Power of Parents

For the past 12 years, I have been screaming into the wind that we need to increase the emphasis of personal finance within our educational system. I have been trampled by all of the arguments relating to availability of resources (financial and teacher), assessment testing pressures, unfunded mandates, local control desires, curriculum rigor, etc. etc.

Well, we just finished one of the most intense decades from a financial point of view – from enormous national debt levels to the highest unemployment rates in almost 30 years to an astonishing denial of our own sense of individual entitlement.

So who will teach the next generation the lessons learned from the last decade? I think the answer is the same as it has been for past generations – parents. Take a quick Google search around the Internet and you’ll find research after research that supports what our gut has told us all along – that parents are their children’s strongest role model and greatest influence. Our children will eventually adopt many of our values and types of behavior, just as we have been influenced by our parents. Children notice and respond to the way we deal with problems, express feelings and celebrate special occasions.

As a parent, it is impossible to not model. Our children will see our example—positive or negative—as a pattern for the way life is to be lived.

Keep in mind, though, that there is no such thing as an ideal family. Every family has problems, and everyone makes mistakes. Young people make mistakes, and parents make mistakes. What’s more important for learning is the way we handle the situations when we do make mistakes. Honestly admitting when we are wrong and making amends can be a powerful way to model the behavior you want our kids to adopt.

Independence is a natural development, especially among older children. Although our first instincts are to focus on protecting and helping our children, it's also important to encourage their efforts to be independent. A parent's role includes teaching children how to make decisions and how to draw on personal values when dealing with peer pressure.

Further, as every parent of a teen knows, at this stage of development, young people often have very strong ties to their friends. Our role as a parent tends to shift. We are no longer the first person our child always turns to for advice and help, and we move into a new role—that of listener and coach.

For some reason when it comes to talking to our kids about money, we get all jammed up. Who cares why it happens – let’s figure out a way to get past it so we can help our kids.

On February 6th, we are holding our 5th annual Financial Fitness Fair for parents and their high school children. The over-arching goal is to make it OK for families to have discussions about money and other financial topics. It will be these discussions that will help them to learn the lessons of the past decade.

Come and spend six hours with us as a family and learn how to get started. And tell your friends and other family members too. We need to do it for our kids. Details are here.