Bobbi Rebell, founder of Financial Wellness Strategies, joins TheStreet to share some tips on how to talk to your children about money.
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00:00How do we talk to our kids better about money?
00:06The first thing you need to do when you want to talk to your kids more about money is listen to them
00:12Right look for opening to start a conversation based on what's happening in their life
00:18That's relevant to them. So listen to them and ask them. What's your goal?
00:23So one of the things that my book focused on launching financial grown-ups was a goal that my oldest had
00:29She wanted to buy an apartment for her. It was the right decision for her to own property at a young age
00:35That was her goal many people that's not their goal. That's fine
00:38It might be something else and so we did a lot of talks about how to get there and we figured out not only
00:43How to figure out okay if she had a two-year timeline
00:46This is how much she had to save over that two-year period each week and she had an Excel spreadsheet
00:51She changed her major in college to a higher earning major so that she could do that
00:55She made specific decisions about how much she was going to spend going out with friends and it made me really sad that she did
01:01Miss some things but it was important and this is an interesting twist with her. She also
01:07Made sure that she was building up her credit score so that when she did go to get a mortgage
01:12She was able to qualify and that's something that we don't always talk to kids about we tell them not into credit not to get
01:17Into credit card debt
01:18But we don't often talk to them not only about
01:20The things you can get when you pay your bill every month on time like the points and cash and free stuff and privileges and
01:27All that but we don't talk to them about the importance of having a good credit score so that you can get better
01:32Terms on so many things in life, whether it's their first car their first apartment
01:37Just being able to get the better credit cards. That's what's really important
01:40the other thing I would say is bring things up as they happen in real life even if you get the eye roll and
01:46An example of that is with my youngest
01:48I remember he like hit his toe or something and we had to go to the doctor and it was December and I said to
01:55Him well while we're waiting for the doctor
01:57I said well at least financially this is good news because and I got such an eye roll
02:01But I said we've used up our deductible. So this won't cost us very much. He was like mom
02:07I know I know I know and I started he was like 11 and this poor kid
02:10I started explaining to him and he was like I understand and he then told me how the health insurance worked
02:16Which was amazing and the lesson from that is your kids pick up a lot along the way and don't undermine don't
02:22Underestimate I should say how much your kids actually know and how much they're picking up from overhearing you
02:28Good and bad conversations in the family and just from life
02:32They're smarter than we think and what advice do you have for parents who want to?
02:37begin to have the conversation with their
02:41sons and daughters about
02:43Setting themselves up for retirement
02:46I
02:47Share information. I mean, I think it's really important depending on the
02:51Maturity level of your kid and your relationship with them talk to them about your own life
02:55You know when I did the press tour for launching financial grown-ups
02:58So many parents came up to me and said I can't talk to my kids about money because I've been so bad with my money
03:04First of all, that's often not the case when you actually ask them what's been going on with their money
03:09They've probably done just fine. But if you tell your kids
03:13This is what I wished I did at my age and be a little bit vulnerable
03:17Not only is that going to teach them about money?
03:20But it's also going to create a very special bond and it's gonna open the door to having very candid conversations
03:26The only thing worse than your kid getting into for example credit card debt or having more student debt
03:31And you know is them hiding it from you, right?
03:34You want to have those open channels of communication and going back to what I said originally listening to them
03:40But you have to create a relationship where they feel comfortable
03:44Sharing their worries and their financial concerns with you because then you can work through them together
03:49And if you don't have the answers, that's fine be there to help them find the solutions together