Kids & Company Blog

How to Set Our Children Up for a Bright Financial Future

Hi, my name is Melanie and it’s nice to connect with you via Kids & Company. I am the founder of Money Mama TO and a Mortgage Agent at My Pineapple Financial (I know, it’s a pretty memorable brokerage name!)

My financial journey started at 16. I learned pretty quickly to feed myself and how to afford the roof over my head, and it also came with my share of trial and error. I was very lucky to have my grandma, who was very financially savvy, show me the way early and teach me the principles to becoming financially strong. This actually led me to my career path as a financial advisor, and I knew that when I had my own children, I wanted to teach them similar principals at a young age.

Here are my top tips in helping to set our children up for a bright financial future and positive relationship with money. 

1. Speak about money like it is your BFF

Have you ever noticed how you speak about money? Do you speak from a place of love, support and safety? Or do you speak about it negatively?

I remember my dad had such a negative attitude each time he would talk about money - how it was hard to earn it, how you could not trust your own family with money, how it was easily gone, etc etc etc! Each time he would get a bill, we would hear about it for days…so much so that I felt I had to start contributing! So as a result, I worked 3 jobs almost all my life. I felt like I would never have enough because like my dad said, money would just evaporate, and it was hard to earn.

Children pick up on our cues. By talking about money, bills, or your work with positivity, and avoiding negative displays or language, you are already setting the right tone for your children.

2. Encourage your children to start a business 

Setting our children up for a bright financial future includes teaching them all about how  money is earned. Show them that committed work is involved, as is having fun! 

Set up a lemonade stand and invite the neighbors, host a bake sale at their school, mow the lawn, cleaning windows. And then decide how to spend the money they earned!

3. Teach your children to align their spending & savings

You know what brings you more money? Aligning your spending and savings to what brings you JOY and lights your soul on fire. 

Think about it – when it comes to wearing your favourite outfit or travelling somewhere you always dreamt of…doesn’t it make you want to earn more and direct your money there so you can do more of those things? 

Ex: One of your children really loves skateboarding and wants to get a new skateboard. If she understands that she will need $80 to buy it, she might think twice about spending her lemonade-stand earnings on candies and computer games that don’t get her closer to her goal, or get her as excited, as saving for that skateboard does. 

4. Include giving back as part of your spending

Having a rich mindset also means filling your Karma Bank and sharing some of the money you make! We can teach children from a very young age that they can use their money to help others, and what that means for them and for the people they are helping. Have your child pick a cause they care about and use their birthday, and tools like echoage as an opportunity to give back. 

When you let money go to causes that matter to you, it makes you feel proud of yourself that you have the ability to help!

5. Teach your children to invest early

When I showed my 10-year-old son a year ago how to become a millionaire by only saving $100/month for the next 10 years, I got his attention pretty fast!! We started brainstorming ideas on how to bring this money in. We looked at what he was great at and what he loves doing and boom, he created a tie dye t-shirt business. He also knows that he gets about $600 a year in money gifts so he only needs to bring $50 a month in t-shirt sales. 

I hope these tips inspire you to take the steps in order to start teaching your children about financial literacy. I am here to show you and your kids how it is possible so if you have questions, reach out to us anytime via email at melanie@moneymamato.com or via text at 416-882-5483.

Posted on: Thursday July 21st, 2022

Posted by: Kids & Company