Holly Reid on teaching kids about money

Holly Reid is a certified public accountant, an award-winning author, speaker, and financial education instructor.

If you want to teach your kids about generational wealth, this is an episode you do not want to miss.

Holly gives us a deep dive on her book Teach Your Child to Fish. The value of fueling a child's entrepreneur spirit, how to have financial conversations with your children, and the five money habits that you can pass on to your children.

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Guest IG: @themasterplaybook

Guest Website: The Master Playbook

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's Up? Money Movers, Welcome back Today steep dive into
entrepreneurship and our community is brought to you by our
partners at MasterCard bridging the wealth gap together with Greenwood. Hey,
money movers, Welcome to the Money Moves podcast powered by Greenwood.

(00:22):
If you are a lawyer listener, then you already know
what we do here, But if you're new to the podcast,
know that our goals are to help provide you with
the keys, tips and tools to the financial kingdom of
wealth and success. In our community, we often treat money
and finances as a taboo topic. We behave as if
it's something we shouldn't talk about because it's impolite. As

(00:43):
a result, we tend to fail to pass down the
things we've learned, the knowledge that we've acquired through trial
and error, or even the things we wish we had
learned and been able to pass on to our children
or future generations, leaving them on their own to flounder
in their financial landscapes. But the reality is, if we
open up the conversation and stop being so shy about

(01:04):
money talk, we can invariably teach our future generations on
how to make big money moves. But there's so much
talk about where do we even start, how do we
figure it out? So today we have someone with us
who learned about finances the hard way and is ready
to break the generational curses of silence. Holly de Reid

(01:24):
is a certified public accountant, an award winning author, speaker,
and financial education instructor who believes that adults and the
next generation need to learn to move forward in a
responsible and prosperous financial future. Holly, Welcome to the Money
Moves Podcast. Thank you for having me. Happy to be here. So, Holly,

(01:44):
you also wrote a book called Teach Your Child to Fish.
Five money habits every child should master. What motivated you
to write that book and tell us a little bit
more about it? Yeah? Absolutely, So what motivated me with
my own personal experience? So literally, after I, um, after
I hit that rock bottom moment, got back into the workforce,

(02:07):
I just became very very intentional about learning everything I
could about money management, making better choices, UM, moving differently
with my money, listening and learning from people who were
light years ahead of me as far as building wealth
and UM what I wanted to be a part of

(02:29):
the solution. Right, So I literally claused my way out
of over thirty thousand dollars in debt. It was like
a fire was lit, a flame was lit that I
could not put out, and I wanted everyone I knew
and everyone I didn't know to know what it felt
like to live on the other side of debt. And

(02:51):
when I took a look back, I was like, Okay,
how can I be? How can I help people? And
I realized where the gap was for me is what
I mentioned early here, is that no one took the
time to tell me why it was important or to
show me how. And so those are really the gaps
that I'm trying that I that I feel through the
Master Playbook. I'm just not going to tell you and

(03:15):
show you. I'm gonna help you apply it and do
it um so that it's something that you practice so
when you are out on your own, it's like second
second nature. So you know, what do you think some
of the main reasons so many of us and our
children are missing out on these essential financial education foundations.

(03:36):
Is it cultural? Is it just something where we haven't
wanted to talk about it. What do you think all
of the above, So if you hit them on the head,
like in black and brown communities, there's this stigma attached
to talking about money. I mean, I still talk to
parents today and they're like, I don't want my child
to know how much money we're making. And I'm like,

(03:57):
you can have money conversations with your child without them
knowing all the exact numbers exactly. Um. I also run
across parents who are really intimidated, like say, they are
horrible at money, Like they make very bad decisions, so
they don't feel comfortable or confident their child money advice

(04:18):
or teaching them how to manage money because they themselves
never learned how to do it properly. What I say
to those parents is you still have a lot to
offer share with your child your money mistakes, absolutely, or
even to to acknowledge the fact that you're like, I
don't know the answers, but hey, you know our And

