It is never too early to teach your children about saving money. Some of the biggest lessons your child may learn happen when they’re entering adulthood and getting ready to live independent lives. However, young adults face many challenges. With uncertain job prospects, rising housing costs and student loan burdens, financial independence may seem a long way off. Here are four secrets that parents can teach their children how to manage their money.
- Define what financial independence means. Achieving financial independence can mean different things to different people, even within families. So parents and children should get on the same page about what financial independence looks like. It could be living without debt or moving out of the family home or landing a job that becomes a career.
- Encourage saving from an early age. Even when money is tight, your adult child should plan to put some earnings aside for future needs. It’s important to establish an emergency savings account because surprise and unplanned expenses always come up. Contributing earnings toward retirement is also wise, even at a young age—it helps establish good savings habits and harness the potential of compounding returns over time.
- Practice what you preach. You’ll find it hard to maintain credibility if you don’t follow your own advice. If you want your child to be frugal or live within their means, they should see you do the same. Frugality isn’t all about cutting costs and going without. It’s more about getting the most value from the money you spend and not being wasteful and careless with money.
- Teach the basics. Budgeting is where most young adults have little experience and knowledge, but you can demonstrate how valuable these skills are for achieving financial independence. Creating a household budget helps your child understand how cash flow works, from the income they earn at work to the outflows of basic and discretionary expenses.
Information in this material is for general information only and not intended as investment, tax or legal advice. Please consult the appropriate professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation prior to making any financial decision.
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