Why Financial Education Starts Early

Episode Transcript

Kelli Green (00:00):
Welcome back to the Live Better Podcast.
I'm your host and CentricSenior Vice President of
Marketing, Kelli Green.
April is Youth Month at Centricand today we're discussing why
financial education starts earlyand how adults can really
impact overall children'sfinancial habits.
Joining us today is our specialguest, Kimberly Roberson, who
is an educator, mother,podcaster, ironman, athlete.

(00:23):
We are so excited to have herjoin us.
So thank you so much forjoining us and let's dive in.
So, Kimberley, welcome.
Thank you, I'm so excited to behere.
Well, we're tickled to have you, and one of the
things I want to share too withour listeners is that you've
been authoring our blogs for nowa little over a year two years
now
A little over a year yeah.
Yeah, that's incredible.

(00:44):
So I know we've mentioned inyour introduction being an
educator, a mother, podcasteryourself, an Ironman athlete, of
all those things.
I'd love for you just to kindof bring that in and tell us a
little bit about yourself andhow you kind of arrived at the
Ironman.
That is, to me, is like that'sincredible.

Kimberley Roberson (01:06):
Yeah, it's a little bit.
A little bit that's a lot.
Sometimes I forget that that'sum, that's on my little rap
sheet, I guess.
But um, yeah, I, uh, I, mybackground is in literature and
so I used to teach at ULM andthen felt called to start
homeschooling my kids and so Ihave six children and um, and so

(01:29):
that's an adventure.
And then, uh, we've I'vedabbled in podcasting and we
I've done like over I don't knowa hundred plus episodes with
that.
Just I like to kind of try onnew things.
And then, of course, with theblog, I love writing the, the
Centric blog, and everything.
So, um, yeah, and then, um, Idon't know, where else.

Kelli Green (01:53):
Oh well, your Ironman, talk to us.
Oh, what led to that?
Because I think the thing Ilove so much about your family,
you guys always bring inphysical fitness and you're
outdoors.
There's such an appreciationfor that and I think that is
that kind of speaks to yourfaith Also, I love that.
I just I really think that'sfantastic.
So, ironman, what was like?
How did you say yes, this iswhat I'm going to do.

(02:14):
Challenge accepted.

Kimberley Roberson (02:15):
Well, it was actually through an interview
that I was doing on my podcast,the Mommy Pro or the Mommy
Project is what it's called andI interviewed one of my friends'
wife.
She had had a terrible accident, broke her hip, we had babies
right close together and she, umsaid, the only thing that would

(02:35):
get her out of bed in themorning, um, cause she was
really kind of in a you know ina slump, she signed up for an
Ironman and so I followed herwhole path and so, as she's
telling her story, I became verymotivated to do something like
that.
And I mean, my background withmy husband is we have done

(02:57):
triathlons and races and I love,you know that community and
culture, but to do somethingthat drastic, um, with three
little babies and working, I, Idon't know.
I just want to do it, just tosee if I could do it, and and it
took me a year, I followed atraining plan, I was dedicated,

(03:17):
but through that whole process Ilearned a lot about myself.
I um, you know, had to payattention to nutrition.
I mean, there was just a lot ofthings that I had let slack in
my personal life that you can'tdo that when you take on
something that huge and thatstrenuous.
So, uh, yeah, it was.
It's remarkable.
I look back and I'm like Ican't believe I did that and um

(03:40):
and so, and we have all of thatkind of documented on our
podcast too.
Um, but that's what kind of ledme to.
That was just seeing her, herstory and then seeing like man
that really revolutionized herlife and helped her in many ways
that you just don't expect.

Kelli Green (03:58):
Oh yeah, and so that's kind of Well, I love what
you're saying about this too,because you had to really set
your mind on this goal and youmight have.

Kimberley Roberson (04:07):
It's not about you know, if you look at

(04:29):
the big picture it's veryoverwhelming, but it's in the
daily, just consistent, littleby little.
That's how you make you knowbig differences.

