If you’re a parent or a grandparent or planning to become one, this show is for you.
I believe it’s our job to teach our children good money habits.
And even if you’re not planning to become a parent, Tom Corley and I will be discussing some important money lessons in this Rich Habits Poor habits podcast.
So let’s talk about children….
Science shows that by the age of nine we have learned most of our habits.
These habits come from our parents.
We mirror our parents thinking, habits, and emotions.
The beauty of rich habits is that you only need one or two of them to transform your life.
Habits like reading and exercising will change your future.
But emulating bad habits can force you into a situation where you have to eke out a living.
It gets even worse
Sadly, 74% of children raised in a poor household had grades below a B and 34% had grades below a C.
Why?
Wealthy, successful parents teach their children certain success habits that give their children an edge in life.
These Rich Habits, which give them this edge in life, begins to manifest itself in the classroom and continues into the workplace, where such children become working adults who receive higher pay, bigger raises and larger bonuses during their working career.
As a consequence, they accumulate more wealth in life.
Will your child be Rich or Poor?
Every student wants to be successful and thinks they will be successful, but none have been taught by their parents or their school system how to be financially successful in life.
Not only are there no courses on basic financial success principles but there are no structured courses teaching basic financial literacy.
We are raising our children to be financially illiterate and to fail in life.
We don’t have a wealth gap in this country we have a parent gap.
We don’t have income inequality, we have parent inequality.
Parents and our schools need to work together to instill good daily success habits.
They need to be teaching children specific Rich Habits that lead to success.
Examples of Rich Habits:
- Limit TV, social media, video games and cell phone use to no more than one hour a day.
- Require that children read one non-fiction book a week and write a one-page summary of what they learned for their parents to review.
- Require children to aerobically exercise 20 – 30 minutes a day.
- Limit junk food to no more than 300 calories a day.
- Teach children to dream and to pursue their dreams. Have them write a script of their ideal, future life.
- Require that children set monthly, annual and long-term goals.
- Require working age children to work or volunteer at least ten hours a week.
- Require that children save at least 25% of their earnings or the monetary gifts they receive.
- Teach children the importance of calling family, friends, teachers, coaches, etc., on their birthday
- Teach children the importance of calling family, friends, teachers, coaches, etc. when anything good or bad happens in their lives. Examples include births, deaths, awards, illnesses, etc.
- Teach children to send thank you cards to individuals who helped them in any way. Reassure children that mistakes are good and not bad. Children need to understand that the very foundation of success is built upon the lessons we learn from our mistakes.
- Discipline children when they lose their temper, so they understand the consequence of not controlling this very costly emotion. Anger is the costliest emotion. It gets people fired, divorced and destroys relationships.
- Teach children that the pursuit of financial success is a good thing.
- Children need to learn how to manage money. Open up a checking account or savings account for children and force them to use their savings to buy the things they want. This teaches children that they are not entitled to anything. It teaches them that they have to work for the things they want in life, like cell phones, computers, fashionable clothes, video games, etc.
- Require children to participate in at least one non-sports-related extracurricular group at school or outside of school.
- Parents and children need to set aside at least an hour a day to talk to one another. Not on Facebook, not on the cell phone, but face to face. The only quality time is quantity time.
- Teach children how to manage their time. Teach them how to create a daily “to do” list. They can put their “to-do” list on their bedroom door, so parents can check it each day.
OBVIOUSLY, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FOLLOW EVERY RICH HABIT RECOMMENDATION LISTED ABOVE
All it takes is one or two Rich Habits to completely transform a life.
The reading habit, on its own, can set your children up for career success.
The savings habit, on its own, can set your children up to be financially independent.
The exercise habit, on its own, can set your children up for a long, healthy life.
The happy birthday or life event calls, on their own, can set your children up to forge strong relationships.
Pick just two habits to teach you kids and stay on top of them for six months.
After six months the habits should stick.
Links and Resources:
Michael Yardney’s Mentorship Program
Some of our favourite quotes from the show:
“You can change your habits anytime throughout your life no matter what your age.” – Michael Yardney
“In my mind, the lottery, or gambling, is a tax for people who can’t do maths.” – Michael Yardney
“I believe it’s important to teach your children that it’s OK to dream, it’s OK to dream big, it’s OK to be successful, and allow them to set themselves goals and understand how to pursue them.” – Michael Yardney
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About Thomas C. Corley
Great stuff Tom – a very relevant message – we are our children’s role models
I enjoy the podcast format with you and Michael – please keep them up