(04:40):
I mean, this is so hard for most parents because
it's hard to even spend quality time with your kids.
But hey, let's learn something together. Absolutely, I mean, tell
them the story about how your car got reposed, Why
did they get reposed? How did you feel like your
God will know from that point on, Okay, I need
to pay my bills and hide the car. They're gonna

(05:02):
find the car. So tell them your money mistakes. Let
um what happens, and that's where you start. But that
second part that you just mentioned is so important. Take
the time to learn something together, to learn about thing together.
Take baby steps. We have so much access now, we

(05:24):
literally have no excuse, no excuse. I think that's the truth.
There's so much access to the internet and financial information
and education that there is no excuse. Okay, because we
have you here and you are an expert, can you
give us a brief crash course on what some of
those key points for essential financial and fiscal knowledge are. Yes. Absolutely,

(05:47):
And so that's a perfect segue to the five money
habits that I talked about in the book. So these
are the foundational building blocks. I tried to break it down,
make it really simple. The first one is work hard
and be rewarded. Right, So you want your child to
understand the relationship of working for something and being rewarded

(06:10):
for it. Right. When I talked about this topic, I'm
not only you know what that looks like in practical
terms is chores. Have chores something that when they completed,
it makes the household run just a little bit smoother, right, um.
And do you tie that to like earning money? Is

(06:31):
that you know, okay if your family can't afford it, right,
So not all families can afford giving their child and allowance.
But just if they understand. Think of some of the
other things parents immediately try to take away from their
kids with it isn't doing what they're supposed to do.
The right is your your ability to go hang out

(06:52):
with your friends. So those are all rewards. Do what
you're supposed to do and you'll get the reward, okay. Um.
But I also really emphasized the importance of also fueling
your child's entrepreneurial spirit, like pay attention to the things
that your children gravitate, what questions do they ask about,

(07:17):
and then make sure as a as parents, as adults,
that we nurtured those interests, that we take those natural
talents and abilities to code or to build or create things,
or to draw or to dance. You take those talents
and you make sure you nurture them, because you never know,
they may be the never know. But I also think, Holly,

(07:41):
like this is again this sort of generational growth where
you know, I think back to you know, our parents
age where you know, my dad's eighty three, and he
came directly from West Africa, right, and so his ability
to generate wealth for our family was he was a
physician and he was gonna do that until the day
he eyes right. And there was just one career path

(08:02):
and you had to stick to it. But things have
changed so much now that we're seeing you know, the
creator industry blow up and people are making money in
all different ways that sometimes parents don't really understand that.
So just at least being able to step back and say, okay,
this pathway, you know, in this new frontiers of the
internet and this you know, metaverse that we're now living in,

(08:23):
could be a viable career option. Absolutely there there's so
many opportunities these days. All our kids need now is
a sail phone and as incredible, it's incredible monetizing their talents.
And I have to laugh, like I always look back
at you know, old African dad was like you can
be you know, one of three things. You can be

(08:45):
a doctor, lawyer, or a failure, right, and like that
was it. There was nothing in between, like if you
were a dentist, like right in those days, because that
was true for them, and it's just not true anymore.
But listen, that's how most of us grew up in
there just environment where you're told go to school, get
a good job, work that job for twenty thirty years,

(09:06):
then you can enjoy life. Well, that's just not the
case anymore. Yeah, so work hard and be rewarded. It
is the first. Um. The next one would be, uh,
teaching your kids to say first and consistently and listen.
This may be one of the most difficult money habits
because our patients. It requires self control, discipline, ya, discipline. Yes,

(09:34):
and when you live in an environment or a culture
where you can literally press a button on the phone
and a packet shows up the next day to practice
patients and you know, let's compound that with the internet
where everyone's like, well did you get these new shoes?
This drop just happens. You know, all of your pressure,

(09:55):
the temptation, the fear of missing out, all of that. So, um,
you want to make sure you are teaching your kids,
are helping them to build that savings muscle from the
young age. For the really young ones. One of the
ways that I found have been really powerful for the
young ones are collect coins. You know, have the quarters