Kelli Green (04:38):
I'm so glad you know that I wanted to ask you
these questions because one I'mso intrigued by Ironman.
But how, as we're talkingthrough this and you're sharing
your experience, such parallelsare coming in my mind of seeing
when you're raising children oryou're also setting financial
goals and achieving those.
You know, we are literally onetiny decision, consistent

(05:00):
decision, away from making vastchanges in our lives, absolutely
, and that's something a lot oftimes people don't really think
about.
Now I would tell you, like ourfinancial journey, it took us
right at about 15 months for myhusband and I to become debt
free.
This was years and years agowhen we took on that particular
journey.
It's when Lily, our oldest, wasfirst born and, um, and we were,

(05:22):
you know, we just within thattimeframe, we're like, okay, we
really want to make sure we'remaking some sound decisions here
, and so, bringing kids into themix, you know it's like, okay,
we're kind of eating and doingwhatever we wanted to do when we
were, you know, just, it wasjust the two of us, but then you
bring in a child and then, 14months later, we bring in our
second baby.
You know it's, it's wild how,when you reflect on things, life

(05:46):
changes and you're the thingsthat were so important aren't so
important anymore and youreally have to kind of start
thinking about what sacrificescan I make today so that you
know you're preparing really fora wholesome financial future
for your family.

Kimberley Roberson (05:59):
Right.

Kelli Green (06:00):
Right.
So, as we're kind of talkingthrough some things, I know that
kids are near and dear to yourheart and with April being youth
month, we have some really coolthings happening here at the
credit union.
So every account that's openfor our kids we actually fund
that.
Their membership account isfunded and their initial deposit
is funded.
We are just so, in fact, forthe month of April, over the

(06:23):
last 10 years, we have seen justincredible exponential growth
in our youth accounts, becauseso many folks don't have the
extra money to fund thoseaccounts, right, and that's
something that's like hey, wewant to take that, take that
burden away, you know, and justhelp.
You say look, if this issomething that you wish to do,
let us help you get started.

Kimberley Roberson (06:42):
That's right , and sometimes that's just
that's.
All you need is that littlehelp to get you started.
Um, that initial response andthen and then from there, you
know just putting in a dollar, acouple of dollars, you know
whenever you can.
It's a lot.
I think a lot of people thinkyou know when you have children,
it's a, and you want to teachthem about money, you want to

(07:05):
teach them about budgeting orthese big, lofty goals.
It seems very overwhelming, butif you break it down into like
little bitty, practical babysteps over time, you will see
them walk out your door one daygoing to college with a wise
financial head on theirshoulders.
That's right and that's what wewant.

(07:26):
Amen.

Kelli Green (07:28):
You know and you think about it.
When you think, okay, I want tocreate this budget, I want to
have a college fund for my kids,I want to have my 401k is fully
funded.
But when we think about that,it is that just as you were
planning for your Ironman, youhad to consistently commit.

(07:48):
So, just like you mentioned, itmay be a dollar, two dollars,
whatever it is set that up toautomatic transfer or
automatically remind you, youknow, to really make those
deposits into your futurewhatever that might be, whether
that's financial, whether that'syou know, an Ironman
competition, or if it's like yousay, hey, something as simple

(08:09):
as I've got, you know, cheap, Iwant to read.
You know, 12 books a year.
What does that look like foryou?
You know, and really thinkingabout that, the consistency, I
think, is something that youwould really say, hey, that's
critical and key in whatever youdo.

Kimberley Roberson (08:23):
Absolutely, and and for our listeners.
Uh, it just dawned on me.
Some people might not know whatan Ironman is.
Yeah, so an Ironman is it's a.
It's a big competition.
It's been around for years, um,and so what it consists of?
It's consists of three sports.
So it's swimming and it's like2.2.4 mile swim in open water,

(08:47):
which is a whole beast in itself, right.
And then you do 110 to 114 milebike ride right after that, and
then you get off your bike andyou run a marathon.
So and I will say this to thelisteners, before I signed up, I
had never ran a marathon.
The longest distance I'd everdone was a six mile trail run,

(09:12):
um, along the.
You know triathlons, so I haddone triathlons before.
But so when you're signing upfor a big goal back to our
financial discussion or you'redoing something massive, um, it
helped me to not to.
I mean, I understood the bigpicture, but not to look at the

(09:33):
big picture every day.
You just set a daily goal andthat's what you're going to do
that day.
You're not going to be like, oh, I want to invest my money, but
I only have a hundred dollarsleft over in the month.
Is that even going to make adifference?
Don't look in the big pictureleft over in the month.
Is that even going to make adifference?
Don't look in the big picture.
Look in the daily and over time, over a year or two years or

(09:59):
five years you will see a hugeprogression.
But you can get overwhelmed ifyou look too much into the
future.

