As our children enter adulthood, we hope they remember all the conversations we had about personal finances. Many financial gurus have written about the principles of financial wellness in their how-to books. The five big ones we always return to with our children are:
- Always spend less than you earn.
- Begin saving early for retirement.
- Build and maintain a three-month emergency fund.
- Ask, “Is this a want or a need?” before making a purchase.
- When you speak with family and friends, without judgement, listen and learn from the mistakes they made.
My husband and I were fortunate to be the first in our families to attend college and graduate with bachelor’s degrees. Back then, we thought achieving this accomplishment would help secure our financial future. We developed a plan. We created a budget. What have we learned? Plans change. We tell our children to be ready for those changes and adjust your plans accordingly.
We have and will sound like a broken record reiterating at different stages in their lives these five principles. We hope sounding like a broken record becomes a genetic trait.
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