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“Money isn’t real,” said Ray Liotta in the movie Blow. But if it’s not real, then what is it?
Cathy and Todd think it’s another opportunity for awareness and communication within the relationship – with your partner and with your children.
Are you modeling a healthy relationship with money for your children? Do your children experience boundaries when it comes to stuff, or do they get whatever they want?
Comments 1
For my first listening of the podcast, I wasn’t sure if the song was an intro to Money or an Adult movie theme (04-12-11).
I go around in life asking (before I purchase something) is this a NEED or a WANT. My wife (of 8 ½ years now) mocked me for many years, and she has moved to my side of rational before making a purchase.
What has worked in our family is I pay all the bills and make all the monetary decisions. All of our financial stuff is in Quicken so she can see where all the money is if she wants. For some reason she has a lot of trust in me. I put money in my wife’s account for her “allowance.” She has a credit card for all purchases that are “NEEDS” and uses her “allowance” for her “WANTS.” If she “WANTS” something that she can’t afford, then we have a discussion, and we determine if we want to make that purchase out of our main bank account. I do request all receipts from my wife from the credit card purchases, and when she does go crazy at Walmart, I bring that up, and we reevaluate those purchases and possibly return the items we do not NEED. I will certainly try to teach this to my daughter when we go to the store. I think also giving children options (thinking of the now as well as long term planning) instead of saying “No” is very beneficial. I try to base my life on logic not feelings (Needs vs. Wants).
I have already setup a Savings account for Lidia, which all the money that she gets from Baptism, B-day, etc. will go into this account. She has a 529 setup with all the money that came from my mom’s death will go into (which was my mom’s wishes). I know I should have a category for charity, however I do not practice this, so how can I preach it?
I do also believe that financial management should be taught in elementary schools, however it starts at home. I recall in High School, I was told I was to finance a piano. I asked the teacher “why would I take a loan for a piano?” Why don’t I just save the money, and then buy it. I was told “No, I needed to finance it.” Most Teachers these days do not negotiate for their salary, and rely on their state paid for pension plan for retirement. So how can we expect the teachers to teach financial management or basic economics, if they don’t make those tough decisions?
After the first few years of being married and my wife said to me how smart I was. In June, (she is a teacher) teachers get several paychecks all at once in May/June, and then would not get another paycheck until September. In May/Jue, I would pay the mortgage through October with these paychecks. Some of her fellow teachers would have troubles making their mortgage payments August and September. I don’t think I am smart because of this; I just wanted to make sure that the mortgage payments come first.
My “father” tried to buy love from us; needless to say he does not get any return from me now in life. However he did get my sister’s love, and she now buy’s love from her daughter. I believe this is a bad habit to get into, and it does get passed on down the line.