Kids And Money
Most people who do not have an endless supply of money find that they make purchase decisions centered upon three criteria. They make a wish list and base spending on the following: Is it a necessity for basic survival, a convenience, or a luxury?
However, many children do not need to make these kinds of decisions. They just convince their parents that all their desires are a necessity for basic survival. In other words, if their friends have the latest electronic device, owning it becomes a necessity. However, providing kids everything they ask for is a guaranteed recipe for developing a sense of entitlement.
Talking with a group of parents the other night, I found only one who had the backbone to say no to her kids when betrayed with begging for money. I heard some lame excuses for not having the courage to say no, including, “Everything now is so much more expensive than when we grow up.
Our job is to prepare kids to live in today’s world, not yesterday’s. That means telling kids to put their “wants” on their personal wish list. This provides time to decide if the “want” is a necessity, a convenience, or a luxury. If the “want” is a convenience or a luxury, it is worth earning.
Here is a useful activity to do with your kids.
1. Brainstorm all that it takes to keep your child’s life going. Let the list flow freely as your child adds their ideas. You’ll probably find that most of your child’s suggestions will relate to fun, friends, and freedom. That’s okay. All part of the plan. The idea is simply to come up with a list of what you and your child think is needed and wanted to keep their life running smoothly.
2. Identify which are needs and which are wants. A need is a necessity or essential requirement to live. A want is a desire, wish or longing. Wants can be divided up as a convenience – something that makes life easier, faster, better, more efficient, or more fun. Or a want can be a luxury – something wanted because it’s nice, enjoyable, or beautiful, or because it brings comfort, satisfaction, or status.
3. Distinguishing the needs from the wants in chart form, separated by a double line.
It seems only logical that if you’re taking care of all or most of your child’s needs, they should start buying some of the things they want. Parents are in a great position to teach their children how to spend, earn, save, and invest wisely as soon as purchases start crossing the double line into the wishes category.
How? By giving kids lots of opportunities to buy the things they want rather than waiting in anticipation for us to provide it.
By being given opportunities to practice providing for their own needs, children are being given opportunities to experience the first steps towards financial independence and freedom.
Bottom line: Wise parents teach their children the difference between needs and wants so that they’ll know the difference as adults.
Source by Jim Fay
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
