinars that provide tools for parents on how to teach kids financial literacy. You can contact us at info@dinarii.com for more information. Additionally we have some free resources on our website www.dinarii.com and we have helpful educational videos for parents on our YouTube channel Teach Kids Money TV.