Personal finance education is generational. We learn how to handle money from our caregivers, and they learned from their caregivers. What happens when we don’t know what to do to stay financially stable and our children see our struggle? Usually, they are doomed to repeat the cycle. It’s so important to teach our own kids how we handle bills, income and any household finance, but it’s also essential that we show them how to handle their own money, even at a young age. This is why I was so excited to read Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money.
Smart Money Smart Kids was written by Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze. Yes, THAT Dave Ramsey. We are big fans of his in our household, since we were able to get rid of our debt in less than 2 years through his programs. When I was contacted about reading this book and sharing it with you all, I jumped at the chance. If anyone knows how to steer children in the right financial direction, it would be Dave. Better yet, the real expert here is Rachel, who shares some great insight in the book from the opinion of the daughter of one of the best debt reducers out there. She shares how these new thoughts, ideals and routines work for her as a child and how we can get our own kids to follow suit and appreciate their own financial gain.
I’ve written about how we handle chores, allowance and character building with our children in a previous post. This book completely changed my thinking, and our household routine. Rachel and Dave’s suggestions on how and when to compensate your child, whether they are 3 or 13, were so genuinely simple. We just had to try it out with our own children. The swift from “allowance” to “commission” was the biggest change for everyone to swallow, but it made so much sense. Wondering what I’m talking about? Well, you’ll just have to get the book! Better yet, check out this video review I did of the book:
Within a few weeks of it’s release, Smart Money Smart Kids reached the NY Times Bestsellers list. That has to tell you something about the quality of the information in this book. As for us, I’m in the middle of reading it a second time, just to make sure I didn’t miss any other nuggets of wisdom, and I plan on purchasing this book for other young parents in our circles.
How do you instill financial responsibility in your children? Do you have plans to purchase Smart Money Smart Kids in the near future?
Disclosure: While this post is sponsored, all opinions written are my own.
Awesome. Pinned and ready to go. The cycle needs to be broken for sure.
Great article and a great book! I just finished it also.
I love Dave Ramsey! I am really going to look into getting this book. I want to start my children off on a great foundation financially.
I will check this out. I love Dave Ramsey’s products. I am working to get out of debt now and his site and books are such a great help!