Finance Friday: Succeed With Money by Following Advice Meant for Kids

My son is getting old enough that he is taking an interest in money. He hordes any spare change that he finds around the house (my pockets) in his piggy bank. He asks me to bring him pennies from work instead of candy. He knows that his stash is growing, and he is beginning to have a desire to spend it. The other day he actually  offered to pay for some pizza with his money. I told him that 3 dollars worth of pennies would not buy much pizza. He just looked at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train. This new fascination of his has got me thinking that it is time to start teaching him about money.

Photo courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

So as I do with anything I decide to do, I set out on an epic quest across  Google, Wikipedia, Forbes and any other website I can search out for some direction. Most sites recommend the same basic principles for teaching your kids about money. Here are five of those recurring themes.

1. Go shopping together - Teach your kids about pricing, brand names, unit prices and getting the most bang for your buck.
2. Save for the future - Teach your children to put some of their allowance away for rainy days. That's why they use a piggy bank.
3. Pay taxes/bills/tithes - As children grow, it is important for them to learn about spending that is not just for them. Help older children understand taxes and utilities or other bills. If you are a religious family, teach the children to tithe.
4. Open a checking account and keep a register - Opening a checking account is a rite of passage for children. They learn about withdrawals, deposits, reconciliation of statements and record keeping. If they are not dedicated to learning to keep track of the account, they might even learn about overdraft charges (stupid tax).
5. Set limits - This can start very early, but take years to fully sink in with our kids. Just because we have money, it does not mean that we should sen it all on a whim. This is also a good way for them to learn about the family budget.

As I read these same tips on several websites, blogs and columns I began to notice something. Many adults need to learn these same lessons. We could all use a fresh, childlike look at our finances.


Seriously, how many of you reading this article today use a written budget each month that account for each and every dollar that you bring in? How many of us keep a check register and reconcile it with our bank statement each month rather than checking our online banking app every few days? How many of us save 10 - 15% of our pay? How many of us shop around for the best deals rather than just buying everything at the superstore each time we go shopping?

If we all take a step back and look at the basic financial wisdom that we were taught, or that we teach to our children, we can set a great example of the right way to handle money to our children. Do we really need to worry about our 401k or credit score if we are not able to balance our checking account? I challenge each of you who read this blog to implement these 5 basic steps that we teach our kids into our life as follows:

1. Shop around for great deals, or at least compare prices within the store where you shop. Coupon for bonus points.
2. Set 10 - 15% of your paycheck aside for the future. Roth IRA, 401k, CD, savings account... it does not matter, just save. I am no tax guy, so if you want to know what is best for you, consult with a tax professional in your area.
3. Spend money on things that are not just toys. Pay your bills, tithes and obligations before spending discretionary income.
4. Keep a check register and reconcile it with your monthly statement. If a problem does arise on your account, your banker will be thrilled to have a check register to help solve your problem.
5. Create a budget that accounts for every dollar that you make. Sit down with your spouse or family at the beginning of each month and make a plan for your money. You will be amazed at how much money you waste without a budget.

If we all do these 5 things, and teach our kids to do them as well, not only will we have more success with money right now, we might actually all get to enjoy retirement one day. Take a minute to let me know what kids lessons you have learned from in the comments down below.

Finance Friday: Rich People are Afraid of Leaves

This is a crazy thing to say, right? I thought so when I first heard Dave Ramsey say the same thing on his talk show today. I missed the discussion leading up to that point, but as I listened more it began to make sense. His point was, in my opinion, a very good one. He more or less said that anyone who is unemployed and broke is not trying hard enough. 

Photo courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

Mr. Ramsey said that if you go to home depot and buy a leaf blower, strap it on your back and start knocking on doors in an upper class neighborhood, you will feed your family that night. Rich people will not go out and do that work when they can hire someone to do it for them.

As I listened to this show, I started thinking about an experience I had while living in Florida a few years ago. We had a pair of palm trees in front of our home. They badly needed to be trimmed as they had old, dead fronds and seeds hanging from them. We asked around for a price to have them trimmed. The going rate seemed to be about $300 per tree.

I decided that the price was too high. I would do the trimming myself. I borrowed a pole saw from a friend and went to work. Roughly three hours later I had sore arms, a poorly trimmed tree and a pile of fronds that would go on to cost me $100 to dump. And I had one tree still untouched. Looking back on the experience, I would now gladly hand the man my money in order not to have to do the work. I look at tree trimming the way I look at an oil change. I can do it myself, but I would rather pay someone to render the service.

Of course, being a number person and a fan of small business, I started thinking about the man who trimmed trees for $300/tree. Suppose he could beautifully trim a tree in an hour with his gas-powered pole saw. Maybe he has time to trim 5 trees each day and works 5 days per week. Let's also assume he takes a two week vacation each year. That gives him a gross income of $375,000 annually! 

I know there is some overhead cost for equipment, insurance, licensing and fuel... but that is an outstanding income! He has the ability to earn that income because... rich people are afraid of leaves... err, palm fronds.

In true geek fashion, Hello World!

So, each day I make a vlog on YouTube. I usually start out my vlog by sharing some sort of anecdote, story or experience. My lovely wife has informed me that people don't want to hear that, they come to see the kids act silly. She may be right. I am not he most eloquent person in the world, and my southern drawl may take away from any good point that I do have to make. My new plan is to continue to share the happiness that my children bring to our family in the vlog, and place the rest of my rambling musings in this blog.

I am a junior to mid-level leader in the banking industry, directly or indirectly supervising from 20 - 25 people, and I have the ability to influence about 250 other associates on a regular basis. I am a happily married, proud father of two. I am active in my community, my church and my children's lives. I love all things geeky, but have a special spot in my heart for video games, Star Wars and spreadsheets. I have been known to keep a spreadsheet about a Star Wars video game... but that is a story for a different day. It took me almost 30 years to find out that there are other people like me in the world.

Each day I learn something that helps me to better serve those I work with, my customers, my community, my family or just helps me to live a happier life. I have learned a lot of things that I am happy to share with others, and I think some of it may even be useful to help other aspiring leaders to grow their careers.

As this blog progresses, you can look for me to post about my various interests and talents. Most likely the following topics will recur quite often:

Leadership and management
Parenting
Personal Finance
Happiness
Video Games
Random things that don fit any of the above categories

If you are a daddy, or want to be; If you are a leader, or want to be; If you just want to share thoughts with a fellow geek, this is the blog for you. I will try to keep the posts informative, thoughtful and entertaining. Please comment and share, as you will get out of reading this blog whatever you put into it. If you don't comment, I still get the therapeutic catharsis of writing out my thoughts!