Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) by Beth Kobliner
I am absolutely terrible with money. I don’t know how to budget properly or save. I often ask myself where all my money went. I know that I can do better with my finances but I don’t really know how. So, I started reading a few books about managing money. I liked the idea of this one becuase I want to teach my kids how to handle money properly.
Here are a few tips I got from reading this book.
Praise Effort Not Smarts
“Carol Dweck has conducted several studies showing parents who repeatedly tell their kids they’re smart or talented might unwittingly be squelching their work ethic.Shower a young child with praise for her innate gifts and you’re likely to create a person who will frustrate easily when, perhaps for the first time, the work becomes a bit harder. When she no longer finds it a breeze, she might quickly give up, assuming her natural talents have reached their limit. Instead, give meaningful, specific praise about the hard work that goes into her accomplishments.”
Kobliner gives an example where a parent praises her child’s use of colour and line in a piece of art instead of saying, “Wow, you are really talented at art.” By being specific, “it shows your’e paying attention to the work your child put into it.”
No Means No
“If you let your kid nag you into buying that toy/piece of candy/x-box that you insisted previously, you weren’t going to get him, you’re guilty of intermittent reinforcement, and, in effect, you’ve turned yourself into a human slot machine. Your kids thinks that f he keeps playing, that is nagging, it will eventually pay off, at least some of the time. And so, he will continue to do it until he gets what he wants. That’s why it’s important to say, “no’ only when you mean it and not change your mind.
Although your child might cry a lot a first, in the long run, you are unburdening him from having to throw a fit in an effort to get what he wants. If he knows it won’t help, he’ll be less apt to go all histrionic when he sees a candy bar. He’ll also learn to see decisions about spending as deliberate rather than as a response to a whim or momentary desire.”
This is hard for parents to do. Especially with very young children. It often seems like, “No,” is the only word in a new parent’s vocabulary. We need to protect them from so many things.
Responsible Use of Credit
Kobliner has an entire chapter about credit and spends a fair bit of time talking about student loans. I skipped this section for two reasons. First, you can get through this life without borrowing any money or acquiring credit card debt. Secondly, I have been reading another money book where the author suggests that you cut up all your credit cards. His plan makes a lot of sense. Stay tuned to this blog, I will be writing about Dave Ramsey’s book soon.
Saving Money
Kobliner covers some ideas I have read about it other books too. I already wrote about many of those ideas when I reviewed Ron Lieber’s book The Opposite of Spoiled. I think it is very important to teach children how to save money and suggest you look at this post for more information about it.
Start Somewhere
It’s a start. I am learning how to get my finances straight but it would have been so much easier if I had always done things this way. So, let’s teach the youth about money, so they can be smart with it, not get into debt, and life a life where they never have to worry about having enough.
My List of 2019 Reads – my reading log with book reviews for each title