Work Ethic in kids
Although my child is not yet born, I’m already wondering how my choices as an individual and parent will affect his personal development. One question in particular is to what degree I will influence his work ethic and fiscal responsibility. While I am not a monetarily wealth person, I am rich in many other, more valuable areas such as family, friends, sense of self and spirituality; all things I wish to nurture in my child. That being said, financial responsibility and a strong work ethic are also traits that I would like to instill in him.
The idea of teaching financial responsibility to a child will be difficult for me in light of rampant consumerism aimed at kids these days. I also imagine that my desire to give my child anything I possibly can will further complicate the issue. While I would like to offer the world to my kid, it flies in the face of teaching the values of hard work, persistence and monetary accountability. I don’t have all the answers on how to instill this in a child, far from it.
Ironically, in the process of moving things around to prepare the baby’s room, I came across a book that had great insight on this very question. The Millionaire Next Door
As I leafed through a few pages it became clear that I’d really have to pay attention to my personal habits if I want to be able to teach my child. I’m beginning to realize that the process of raising a child is going to require intense introspection. I highly suggest the book and have it earmarked for another read.
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It’s funny how there are so many tips on parenting that offer up ways to teach your kid work ethics and financial responsibility. I tried to follow some of the ideas I’d read, but have to say, using the same exact methods of teaching on my twins has produced two very different people with two very different styles of work and money management.
I think it’s good to teach kids as best you can, but in the end, they’re going to be the people they were born to be.
MND is one of the best books I’ve read (maybe *the* best one) on the topic of money. Of course, as in all things, I think teaching your kids about money boils down to one thing: set a good example.
We’ve been trying to teach our sons (twins age 8/6/4 yr olds) the importance of saving money for the past year. More emphasis on the twins. But it’s the 6 yr old who grasps the concept of saving up longer to spend on a bigger toy/science project, while one 8 yr old buys a toy every time he has $10 and the other wants to buy candy every time he has $1.
We also stress that things have value. The piano they bang their toys on cost a lot of money. The door they drew all over in crayon will cost me time and money to repaint.
We’ve setup passbook account style where mommy controls all the money and keeps track of who has what. If a son wants to withdraw, he makes a request to mommy.
Whenever they receive money, 100% of large money gifts go towards education savings. When receiving smaller amounts, we insist half goes into real bank for education savings. The other half becomes the kid’s discretionary spending — “sock money” if you will.
The result so far… they don’t seem to care. But hopefully through repetition, something will stick.