Kelli Green (10:04):
If that makes sense , it does, I love it because
it's so easy to becomeoverwhelmed, and I think that's
what stops people.
Yes, it just because the fearof the unknown, one and two, you
just feel like it almost justtakes the wind out of you.
You're total breath away whenyou think about this big,
massive goal.
But if you just say, hey, ineverything that we do, just take

(10:26):
a second and then just say, allright, what am I going to do
today?
What would be a win?
Today and tomorrow might look alittle different.
Your yesterday may look alittle different, right, but
what is it that?
The one thing that you might beable to do that helps get you
to where you want to be, I thinkthat's outstanding.
There's so much to be said forthat, especially when you're
talking with folks just like youwho have, you know, you've had

(10:48):
some really big, lofty goals inyour life.
But you really put it all intoperspective and said, hey, I'm
looking at this holistically,but as you were kind of within
your training, you thought, okay, I'm not going to get the cart
before the horse here, let's seewhat we can do.
Just the day-to-day changes.
That's so incredibly critical.
I will say this when we'retalking about those day-to-day
changes too, the talking aboutthose kinds of things with your

(11:14):
kids.
One of the things I think is sointeresting is when we can have
the conversation and let themsee what this looks like for us,
when we are maybe makingpurchases at the grocery store,
or when they say, oh my gosh,mom, I want to buy this, or like
I need this.
Would you do that?
Can we go out to eat tonight,mom?
You know, like what's the deal,and so some of the things that

(11:35):
I share with our kids, you knowI say, okay, like they may not
necessarily have their ownbudget, but they still have
chores and they earn a littlebit of money here and there.
And so I think one of thecritical things for me and this
is something I've done I'd loveto hear about what you're doing
with your kids.
One of the things I share withthem is helping them to
understand the differencebetween a need and a want.
Yes, and then within that comesa savings conversation.

(11:58):
So if they're like, oh, mom,can we stop by the store I want
to get, you know, my oldest isin all about twin snakes, those
little gummy things.
Oh, it's gross, but anyway.
And then my youngest littlegirl, you know she's like I want
talkies and all this kind ofthing or whatever, and I'm like
I will not buy it myself becauseI just know how unhealthy it is
.
That's a whole otherconversation that we can get
into, but what I will share withthem is that, okay.

(12:22):
It's like when they say, well,we're going to stop here, we've
got our own money, and I willjust remind them hey, remember,
aren't you saving for this,right, aren't you saving for
that?
And then they start kind ofthinking about okay, okay,
that's right.
And so that simple thing for me, instead of writing out a
budget for them that can getkind of convoluted and one we're
not going to be committed to.
That Right, I know we're not.

(12:44):
But what we can be committed tois when we're making our
groceries.
So I order our groceries everyweek and I will say, okay, we
have an allotted amount that wewant to spend, right, and I can
say, okay, if you want this andwe can't have that.
So it's like if you want thisfor your lunchbox and we're
going to have to look at whatwe're going to bring in for
snacks after school.
So that's kind of helping themunderstand the needs versus

(13:06):
wants.
Yeah, that's how I've kind ofbrought that into our household.
What are some things that maybeyou're doing with your kids to
really build maybe healthy moneyhabits?

Kimberley Roberson (13:16):
Well, one thing that I was thinking about
this, when you were kind ofpresenting this as something
that we would talk about is wetalk about money a lot and I try
to talk to them about how muchthings cost, just bring
awareness of just how much foodor gas or just little things

(13:41):
cost and we talk about I mean,I've got a range of children, so
our oldest is 12 and ouryoungest is one and we've got
six, so we've got a variety ofages.
When they were little well, myolder three.
When they were little well, my,my older three when they were
little we had this game calledthe allowance game and it's a

(14:02):
board game and my kids loveboard games and so we would, um,
we would play that.
It teaches them about how tocount money and this and that,
Um, but also how to you knowearn, yes, and so that's like
through board games you canteach you know just money
awareness, taking them shoppingwith you, you know, instead of.

