April is financial literacy month. What does it mean to be financially literate? The PBS program, Your Life, Your Money defined the term as “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.”
One of the ways we can help increase financial literacy is give children an earlier financial education. “You don’t teach your young children to brush their teeth at age 18.” Susan Beacham, of Money Savvy Generation, told USA Today. And she’s right. Most of us learned how to brush our teeth before heading off to Kindergarden.
When did we first learn about money? Some of us didn’t learn about managing our expenses until we moved out on our own.
Others watched their parents argue about bills, and picked up a habit of avoiding budgeting. According to USA Today, “…parents, not teachers, have the greatest influence on a child’s financial literacy.” Basically, your kids are watching your every move. No pressure, right? Rest assured that no father, mother, grandparent, uncle or aunt is perfect. Still, as a trusted adult in the life of a child it is your job to be the best example you can be. Sometimes, this even means letting a child know when you have made mistakes and what you are doing to correct them.
We want our children and grandchildren to have a better life. Isn’t that the American dream, to improve, to become more than what you were born into? Yet, what does it mean to have “a better life”?
I believe that a better life means so much more than buying things for our children. The greatest gift we can give our children is knowledge.
Let’s teach our children about money.