(10:18):
where there's a different state on the back of each quarter. Right,
you make a game out of it. I had a
coin collection as a kid. Now that I think about it,
I really am glad kids are still doing that. Yes,
have them collect all the quarters, put them all in
a jar, and let's start all over again. Right. You

(10:40):
want to make it. Make it cool when they u
turn thirteen or the pre teen age, almost like the
rites of passage for them to open up a bank account,
Like make it a big deal, make it a big deal.
Did we get through your five tips? I feel like
we only got through three and then we sort of
seg because we just love to talk. Yeah, okay, so

(11:02):
that was okay. So the first one was work hard
and be rewarded. One was teaching your kids to save
and do it consistently. The third one is to spend
wisely and consciously. So when this is where I really
talked to them, to be aware of all the marketing tactics,
all the marketing traps that try to influence you to

(11:26):
spend your spend more of your money, but to auso
spend it unwisely. Right, Um, I want parents to talk
to their kids about using credit responsibly. Listen, I talked
to high schoolers every year and they struggle, They struggle
to be to tell me the difference between a debit

(11:46):
card and a credit card. That's what they see us
working with every day, right, they see us tapping in
different swiping and um, you know, so we this may
be the first generation and like the kids, maybe the
first generation that live in a cashless society. Cryptocurrencies, it's

(12:09):
gonna be a whole different ball game. Absolutely so people
people barely carry cash. Um, you can make like I said,
you can make a purchase one click on a phone.
Research has already shown us that we spend two to
three times more when we buy with credit or debit
versus cash, because there's not it's removing kind of that attachment,

(12:33):
that physical attachment, yes, absolutely, of past of giving up
something that's not infinite. Right, And so it's critical that
we teach our kids about credit, the consequences of it,
how to use it responsibly. And then the fifth money
habit is to give generously like you, no matter the
age of your child. This is something you guys can

(12:55):
start teaching and practicing today. And Um, to keep it
really simple, I try to I teach it through the
three t s of giving your time, You get through
your talent, and you give through your treasure. Right, And
treasure doesn't always have to be money. Truasure can be

(13:16):
the old shoes that you've grown out of that are
still in good condition. The treasure can be the game
that you no longer play with, Um, so give up
the game. So there are so many ways that we
can teach our kids, uh giving. But what it does
it raises kids who have empathy and compassion for others.

(13:38):
Compassion absolutely, Um, those are incredible skills and I love
that you know, almost anyone can put them into practice
regardless of income level. Do you think it works the
same for the millionaire as it does for the struggling
single parent. It's tough, right because with with the struggling
single parent, there's probably not a lot of money in

(14:00):
the household U two that you have disposable income to
actually give the child to actually practice with. So for
the struggling single parent, um, it's going to be even
more of an intentional exercise, right because you're not gonna
have that disposable income to just waste for your child
to make mistakes, So you have to bring them into

(14:24):
maybe every days and activities that you are already doing.
So you tell your child, hey, we got fifty dollars
for groceries this week. I need you to go on
the app or go online and compare Kroger Publics, compare
you know your local p Where where can we get
all of our items for less and put them into

(14:47):
the you know, put them in the mix where they're
comparing prices for the household. Uh. These are these are
practical ways that you can just incorporate money lessons and
money conversations when you don't have a lot of money.
I love that. So, Holly, tell us how people can
connect with you your camps and where they can find

(15:07):
your book. Of course, you can find me across social
media at the Master Playbook and you can learn all
about everything there. I love that, Holly. Thank you so
much for your time today. You have dropped a wealth
of information on us, not just for us but also
future generations. So thank you so much for educating us,

(15:28):
and thank you so much for the work that you do.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank you so
much for tuning in money moves. Audience. If you want
more or a recap of this episode. Please go to
the bank Greenwood dot com and check out the Money
Moves podcast blog. Money Moves is an I heart Radio

(15:49):
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