(14:24):
I mean, I think orderinggroceries is great, but there's
nothing like going to the storeand pointing out the prices,
talking to them about how milkis more expensive now than it
was later.
Milk is more expensive now thanit was later, and I try not to
bring that too often up becauseI don't want them to have money

(14:45):
anxiety, but I do want them tohave an awareness that
everything has a rising cost andum.
So those are some things thatwe do now.
Another thing that we do is wethey earn money through chores,
right, and they, we, they earnmoney through chores right, and
they also money earn moneythrough good behavior.

Kelli Green (15:01):
Yes, I love that.
I mean, we homeschool so So inorder for us to motivate them,
they I'm like okay, if you doyour school work with a good
attitude and you help out withyour younger siblings or, you
know, pick up your room withoutfussing about it, you might get
a star in the chart, and we havea star chart.

(15:22):
When they fill that out, theyget a certain amount of money,
and so we don't do allowance, wekind of do it that way, and
when we give them that money,I'm like that's your money.
Now you have the savings, youhave the giving and you have the
spending category in theirlittle piggy bank.
But I don't micromanage theirmoney because they and I'm and I

(15:46):
do remind them I'm like allright, when you buy those V
bucks, your money's going to begone.
Are you wanting to spend yourmoney that
Or do you want to?
Do you want to go to theconvenience store and buy that
Icee and you know there's thatchocolate bar or something?
But I try not to uh, like Isaid, micromanage their money
because it's theirs.

(16:09):
And when they go off and out ofour house and on their own, I
don't want them to not know howto do it because mom and dad are
not there to tell them how tospend their money.
Does that make sense?
Oh, absolutely.
It's so interesting that you're talking about that.
We're very similar in the waythat we're sharing.
So when they receive thatallowance, it's based upon their

(16:31):
chores that they complete.
Here's the thing if you do itand you're not told, then you
can.
You know you get paid.
But if we have to ask you to dothat, it's like our bosses
don't come in and tell us everyday hey, did you do X, Y, Z?
Hey, did you do that?
We're adults, you know, and soit's so important.
I think I was listening to adoctor on a podcast and hearing

(16:53):
him share how important it isthat we instill.
We let our kids fail, we letthem make that mistake.
Similar, we're talking aboutfinances.
But if they spend that moneyand then they realize, oh man,
I'm broke, it's going to take me, you know, four or five weeks
with my chores before I can, youknow, get enough money.
That's concerning, you know.

(17:17):
But we need them to feel that.
You know, they need to feelthat, like man, I might've made
a mistake here, because there'sthe best made mistakes or where
you learn.
That's exactly right, and sothat's something to really think
about.
And so I have loved thisconversation with you today,
kimberly.
This is awesome, I love whatyou have done.
And then just number one thisis awesome, I love what you have
done.
And then just number one you,you have.
You've inspired so many kidsthrough your education and your

(17:38):
tutoring program.
I think that's awesome.

Kimberley Roberson (17:40):
Yeah, I um, yeah, I forgot to mention that I
, um, I love to help, uh, kidsthat are maybe struggling with
their, their schooling.
Um, schooling, my tutoring kindof service or business, if you
will.
That's kind of like a sidehustle, and that's another thing
.
Like my kids are seeing me andmy husband, we are like, okay,

(18:03):
we got to go and do our sidehustle because this is how we
pay for X, y and Z, and sohaving these open conversations
about why we go to work and whatwe're doing and how we're
spending our money, it can bringit full, you know, bring it
full circle.
But but yeah, and I love toencourage kids and however
they're needing to be encouragedand speaking life into them and

(18:28):
also their parents.
You know their parents are outthere doing the best they can
and they need some like good job, mom, you're doing great.

Kelli Green (18:34):
Absolutely.
I love it.
You are the ultimate encouragerand I'm so grateful that you
know we've met through yourhusband, who actually, for those
of you that may not know, weactually have her husband's the
one that takes care of all ofour production.
Yeah, and so, from anythingfrom our design work, when we're
anything you see from a videoperspective, it is all on him.

(18:54):
So I'm so grateful for thatconnection and I just I'm so
thankful that you took the timeto join us today.
You juggle a lot and Iappreciate you just taking the
time to do this with us.
It means a lot.
All right, well, thanks so muchfor tuning in to the Live
Better Podcast with Centric.
Be sure to subscribe and followus on social media at MyCentric

(19:17):
.
See you next month.
And, as always, centric isfederally insured by the NCUA.