May 5, 2025 • 34 mins
Raising a financially literate child – Jeff Perry and Russ Ball offer suggestions and
commentary about positive way to pass on personal finance lessons and values to your
children through various stages of development. Jeff & Russ discuss the importance of
positive role modeling (or at least not negative), explaining the three purposes of money,
use of allowances, at what age is a debit card appropriate, value of a part-time job, and
learning about compound interest and investing. Russ and Jeff share personal anecdotes
and stories of what childhood lessons are still with them today.
For more information or to reach TEAM AMR, click the following link:
https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,
and senior vice president, financial advisor at Wealth
Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest registered
investment advisors.
We call it Something More because we'd like
to talk not only about those important dollar
and cents issues, but also the quality of
life issues that make the money matters matter.
(00:22):
Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner
in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and
across the country.
Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.
Welcome to another episode of Something More with
Chris Boyd.
I'm Jeff Perry.
I'm co-hosting this episode today with my
teammate, Russ Ball.
Russ, thanks for joining us.
(00:43):
Thank you, Jeff.
Happy to be here.
Another episode of Something More with Chris Boyd.
And we usually talk about finance and investing,
and we usually tend to lean towards people
in retirement.
That's the bulk of our business, right?
Most of our clients, not all, certainly, have
plenty of families, but most people who come
(01:05):
to us are in the mode of, I
need a plan to be able to retire,
retire early, retire at all, and all the
things that come with that, or they are,
you know, a young couple maybe saying, we've
got to get our act together.
How should we invest money?
That's, you know, common things that people start
(01:25):
to invest or go to a financial advisor,
and that's all good.
I think we're going to lean towards the
younger demographic.
Children, because so much of, you know, so
much of what happens to us as young
adults and adults and older adults is based
upon how we're raised, the values, the morals
(01:45):
that we're raised with, how we perceive our
family and the lessons that we get from
them, you know, a lot of this is
imprinted on us, not only by what people
who raised us tell us, but really more
so, more is caught than taught, right, about
how our families live.
We see clients who might be in their
(02:07):
60s or 70s and have a wonderful financial
plan, they have lots more assets than they
need, they should be thinking about legacy planning
or living a great retirement, but they still
have this scarcity, like, I don't think I
have enough, or I'm worried about running out
of money, and, you know, we know from
the numbers that we crunch for them that
(02:28):
you're fine, you're fine, but because of that
they were raised in a certain time or
in a certain family, or had some certain
events in their life that they are still,
they can't process that they are fine.
Do you, do you see that with the
people that you've been meeting with?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Just as you were saying that, I was
thinking about a specific case, a client where,
(02:51):
you know, she grew up in a relatively,
you know, impoverished family and that was sort
of her upbringing.
And so she had to really keep everything
close to the chest and not really be
spending, and now she's in retirement.
She's in, I think, enjoy retirement, but, you
know, she asks, like, is this something I
(03:13):
can do, is like, can I support my
family?
Can I like help my grandkids out?
And it's like, with this a bit of
trepidation, it's not like, oh yeah, like, let
me just, instead of joy.
Right.
It should be, it should be.
And, and then when we, when we get
to show that to her, that it'll work
out, I think it's, it's great.
What a, what a gift and a blessing
(03:34):
for people to be able to feel that
freedom.
And like you said in the past, like
having that permission to be able to, to
do the things you need and even if
you grew up with a difficult background around
finances and money, it's, it's yeah.
I know, I know that I, you know,
even though I didn't view them as lessons
at the time, I have many lessons from
(03:55):
growing up.
I grew up in my grandparents' home with
my mother and her parents, my grandparents, and
my grandfather, who was my male role model,
he's over this shoulder here, people are watching
on YouTube, World War I veteran, grew up.
Uh, he lived through it during the depression,
you know, so he lived difficultly during the
(04:16):
depression.
He was World War I veteran and he
had a lot of experiences and it made
him a great man, made him a great
dad for me.
Um, but one thing that he was constantly
talking about with me when I was growing
up and getting older and, uh, was don't
get into debt, don't get into debt.
And I just thought this was like good
(04:37):
advice.
So I followed it and it stick with
me.
We joke around the office sometime, you know,
Chris gives me, Chris Boyd gives me hard
times about things that I believe, like I'm
much more restrictive than most people on debt,
right?
Um, and this comes from my grandfather and
it's served me well.
Um, other people, they like leverage and they
(04:58):
do great with it.
I'm just talking about me and how it
impacted me.
But as, as I got older, I'm like,
this wasn't just advice.
This was, was him, his life, his, like
his fears, his scarcity.
And he, he had a very successful auto
repair business.
Later in life, he owned several homes.
(05:18):
He was fine, but until his last breath,
he wouldn't borrow a dime from anyone.
And he was very like, no debt, Jeff,
no debt.
And it's because he didn't want somebody he
cared about to go through the same things
that he did in the 1930s.
(05:38):
And we're talking, these conversations are happening in
the 1970s and 1980s.
Right.
So, and other people who maybe had different
circumstances have different impacts.
So for this, for this episode, I want
to talk about raising a financially literate child
and, you know, certainly about good behavior to
(05:59):
model as parents.
You know, I guess we can start wherever
you want, but how do you have it
before we do, do you have any like
reflections on lessons that were imparted to you
as a, as a youngster?
Yeah.
I mean, so it's funny, I was thinking
about this in, in, you know, preparing for
(06:21):
this, for this podcast and it's sort of
a mixed, mixed bag with my childhood.
I think money wasn't something that was talked
about all that much.
Not that frequently finances and all that.
But I do remember, you know, getting my
middle school, getting my allowance.
(06:41):
And I think it was like five bucks.
I don't know if it was like every
other week or whatever it was, but it
was just, you know, it was a small
amount.
And.
Were you on auto pay or did you
have to earn it?
For the, for the five, I was on
auto.
And then for, for, for other things, I
remember like my dad would have us like
stack firewood and, um, you know, uh, you
(07:04):
could work overtime and get, I remember we,
we, uh, in out here in Cape Cod
on the beach, um, he would have us
pull up like the, the roots of the
little like, uh, grasses that go on the
beach.
And he'd say like, you get 5 cents
for each, uh, for each pile you get
or whatever it was.
And, uh, I remember that was like very
(07:25):
fun.
And, uh, you know, it's exciting.
You feel like you're every, uh, little thing
you're doing, you're earning something.
So there was definitely a little bit of
that.
Um, but in general, we didn't, we didn't,
money wasn't a very talked about thing.
And, and, uh, that's something I've sort of
learned over time.
And I think, uh, you know, whenever I
have kids, I think I am excited to
(07:45):
be able to use what I've learned and
impart that upon them.
Yeah.
I think that money isn't talked about, you
know, mantra was how most of us grew
up.
And if it was talked about, it was
often talked about, and this is not my
example.
So I feel fortunate, but I've seen this
with other clients and some family members as
(08:05):
well.
Um, if money was ever talked about, it
was an argument about money.
Right.
And if you think about what an argument
between parents does, even if the child isn't
involved, you know, the child just, you know,
I just said in a minute ago, more
is taught than caught.
They can imprint this belief that money is
(08:26):
arguments, you know, talking about money is an
argument.
Therefore, I'm not going to talk about money
either.
And that can stick with them for the
rest of their life as we referenced in
the beginning of the show.
So parents modeling good behavior and, uh, methods
of teaching a child to be literate, to
understand finances.
I think it is, it's a good topic
(08:47):
for us today.
And, you know, you mentioned the allowance in
middle school.
So let's start there.
It's like, how old should a child be
before that you start to introduce them to
money?
And I think it's really young.
I think, um, you know, it doesn't have
to be an allowance, but an allowance is
a great place to start where they understand
that they receive money.
(09:08):
I think if there's a work component to
it, it's, it's more related.
Like there's also an ethic there.
Like you get this, I don't know, $5
would do it today.
You know, I, I hear what I was,
I was at a concert, um, like a
small community concert with some friends and they
were talking about that their daughter was giving
(09:30):
our friend's daughter was giving their grandchild an
allowance.
And it was like, I think it was
$50.
It wasn't a week, maybe, maybe that was
a month, but I'm like, then you hear
what babysitters make, like this is a different
world, but back off the tangent, back to
allowance and allowance.
It's based on something.
Even if it's something the child was doing
(09:50):
anyway, just so there's some connection between having
money and doing something, whether it's, you know,
$10 a week, because you make your bed
every morning and you can pick up your
room and you, and you bring your laundry
to the laundry room or whatever the parent
decides, just some connection.
And if there's, and if they don't perform,
(10:12):
then they don't get that allowance.
So if you don't go to work, as
simple as that is, that's a, a important
lesson to instill on young people.
It's a good point.
Yeah.
I think, um, you know, the big, the
big, uh, thing with the allowance for me
that was helpful and, and I would, the
reason I would encourage it now is like,
(10:33):
you know, if you give the kid a
few dollars, then it's up to them, they're
not going to get money again for another
couple of weeks or whatever it is like
that's, that's their budget, let's say.
So then it's up to them how they're
going to spend it.
They spend it day one on, uh, whatever
$5 we'll get you, but, or they spread
it out and some will, but the lesson
(10:55):
of them not having the money to go
get that ice cream that they wanted, or,
you know, something that the parent wasn't going
to buy anyway, is the lesson that maybe
you have to defer some of your spending.
Yeah.
And that's how you start grasping how money
actually works as a kid.
So another lesson that I was taught and
(11:15):
it's, it's kind of the focus of most,
I was reviewing some lessons, uh, that are
suggested for young people prior to the podcast,
and this was in a couple of them.
And I'm sure my mother and grandparents didn't
read these articles, you know, 50 years ago,
but teach your children, grandchildren, what money is
(11:36):
for.
And it's not just for spending.
Cause I think that can be, you know,
that can be a, uh, inadvertent lesson.
Like, here's your money.
What are you going to buy?
Right.
That's true.
Right.
So money is to spend money's to enjoy,
but money is also to save.
So teaching the concept of delayed gratification, which
(11:57):
most of us don't have anymore, right between,
uh, online shopping and, you know, pay now,
not pay now, buy now, pay later, you
know, and all of these ways to defer
the responsibility for something you're having right now,
uh, teaching your child that money's for some
(12:17):
shopping for some buying, but also for saving
for something that is larger than you can
have in one week, uh, delayed gratification, deferred
spending.
And it's also a tool to do good
with it, to give some money away.
So to spend it, to save it and
to give it and to encourage, um, I,
(12:38):
this is a strategy I used with our
granddaughter.
Um, she's older now, but when she was
younger and I would give her money, I
would say, so you got three things you
have to do with this money.
You can spend some of it.
You can save some of this later and
you can give some of it and you
get to decide how much, but I'd like
you to do all three.
(13:00):
Yeah.
And, uh, is it teaches the, you know,
the, on the charity side, even if, even
if they take a small portion of it,
they see how they feel when they help
somebody else with, uh, with faith, we'd encourage
you to, you know, put some of that
money in the church plate, if you would
go to church with us, or if there
(13:20):
was a something in the community or whatever
it was, and you get that feeling of
giving, which we all know is when you
give, you always get more back, you know,
spiritually and personally than what you gave.
So teaching those three things all the time,
no matter what age the child is.
But I think then what I've read and
from what I've studied, um, over the years
(13:41):
around first grade is a great time to
start this around age six is when children
have the capacity to really understand and start
to learn these things.
Yeah.
I think that, that, that makes sense.
The earlier, the better, even, even like, uh,
recently, uh, I was, I was kind of
looking, I have a friend who recently had
a kid and very young, but I was
(14:03):
thinking like, wouldn't it be fun to get
like a book on like a very early
childhood book on money and, and, uh, just
to kind of expose it to the idea
of like a piggy bank and, um, you
know, just exposure to that kind of thinking
is, uh, is, as you said, I think
first grade definitely makes sense to when the
kids are understanding what's going on and right.
They're getting some structure in their life anyway.
(14:24):
Exactly.
But I would think like as, as early
as you can, just to start instilling some
of those, um, ideas, uh, I think makes
a lot of sense.
And I guess another step that people used
to take and it was more concrete.
So I'm not sure it has the same
impact, but, uh, taking the child and opening
a bank account.
I mean, I remember going to the bank
(14:46):
with my mom and having a little savings
account with a book.
It was, I think we're before your time,
Russ.
I'm sorry, but I'm going back.
Used to get a book, a passbook.
It was, it looked like a passport and
you would go in with your money and
give it to the teller.
And she'd have a dot matrix printer.
She'd put the passbook in and you'd hear,
and that would be the printing of your
(15:09):
deposit plus your interest and you'd see your
new balance and that was a pretty powerful
thing to save some money and see it
building in there and to have that physical
thing, I think the same concept can work
with opening an online bank account with your
child now, or still a physical bank, you're
not going to have that passbook, you're going
(15:29):
to have a random receipt maybe.
Um, so it's probably a little less, yeah,
it's not as interactive and as a kid
having that visual and the sounds and everything
like that obviously left an impact.
So there is a little bit of that
missing these days, I would think, but, um,
I know that, yeah, one thing, um, that
(15:52):
I read recently was, uh, and I don't
even know where I saw this, but they
were saying for kids rather than having like
the traditional piggy bank where like, it's like
a big, like a see-through jar that
they can see the money like building and
growing and accumulating.
I think that just those visuals and those
(16:12):
more interactive things are really good for kids.
Yep.
And although the passbook was very powerful with
an online bank, you could use the graphics
that they have probably to show a bar
chart or, you know, a graph of some
type of what's happening.
And also an advantage today, um, as these
children get older is you can use some
(16:33):
of the financial calculators online to, you know,
say, well, what if you saved $5 a
week, you know, for 10 years and you
earned a certain percentage of interest, how much
do you think you'd have?
And the power, a lesson I think to
imprint very early, you know, maybe we're up
10 or 12 years old now when they
(16:55):
understand math concepts better than first grade.
Right.
But to show them compounding interest and the
power of it, because it is something that,
uh, most people don't understand until they actually
do it for themselves.
You know, they used to get the calculator
and do it, but now you get all
these software programs and to see that, you
(17:17):
know, virtually anyone can become a millionaire if
they have this long-term vision and they
put money aside and they invest it and
they stay focused and disciplined over your working
career.
It is not super difficult to save more
than a million dollars.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, um, when, when that, when I
(17:39):
first realized, uh, like comp, I mean, that
was something I didn't really learn much about,
definitely not in school about compounding interest.
Like I didn't be part of a math
class somewhere.
Right.
And I hope, I hope it is more
these days, but I definitely had, we had
nothing about, about finance in my school really.
And, um, I remember seeing, I think it
was an online calculator when I was early
(18:00):
in my teenage years.
Um, and seeing like the chart of compounding
where it's like your contribution is small and
then the, the interest or the growth is,
is higher and higher and higher.
And at the end of whatever, 30 years,
40 years, the, um, amount that you contribute
is tiny compared to what's, uh, the growth
(18:21):
on top of that.
So, uh, when I first saw that, I
was like, wow, that was a, that was
an eye opener.
So, uh, definitely showing that to kids, I
think, uh, at the right age would, would
make sense and, and help them get a
sense of, all right, wow, this, there's something,
something to this savings idea.
That's right.
That's right.
And, um, so when the, when a child,
(18:41):
you know, is 12 or getting into the
teenagers, I guess there's some debate and this
is a parent parental decision, but at some
point it, I think it's helpful if they're
responsible, obviously if they spend every dollar and
they, you know, borrow money from the local
bookie, we don't want to do this, but,
you know, assuming that the child is learning
and interested, um, I think providing them with
(19:04):
a debit card for their own account, do
not give them your debit card.
I'm not, don't say Jeff Perry said, give
them your debit card.
Now having it, having a debit card, Fidelity
has a great program.
They have youth accounts.
Um, we created one for faith a number
of years ago and it has a lot
of educational materials on it, um, that they
(19:26):
watched, you know, to get onboarded, if you
will, and there's different ones for different ages,
but the foundation is a debit card that
they can use that is controlled, there's not
going to be a big fee if they
spend all their money.
You know, there's not, it's designed to, obviously
it's designed to bring people as customers, as
adults to Fidelity, that's what it's designed for,
but it has the benefit of letting them
(19:48):
make some mistakes with the debit card and
seeing how to use it and seeing the
online accounts and being able to put money
in and so forth, and they can even
invest in, in the debit, in the youth
account.
If they want to, if you can build
up a little bit and, you know, buy
a share of Disney or whatever the child
wants to do, if you want to expose
them to investing, it does that.
Yeah.
(20:08):
But I think it's good to associate a
debit card with them early because, you know,
many times, um, people, young people are not
exposed to actually having a debit card or
a credit card until they're in college, they're
18.
They go to some campus thing and they
get a, you know, a free t-shirt.
(20:29):
If you open this credit card or debit
card and they're off to the races without
any really guidance or formal kind of mentoring,
they have a debit card now.
And, you know, there's a million stories about
what can go wrong.
Right.
And I think there's like debit cards too,
and maybe this is the same where, you
know, uh, you could even have it set
(20:49):
up where they have like a specific limit,
like the allowance can be on debit card.
Yes.
And then it just gets the child used
to using that because, you know, credit cards,
debit cards are everywhere these days.
So getting to, to understand how that works,
I think is crucial.
In a supervised setting as the parent and
grandparent, you have access to see what they're
doing.
(21:09):
Right.
You know, so you know that they bought
an ice cream or, you know, they're not
sports betting already.
Yeah.
Just to get them into developing positive disciplined
habits while you are there to guide them,
rather than just saying you're 18, go to
the bank and get a, you know, bank
account.
Now I'm not, you know, you're not using
(21:31):
me anymore.
Isn't probably the best advice.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's all about getting them exposed to information
and learning good habits before, and speaking of
good habits, I think it's, and this is
something that used to be so prevalent.
We all had, we all had part-time
jobs growing up, you know, whether they were
(21:51):
summer jobs or whether they were after school
or on the weekends, most young people had
some type of job and that's not what
I see today.
I see very few teenagers, for example, working
and I know they have a lot of
stress.
I know they have a, it's an anxiety
ridden world for a lot of them with
social media and all their, what they're trying
(22:12):
to achieve in school and athletics.
And, but I think having a part-time
job is such a key part of your
financial literacy as you're growing up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it goes along with what you were
saying earlier, just like, you know, earning something
like you're putting in the work and then
you're earning from that, you know, like it's,
it's such a huge part of, of, you
(22:34):
know, our culture and, and, you know, you
need, you need to work to have a
living.
And if you're not, if you're waiting until
after college or whatever it is to start
experiencing that, it's like, all right, that's a,
that's a shock.
You know, if there's been no exposure at
all.
Yeah.
Even, I mean, in my experience, I was
I worked at a summer camp for years
(22:55):
and it's a great way to get started.
And, you know, it's like, it is a
job and if it's seasonal, obviously, and you're
outdoors, it's, I think it's a great way
to start for a lot of kids, you
know, that wouldn't necessarily be after school, but
that would be, you know, it could be
summer, it could be after school, it could
(23:16):
be on weekends, whatever works for the family's
schedule and all that, you know, we've got
to get them there.
And this just dovetails right into the, where,
you know, I think about kids getting older
and so maybe offering a debit card, a
youth debit card, teaching them about money.
We're certainly talking about working because these things
are going to come up like, oh, I
need a car.
(23:37):
I want a car.
Right.
So now we're 16 years old and I
want a car or whatever they, you know,
lots of the older they get, the more
expensive that their wants.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
And so how do you handle that as
a parent?
Um, and what message are you sending or
as a grandparent or any, an uncle, whatever,
(23:59):
whatever role you are.
And if the lesson is you don't have
to work, you'll, you'll be gifted to you.
That is very generous and it's wonderful for
the giver, but there's other ways that you
can do it and be generous and still
impart lessons on this, even if it's a
de minimis amount.
(24:20):
So, you know, a lot of the research
that I've read and listened to, um, over
the years indicates like if a child, if
you want to help a child, if you
want to buy the child, the car, at
least have them working so that they can
cover the gas.
Right.
Or, or have them save up a certain
(24:40):
percentage.
You know, it can be from 50, 50
to 90, 10, whatever it is.
If you're going to, if the car is
$5,000, which is a very reasonable price
for a car, tell them that you will
match, you know, you'll pay whatever it is
that you think is right.
Keep it easy.
50% of the car and 50%
(25:02):
of the insurance for the first year, but
you have to get a job and save
the other part because these expenses are going
to go on forever.
You're going to have repairs, explain the whole
thing.
And we all know from our own histories
that if you earn something, you treat it
differently than if it's given to you, whether
(25:25):
it's whatever it is.
Right.
So I think that's what the next step
as, as they're getting older, they've learned about
money, they have a good foundation has been
modeled well by the parents, but when we
get into these big ticket items, I think
the child having some skin in the game
changes the whole way that they look at
that item and their understanding of what you
(25:47):
need to do to be able to support
something that.
You've taken responsibility for.
And in this case, it's a car.
Yeah.
And even if it's a portion and they've
been saving up for that portion that they
were able to afford, that's, you know, money
that they've been building up over time, there's
like that commitment.
Um, and it, it changes the way that
they perceive whatever it is they're, they're getting,
(26:08):
you know?
Yeah.
Um, yeah, very good point.
Absolutely.
I think it's also a great time in
the teenage years, um, or, or before, but
by the teenage years to start including the
children or at least allowing them to hear
some of the family discussions about money and
that, and that doesn't need to be like,
here's how much money we have.
(26:28):
I'm not saying that, but maybe exposing them
to conversations about budgets and how much things
cost to run the house and how much
things cost to do whatever the family's doing
or to explain, you know, we're going on
a family vacation.
This is how much we have to spend
this year.
Yeah.
And this is how much each things cost,
because if you're not exposed to it, you
(26:50):
have no idea that it costs you $10
,000 to spend a week at Disney, right?
Right.
And to show that, you know, to show
the child that there's parking at the airport,
there's airline tickets, there's food, there's hotel, there's
tickets, there's entertainment, there's souvenirs.
And I think it's helpful just to further
(27:11):
educate and set a positive setting.
Not, not to have a complaining like, oh
my God, it's costing us 10,000 rotten
kids.
I can't believe them.
You know, have it in a positive way,
but just exposing them to the discussions between
the parents in this case, or whoever it
is with the child that they can understand
how, how the world works.
(27:32):
Yeah.
I think having that budget conversation, that was
another thing I didn't really learn much about
until later, but the idea of like, all
right, here's our set budget and here's how
we break it down.
And I know a lot of parents that
do that, but they don't talk to their
kids about it.
It's, it's really valuable because you know, kids,
kids, like if we go on a vacation
(27:52):
and their parents are spending money, it's like,
oh yeah, this is like an endless supply,
but a lot of the kids, I mean,
a lot of the parents are, you know,
it's very meticulous and right.
And it can be stressful for the parents
who are trying to deliver that perfect vacation.
So yeah, exactly.
And exposing them not just to spending, but
also savings in different ways, you know, maybe
(28:13):
reinforcing the compound interest values with talking about
investments and saving money outside of banks.
And this is why we do it, you
know, we save money for retirement and save
money for this or that just to broaden
it out, just to help your child get
a longer term vision of how you can
achieve great things with time and work.
(28:35):
Yeah.
And I know one other thing I was
thinking was like a lot of grandparents will
gift like specific securities to their, to their
grandkids, like just to show them, like, look
at this, this is a, now you like,
you could be a part owner of a,
of a Amazon or Tesla or whatever it
might be.
And having that, you know, if the kid
(28:56):
is interested in it, that could be something
that it really opens their eyes to the
idea of saving and investing from an early
age.
So that's another.
Our team leader, Chris Boyd, loves to talk
about this issue in the context of charitable
remainder trusts or different charitable ways.
Like if you have a family who you
(29:20):
can get together all in the same place,
you could do it virtually, I guess, but,
and you have these annual decisions or one
time decisions on where to the family, most
cases, the grandparents or the parents, but where
the family is going to make some charitable
donations to, to create, you don't have to
call it this, but like a mini family
board and have a meeting about it and
talk about where we'd like to donate this
(29:43):
year and maybe give a little piece of
the donation decision to each family member, as
long as they can explain why, you know,
so Sally, who do you think we should
donate money to?
And not just the American red cross, but
why, you know, and then have them articulate
that and kind of maybe even deliver the
(30:05):
check if possible.
There's a lot you can do to make
this a positive experience and to set your
own values, I guess that's the last part
of what we'll talk about for the time
we have remaining, but to set these lifelong
values, legacy values, impart them on your family
and they'll last, they'll last forever.
(30:26):
And hopefully they'll last for generations.
And hopefully they're positive because they're going to
last forever and maybe generations.
Right.
Right.
And, uh, you know, this goes into your
estate planning as well.
It, it, it goes all throughout your life,
these things that you model and these things
that you share.
Um, you know, I, as a lawyer, retired
(30:47):
lawyer, I saw too many times estate plans,
which were very well thought out by the
grantors.
The people wrote them, um, with specific reasons
and they never explained it to their heirs.
And so the meeting never actually really got
there, but if you explain it and if
(31:07):
you don't want to explain it when they're
alive, you can leave a video, you can
leave letters, love letters, life letters.
Um, but you're giving, you're, you're leaving your
legacy many times it's money, but not always.
Um, and if you can articulate the lesson
and the reasons that you're doing things, your
legacy and their view of it and their,
(31:28):
their view of, you know, what that means
to them for their future and their raising
kids, speaking of generations is, can be really
powerful if done correctly.
Yeah.
I think having those conversations, you know, when
it makes sense can be really a game
changer for, for that legacy planning.
But also like just to even just be
(31:51):
a little more transparent, come closer as a
family.
I think that there's a lot of power
to it, uh, to be able to have
those open conversations and it can be as,
you know, uh, Frank and forthcoming as, as
is appropriate.
But, um, to start talking about money, it's,
it's not, it doesn't need to be a
taboo.
It's, uh, it's important.
(32:11):
And, um, especially where, like you said, with
the estate planning and legacy planning, that's really
where it, where it comes into play.
And it's, it's crucial to have those conversations.
I hope this is a conversation, which I
enjoyed very much for us.
And I think it's one that, you know,
financial advisors, financial podcasts, they don't talk much
about, but I think it's important because if
(32:32):
you, if you think about what we've talked
about from very early on, you as a
parent, a grandparent, or someone that loves this
child has an opportunity to mold their values,
um, how they perceive things, how they look
at things positively and negatively.
And we're talking about money specifically, but how
(32:52):
they view money and teach them lessons about
how to build wealth, what to do with
it, to be charitable, to be a saver
and all the way through the upbringing to
their college, through their life.
And even when you are leaving with your
legacy, um, you have an influence to change
(33:13):
your family dynamic and change generations about how
money is viewed in your family.
Um, you have a lot of power there
if you do it right.
And a lot of it's a, be a
wonderful gift for you to be able to
have a positive influence in your family about
how the children and then those children become
parents, teach their generations about money.
(33:33):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode.
I hope you'll tune in next week when
we'll have another interesting financial topic until then.
Keep striving for something more.
Thank you for listening to something more with
Chris Boyd.
Call us for help, whether it's for financial
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those
(33:54):
quality of life issues that make the money
matters matter, whatever's on your mind, visit us
at something more with chrisboyd.com or call
us toll free at 866-771-8901, or
send us your questions to amr-info at
wealthenhancement.com.
You're listening to something more with Chris Boyd,
(34:15):
financial talk show wealth enhancement, advisory services, and
Jay Christopher Boyd provide investment advice on an
individual basis to clients.
Only proper advice depends on a complete analysis
of all facts and circumstances.
The information given on this program is general
financial comments and cannot be relied upon this
pertaining to your specific situation.
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the
information from this show will generate profits or
ensure freedom from loss.
(34:36):
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or
conduct their own due diligence before making any
financial decisions.
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,
and senior vice president, financial advisor at Wealth
Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest registered
investment advisors.
We call it Something More because we'd like
to talk not only about those important dollar
and cents issues, but also the quality of
life issues that make the money matters matter.
(00:22):
Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner
in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and
across the country.
Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.
Welcome to another episode of Something More with
Chris Boyd.
I'm Jeff Perry.
I'm co-hosting this episode today with my
teammate, Russ Ball.
Russ, thanks for joining us.
(00:43):
Thank you, Jeff.
Happy to be here.
Another episode of Something More with Chris Boyd.
And we usually talk about finance and investing,
and we usually tend to lean towards people
in retirement.
That's the bulk of our business, right?
Most of our clients, not all, certainly, have
plenty of families, but most people who come
(01:05):
to us are in the mode of, I
need a plan to be able to retire,
retire early, retire at all, and all the
things that come with that, or they are,
you know, a young couple maybe saying, we've
got to get our act together.
How should we invest money?
That's, you know, common things that people start
(01:25):
to invest or go to a financial advisor,
and that's all good.
I think we're going to lean towards the
younger demographic.
Children, because so much of, you know, so
much of what happens to us as young
adults and adults and older adults is based
upon how we're raised, the values, the morals
(01:45):
that we're raised with, how we perceive our
family and the lessons that we get from
them, you know, a lot of this is
imprinted on us, not only by what people
who raised us tell us, but really more
so, more is caught than taught, right, about
how our families live.
We see clients who might be in their
(02:07):
60s or 70s and have a wonderful financial
plan, they have lots more assets than they
need, they should be thinking about legacy planning
or living a great retirement, but they still
have this scarcity, like, I don't think I
have enough, or I'm worried about running out
of money, and, you know, we know from
the numbers that we crunch for them that
(02:28):
you're fine, you're fine, but because of that
they were raised in a certain time or
in a certain family, or had some certain
events in their life that they are still,
they can't process that they are fine.
Do you, do you see that with the
people that you've been meeting with?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Just as you were saying that, I was
thinking about a specific case, a client where,
(02:51):
you know, she grew up in a relatively,
you know, impoverished family and that was sort
of her upbringing.
And so she had to really keep everything
close to the chest and not really be
spending, and now she's in retirement.
She's in, I think, enjoy retirement, but, you
know, she asks, like, is this something I
(03:13):
can do, is like, can I support my
family?
Can I like help my grandkids out?
And it's like, with this a bit of
trepidation, it's not like, oh yeah, like, let
me just, instead of joy.
Right.
It should be, it should be.
And, and then when we, when we get
to show that to her, that it'll work
out, I think it's, it's great.
What a, what a gift and a blessing
(03:34):
for people to be able to feel that
freedom.
And like you said in the past, like
having that permission to be able to, to
do the things you need and even if
you grew up with a difficult background around
finances and money, it's, it's yeah.
I know, I know that I, you know,
even though I didn't view them as lessons
at the time, I have many lessons from
(03:55):
growing up.
I grew up in my grandparents' home with
my mother and her parents, my grandparents, and
my grandfather, who was my male role model,
he's over this shoulder here, people are watching
on YouTube, World War I veteran, grew up.
Uh, he lived through it during the depression,
you know, so he lived difficultly during the
(04:16):
depression.
He was World War I veteran and he
had a lot of experiences and it made
him a great man, made him a great
dad for me.
Um, but one thing that he was constantly
talking about with me when I was growing
up and getting older and, uh, was don't
get into debt, don't get into debt.
And I just thought this was like good
(04:37):
advice.
So I followed it and it stick with
me.
We joke around the office sometime, you know,
Chris gives me, Chris Boyd gives me hard
times about things that I believe, like I'm
much more restrictive than most people on debt,
right?
Um, and this comes from my grandfather and
it's served me well.
Um, other people, they like leverage and they
(04:58):
do great with it.
I'm just talking about me and how it
impacted me.
But as, as I got older, I'm like,
this wasn't just advice.
This was, was him, his life, his, like
his fears, his scarcity.
And he, he had a very successful auto
repair business.
Later in life, he owned several homes.
(05:18):
He was fine, but until his last breath,
he wouldn't borrow a dime from anyone.
And he was very like, no debt, Jeff,
no debt.
And it's because he didn't want somebody he
cared about to go through the same things
that he did in the 1930s.
(05:38):
And we're talking, these conversations are happening in
the 1970s and 1980s.
Right.
So, and other people who maybe had different
circumstances have different impacts.
So for this, for this episode, I want
to talk about raising a financially literate child
and, you know, certainly about good behavior to
(05:59):
model as parents.
You know, I guess we can start wherever
you want, but how do you have it
before we do, do you have any like
reflections on lessons that were imparted to you
as a, as a youngster?
Yeah.
I mean, so it's funny, I was thinking
about this in, in, you know, preparing for
(06:21):
this, for this podcast and it's sort of
a mixed, mixed bag with my childhood.
I think money wasn't something that was talked
about all that much.
Not that frequently finances and all that.
But I do remember, you know, getting my
middle school, getting my allowance.
(06:41):
And I think it was like five bucks.
I don't know if it was like every
other week or whatever it was, but it
was just, you know, it was a small
amount.
And.
Were you on auto pay or did you
have to earn it?
For the, for the five, I was on
auto.
And then for, for, for other things, I
remember like my dad would have us like
stack firewood and, um, you know, uh, you
(07:04):
could work overtime and get, I remember we,
we, uh, in out here in Cape Cod
on the beach, um, he would have us
pull up like the, the roots of the
little like, uh, grasses that go on the
beach.
And he'd say like, you get 5 cents
for each, uh, for each pile you get
or whatever it was.
And, uh, I remember that was like very
(07:25):
fun.
And, uh, you know, it's exciting.
You feel like you're every, uh, little thing
you're doing, you're earning something.
So there was definitely a little bit of
that.
Um, but in general, we didn't, we didn't,
money wasn't a very talked about thing.
And, and, uh, that's something I've sort of
learned over time.
And I think, uh, you know, whenever I
have kids, I think I am excited to
(07:45):
be able to use what I've learned and
impart that upon them.
Yeah.
I think that money isn't talked about, you
know, mantra was how most of us grew
up.
And if it was talked about, it was
often talked about, and this is not my
example.
So I feel fortunate, but I've seen this
with other clients and some family members as
(08:05):
well.
Um, if money was ever talked about, it
was an argument about money.
Right.
And if you think about what an argument
between parents does, even if the child isn't
involved, you know, the child just, you know,
I just said in a minute ago, more
is taught than caught.
They can imprint this belief that money is
(08:26):
arguments, you know, talking about money is an
argument.
Therefore, I'm not going to talk about money
either.
And that can stick with them for the
rest of their life as we referenced in
the beginning of the show.
So parents modeling good behavior and, uh, methods
of teaching a child to be literate, to
understand finances.
I think it is, it's a good topic
(08:47):
for us today.
And, you know, you mentioned the allowance in
middle school.
So let's start there.
It's like, how old should a child be
before that you start to introduce them to
money?
And I think it's really young.
I think, um, you know, it doesn't have
to be an allowance, but an allowance is
a great place to start where they understand
that they receive money.
(09:08):
I think if there's a work component to
it, it's, it's more related.
Like there's also an ethic there.
Like you get this, I don't know, $5
would do it today.
You know, I, I hear what I was,
I was at a concert, um, like a
small community concert with some friends and they
were talking about that their daughter was giving
(09:30):
our friend's daughter was giving their grandchild an
allowance.
And it was like, I think it was
$50.
It wasn't a week, maybe, maybe that was
a month, but I'm like, then you hear
what babysitters make, like this is a different
world, but back off the tangent, back to
allowance and allowance.
It's based on something.
Even if it's something the child was doing
(09:50):
anyway, just so there's some connection between having
money and doing something, whether it's, you know,
$10 a week, because you make your bed
every morning and you can pick up your
room and you, and you bring your laundry
to the laundry room or whatever the parent
decides, just some connection.
And if there's, and if they don't perform,
(10:12):
then they don't get that allowance.
So if you don't go to work, as
simple as that is, that's a, a important
lesson to instill on young people.
It's a good point.
Yeah.
I think, um, you know, the big, the
big, uh, thing with the allowance for me
that was helpful and, and I would, the
reason I would encourage it now is like,
(10:33):
you know, if you give the kid a
few dollars, then it's up to them, they're
not going to get money again for another
couple of weeks or whatever it is like
that's, that's their budget, let's say.
So then it's up to them how they're
going to spend it.
They spend it day one on, uh, whatever
$5 we'll get you, but, or they spread
it out and some will, but the lesson
(10:55):
of them not having the money to go
get that ice cream that they wanted, or,
you know, something that the parent wasn't going
to buy anyway, is the lesson that maybe
you have to defer some of your spending.
Yeah.
And that's how you start grasping how money
actually works as a kid.
So another lesson that I was taught and
(11:15):
it's, it's kind of the focus of most,
I was reviewing some lessons, uh, that are
suggested for young people prior to the podcast,
and this was in a couple of them.
And I'm sure my mother and grandparents didn't
read these articles, you know, 50 years ago,
but teach your children, grandchildren, what money is
(11:36):
for.
And it's not just for spending.
Cause I think that can be, you know,
that can be a, uh, inadvertent lesson.
Like, here's your money.
What are you going to buy?
Right.
That's true.
Right.
So money is to spend money's to enjoy,
but money is also to save.
So teaching the concept of delayed gratification, which
(11:57):
most of us don't have anymore, right between,
uh, online shopping and, you know, pay now,
not pay now, buy now, pay later, you
know, and all of these ways to defer
the responsibility for something you're having right now,
uh, teaching your child that money's for some
(12:17):
shopping for some buying, but also for saving
for something that is larger than you can
have in one week, uh, delayed gratification, deferred
spending.
And it's also a tool to do good
with it, to give some money away.
So to spend it, to save it and
to give it and to encourage, um, I,
(12:38):
this is a strategy I used with our
granddaughter.
Um, she's older now, but when she was
younger and I would give her money, I
would say, so you got three things you
have to do with this money.
You can spend some of it.
You can save some of this later and
you can give some of it and you
get to decide how much, but I'd like
you to do all three.
(13:00):
Yeah.
And, uh, is it teaches the, you know,
the, on the charity side, even if, even
if they take a small portion of it,
they see how they feel when they help
somebody else with, uh, with faith, we'd encourage
you to, you know, put some of that
money in the church plate, if you would
go to church with us, or if there
(13:20):
was a something in the community or whatever
it was, and you get that feeling of
giving, which we all know is when you
give, you always get more back, you know,
spiritually and personally than what you gave.
So teaching those three things all the time,
no matter what age the child is.
But I think then what I've read and
from what I've studied, um, over the years
(13:41):
around first grade is a great time to
start this around age six is when children
have the capacity to really understand and start
to learn these things.
Yeah.
I think that, that, that makes sense.
The earlier, the better, even, even like, uh,
recently, uh, I was, I was kind of
looking, I have a friend who recently had
a kid and very young, but I was
(14:03):
thinking like, wouldn't it be fun to get
like a book on like a very early
childhood book on money and, and, uh, just
to kind of expose it to the idea
of like a piggy bank and, um, you
know, just exposure to that kind of thinking
is, uh, is, as you said, I think
first grade definitely makes sense to when the
kids are understanding what's going on and right.
They're getting some structure in their life anyway.
(14:24):
Exactly.
But I would think like as, as early
as you can, just to start instilling some
of those, um, ideas, uh, I think makes
a lot of sense.
And I guess another step that people used
to take and it was more concrete.
So I'm not sure it has the same
impact, but, uh, taking the child and opening
a bank account.
I mean, I remember going to the bank
(14:46):
with my mom and having a little savings
account with a book.
It was, I think we're before your time,
Russ.
I'm sorry, but I'm going back.
Used to get a book, a passbook.
It was, it looked like a passport and
you would go in with your money and
give it to the teller.
And she'd have a dot matrix printer.
She'd put the passbook in and you'd hear,
and that would be the printing of your
(15:09):
deposit plus your interest and you'd see your
new balance and that was a pretty powerful
thing to save some money and see it
building in there and to have that physical
thing, I think the same concept can work
with opening an online bank account with your
child now, or still a physical bank, you're
not going to have that passbook, you're going
(15:29):
to have a random receipt maybe.
Um, so it's probably a little less, yeah,
it's not as interactive and as a kid
having that visual and the sounds and everything
like that obviously left an impact.
So there is a little bit of that
missing these days, I would think, but, um,
I know that, yeah, one thing, um, that
(15:52):
I read recently was, uh, and I don't
even know where I saw this, but they
were saying for kids rather than having like
the traditional piggy bank where like, it's like
a big, like a see-through jar that
they can see the money like building and
growing and accumulating.
I think that just those visuals and those
(16:12):
more interactive things are really good for kids.
Yep.
And although the passbook was very powerful with
an online bank, you could use the graphics
that they have probably to show a bar
chart or, you know, a graph of some
type of what's happening.
And also an advantage today, um, as these
children get older is you can use some
(16:33):
of the financial calculators online to, you know,
say, well, what if you saved $5 a
week, you know, for 10 years and you
earned a certain percentage of interest, how much
do you think you'd have?
And the power, a lesson I think to
imprint very early, you know, maybe we're up
10 or 12 years old now when they
(16:55):
understand math concepts better than first grade.
Right.
But to show them compounding interest and the
power of it, because it is something that,
uh, most people don't understand until they actually
do it for themselves.
You know, they used to get the calculator
and do it, but now you get all
these software programs and to see that, you
(17:17):
know, virtually anyone can become a millionaire if
they have this long-term vision and they
put money aside and they invest it and
they stay focused and disciplined over your working
career.
It is not super difficult to save more
than a million dollars.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, um, when, when that, when I
(17:39):
first realized, uh, like comp, I mean, that
was something I didn't really learn much about,
definitely not in school about compounding interest.
Like I didn't be part of a math
class somewhere.
Right.
And I hope, I hope it is more
these days, but I definitely had, we had
nothing about, about finance in my school really.
And, um, I remember seeing, I think it
was an online calculator when I was early
(18:00):
in my teenage years.
Um, and seeing like the chart of compounding
where it's like your contribution is small and
then the, the interest or the growth is,
is higher and higher and higher.
And at the end of whatever, 30 years,
40 years, the, um, amount that you contribute
is tiny compared to what's, uh, the growth
(18:21):
on top of that.
So, uh, when I first saw that, I
was like, wow, that was a, that was
an eye opener.
So, uh, definitely showing that to kids, I
think, uh, at the right age would, would
make sense and, and help them get a
sense of, all right, wow, this, there's something,
something to this savings idea.
That's right.
That's right.
And, um, so when the, when a child,
(18:41):
you know, is 12 or getting into the
teenagers, I guess there's some debate and this
is a parent parental decision, but at some
point it, I think it's helpful if they're
responsible, obviously if they spend every dollar and
they, you know, borrow money from the local
bookie, we don't want to do this, but,
you know, assuming that the child is learning
and interested, um, I think providing them with
(19:04):
a debit card for their own account, do
not give them your debit card.
I'm not, don't say Jeff Perry said, give
them your debit card.
Now having it, having a debit card, Fidelity
has a great program.
They have youth accounts.
Um, we created one for faith a number
of years ago and it has a lot
of educational materials on it, um, that they
(19:26):
watched, you know, to get onboarded, if you
will, and there's different ones for different ages,
but the foundation is a debit card that
they can use that is controlled, there's not
going to be a big fee if they
spend all their money.
You know, there's not, it's designed to, obviously
it's designed to bring people as customers, as
adults to Fidelity, that's what it's designed for,
but it has the benefit of letting them
(19:48):
make some mistakes with the debit card and
seeing how to use it and seeing the
online accounts and being able to put money
in and so forth, and they can even
invest in, in the debit, in the youth
account.
If they want to, if you can build
up a little bit and, you know, buy
a share of Disney or whatever the child
wants to do, if you want to expose
them to investing, it does that.
Yeah.
(20:08):
But I think it's good to associate a
debit card with them early because, you know,
many times, um, people, young people are not
exposed to actually having a debit card or
a credit card until they're in college, they're
18.
They go to some campus thing and they
get a, you know, a free t-shirt.
(20:29):
If you open this credit card or debit
card and they're off to the races without
any really guidance or formal kind of mentoring,
they have a debit card now.
And, you know, there's a million stories about
what can go wrong.
Right.
And I think there's like debit cards too,
and maybe this is the same where, you
know, uh, you could even have it set
(20:49):
up where they have like a specific limit,
like the allowance can be on debit card.
Yes.
And then it just gets the child used
to using that because, you know, credit cards,
debit cards are everywhere these days.
So getting to, to understand how that works,
I think is crucial.
In a supervised setting as the parent and
grandparent, you have access to see what they're
doing.
(21:09):
Right.
You know, so you know that they bought
an ice cream or, you know, they're not
sports betting already.
Yeah.
Just to get them into developing positive disciplined
habits while you are there to guide them,
rather than just saying you're 18, go to
the bank and get a, you know, bank
account.
Now I'm not, you know, you're not using
(21:31):
me anymore.
Isn't probably the best advice.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's all about getting them exposed to information
and learning good habits before, and speaking of
good habits, I think it's, and this is
something that used to be so prevalent.
We all had, we all had part-time
jobs growing up, you know, whether they were
(21:51):
summer jobs or whether they were after school
or on the weekends, most young people had
some type of job and that's not what
I see today.
I see very few teenagers, for example, working
and I know they have a lot of
stress.
I know they have a, it's an anxiety
ridden world for a lot of them with
social media and all their, what they're trying
(22:12):
to achieve in school and athletics.
And, but I think having a part-time
job is such a key part of your
financial literacy as you're growing up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it goes along with what you were
saying earlier, just like, you know, earning something
like you're putting in the work and then
you're earning from that, you know, like it's,
it's such a huge part of, of, you
(22:34):
know, our culture and, and, you know, you
need, you need to work to have a
living.
And if you're not, if you're waiting until
after college or whatever it is to start
experiencing that, it's like, all right, that's a,
that's a shock.
You know, if there's been no exposure at
all.
Yeah.
Even, I mean, in my experience, I was
I worked at a summer camp for years
(22:55):
and it's a great way to get started.
And, you know, it's like, it is a
job and if it's seasonal, obviously, and you're
outdoors, it's, I think it's a great way
to start for a lot of kids, you
know, that wouldn't necessarily be after school, but
that would be, you know, it could be
summer, it could be after school, it could
(23:16):
be on weekends, whatever works for the family's
schedule and all that, you know, we've got
to get them there.
And this just dovetails right into the, where,
you know, I think about kids getting older
and so maybe offering a debit card, a
youth debit card, teaching them about money.
We're certainly talking about working because these things
are going to come up like, oh, I
need a car.
(23:37):
I want a car.
Right.
So now we're 16 years old and I
want a car or whatever they, you know,
lots of the older they get, the more
expensive that their wants.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
And so how do you handle that as
a parent?
Um, and what message are you sending or
as a grandparent or any, an uncle, whatever,
(23:59):
whatever role you are.
And if the lesson is you don't have
to work, you'll, you'll be gifted to you.
That is very generous and it's wonderful for
the giver, but there's other ways that you
can do it and be generous and still
impart lessons on this, even if it's a
de minimis amount.
(24:20):
So, you know, a lot of the research
that I've read and listened to, um, over
the years indicates like if a child, if
you want to help a child, if you
want to buy the child, the car, at
least have them working so that they can
cover the gas.
Right.
Or, or have them save up a certain
(24:40):
percentage.
You know, it can be from 50, 50
to 90, 10, whatever it is.
If you're going to, if the car is
$5,000, which is a very reasonable price
for a car, tell them that you will
match, you know, you'll pay whatever it is
that you think is right.
Keep it easy.
50% of the car and 50%
(25:02):
of the insurance for the first year, but
you have to get a job and save
the other part because these expenses are going
to go on forever.
You're going to have repairs, explain the whole
thing.
And we all know from our own histories
that if you earn something, you treat it
differently than if it's given to you, whether
(25:25):
it's whatever it is.
Right.
So I think that's what the next step
as, as they're getting older, they've learned about
money, they have a good foundation has been
modeled well by the parents, but when we
get into these big ticket items, I think
the child having some skin in the game
changes the whole way that they look at
that item and their understanding of what you
(25:47):
need to do to be able to support
something that.
You've taken responsibility for.
And in this case, it's a car.
Yeah.
And even if it's a portion and they've
been saving up for that portion that they
were able to afford, that's, you know, money
that they've been building up over time, there's
like that commitment.
Um, and it, it changes the way that
they perceive whatever it is they're, they're getting,
(26:08):
you know?
Yeah.
Um, yeah, very good point.
Absolutely.
I think it's also a great time in
the teenage years, um, or, or before, but
by the teenage years to start including the
children or at least allowing them to hear
some of the family discussions about money and
that, and that doesn't need to be like,
here's how much money we have.
(26:28):
I'm not saying that, but maybe exposing them
to conversations about budgets and how much things
cost to run the house and how much
things cost to do whatever the family's doing
or to explain, you know, we're going on
a family vacation.
This is how much we have to spend
this year.
Yeah.
And this is how much each things cost,
because if you're not exposed to it, you
(26:50):
have no idea that it costs you $10
,000 to spend a week at Disney, right?
Right.
And to show that, you know, to show
the child that there's parking at the airport,
there's airline tickets, there's food, there's hotel, there's
tickets, there's entertainment, there's souvenirs.
And I think it's helpful just to further
(27:11):
educate and set a positive setting.
Not, not to have a complaining like, oh
my God, it's costing us 10,000 rotten
kids.
I can't believe them.
You know, have it in a positive way,
but just exposing them to the discussions between
the parents in this case, or whoever it
is with the child that they can understand
how, how the world works.
(27:32):
Yeah.
I think having that budget conversation, that was
another thing I didn't really learn much about
until later, but the idea of like, all
right, here's our set budget and here's how
we break it down.
And I know a lot of parents that
do that, but they don't talk to their
kids about it.
It's, it's really valuable because you know, kids,
kids, like if we go on a vacation
(27:52):
and their parents are spending money, it's like,
oh yeah, this is like an endless supply,
but a lot of the kids, I mean,
a lot of the parents are, you know,
it's very meticulous and right.
And it can be stressful for the parents
who are trying to deliver that perfect vacation.
So yeah, exactly.
And exposing them not just to spending, but
also savings in different ways, you know, maybe
(28:13):
reinforcing the compound interest values with talking about
investments and saving money outside of banks.
And this is why we do it, you
know, we save money for retirement and save
money for this or that just to broaden
it out, just to help your child get
a longer term vision of how you can
achieve great things with time and work.
(28:35):
Yeah.
And I know one other thing I was
thinking was like a lot of grandparents will
gift like specific securities to their, to their
grandkids, like just to show them, like, look
at this, this is a, now you like,
you could be a part owner of a,
of a Amazon or Tesla or whatever it
might be.
And having that, you know, if the kid
(28:56):
is interested in it, that could be something
that it really opens their eyes to the
idea of saving and investing from an early
age.
So that's another.
Our team leader, Chris Boyd, loves to talk
about this issue in the context of charitable
remainder trusts or different charitable ways.
Like if you have a family who you
(29:20):
can get together all in the same place,
you could do it virtually, I guess, but,
and you have these annual decisions or one
time decisions on where to the family, most
cases, the grandparents or the parents, but where
the family is going to make some charitable
donations to, to create, you don't have to
call it this, but like a mini family
board and have a meeting about it and
talk about where we'd like to donate this
(29:43):
year and maybe give a little piece of
the donation decision to each family member, as
long as they can explain why, you know,
so Sally, who do you think we should
donate money to?
And not just the American red cross, but
why, you know, and then have them articulate
that and kind of maybe even deliver the
(30:05):
check if possible.
There's a lot you can do to make
this a positive experience and to set your
own values, I guess that's the last part
of what we'll talk about for the time
we have remaining, but to set these lifelong
values, legacy values, impart them on your family
and they'll last, they'll last forever.
(30:26):
And hopefully they'll last for generations.
And hopefully they're positive because they're going to
last forever and maybe generations.
Right.
Right.
And, uh, you know, this goes into your
estate planning as well.
It, it, it goes all throughout your life,
these things that you model and these things
that you share.
Um, you know, I, as a lawyer, retired
(30:47):
lawyer, I saw too many times estate plans,
which were very well thought out by the
grantors.
The people wrote them, um, with specific reasons
and they never explained it to their heirs.
And so the meeting never actually really got
there, but if you explain it and if
(31:07):
you don't want to explain it when they're
alive, you can leave a video, you can
leave letters, love letters, life letters.
Um, but you're giving, you're, you're leaving your
legacy many times it's money, but not always.
Um, and if you can articulate the lesson
and the reasons that you're doing things, your
legacy and their view of it and their,
(31:28):
their view of, you know, what that means
to them for their future and their raising
kids, speaking of generations is, can be really
powerful if done correctly.
Yeah.
I think having those conversations, you know, when
it makes sense can be really a game
changer for, for that legacy planning.
But also like just to even just be
(31:51):
a little more transparent, come closer as a
family.
I think that there's a lot of power
to it, uh, to be able to have
those open conversations and it can be as,
you know, uh, Frank and forthcoming as, as
is appropriate.
But, um, to start talking about money, it's,
it's not, it doesn't need to be a
taboo.
It's, uh, it's important.
(32:11):
And, um, especially where, like you said, with
the estate planning and legacy planning, that's really
where it, where it comes into play.
And it's, it's crucial to have those conversations.
I hope this is a conversation, which I
enjoyed very much for us.
And I think it's one that, you know,
financial advisors, financial podcasts, they don't talk much
about, but I think it's important because if
(32:32):
you, if you think about what we've talked
about from very early on, you as a
parent, a grandparent, or someone that loves this
child has an opportunity to mold their values,
um, how they perceive things, how they look
at things positively and negatively.
And we're talking about money specifically, but how
(32:52):
they view money and teach them lessons about
how to build wealth, what to do with
it, to be charitable, to be a saver
and all the way through the upbringing to
their college, through their life.
And even when you are leaving with your
legacy, um, you have an influence to change
(33:13):
your family dynamic and change generations about how
money is viewed in your family.
Um, you have a lot of power there
if you do it right.
And a lot of it's a, be a
wonderful gift for you to be able to
have a positive influence in your family about
how the children and then those children become
parents, teach their generations about money.
(33:33):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode.
I hope you'll tune in next week when
we'll have another interesting financial topic until then.
Keep striving for something more.
Thank you for listening to something more with
Chris Boyd.
Call us for help, whether it's for financial
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those
(33:54):
quality of life issues that make the money
matters matter, whatever's on your mind, visit us
at something more with chrisboyd.com or call
us toll free at 866-771-8901, or
send us your questions to amr-info at
wealthenhancement.com.
You're listening to something more with Chris Boyd,
(34:15):
financial talk show wealth enhancement, advisory services, and
Jay Christopher Boyd provide investment advice on an
individual basis to clients.
Only proper advice depends on a complete analysis
of all facts and circumstances.
The information given on this program is general
financial comments and cannot be relied upon this
pertaining to your specific situation.
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the
information from this show will generate profits or
ensure freedom from loss.
(34:36):
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or
conduct their own due diligence before making any
financial decisions.
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