Is money really as difficult to discuss with children as the facts of life?
A new study by T. Rowe Price suggests that many parents have trouble talking to their kids about financial matters. For example, 28 percent of adults questioned for the Parents, Kids & Money Survey said they find it difficult to talk to their children about investing -- a percentage similar to the 29 percent who find puberty a difficult subject to broach.
Here are some of the other disturbing highlights from the study:
- Nearly a quarter of all parents seldom or never discuss financial matters with their children.
This survey should act as a signal to parents to start teaching children more about money, and the basics are an excellent place to start.
Four financial essentials to discuss with kids
At minimum, there are four financial lessons parents should be sure to teach their children:
- Setting savings goals. The great thing about this topic is that parents can start with something simple and specific in the child's life, like saving for a new toy. As the child matures, parents can start to explain how they are continually juggling an ever-changing set of goals in order for the family to have basics like a home and a car.
Naturally, there are many more topics parents could tackle, but the lessons above are crucial for enabling children to manage their affairs successfully once they become adults.
Whatever financial topics parents choose to discuss, perhaps the most important thing is to be truthful. The T. Rowe Price study suggests that a significant number of parents have a hard time being completely forthright with their kids about money matters. But in that effort to avoid an awkward conversation, those parents may be really shortchanging their children.
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The original article can be found at Money-Rates.com: