ELLEVEST INSIGHTS

As a mom of two young kids, I often think about how I can be intentional to help my kids learn the big lessons of life. As a wealth advisor, money is obviously a big topic for me. One of the benefits of my job is that I get to hear from each client how the way their parents spoke to them about money affects their relationship with money as adults. And I get to see the good (and bad) ways our clients try to teach their children about money.

This inspired me to chat with my Ellevest colleagues about how they speak to their own children about money.

Samantha Vient, CFP®, Wealth Advisor

Samantha first explained investing to her kids when they were 4 and 6 years old — and she kept it simple, “Investing is where your dollars make baby dollars, and then those baby dollars have their own baby dollars, and it all keeps growing.” She didn't try to teach too much at once. As they grew older, she explained what stocks are, and now her 9-year-old daughter regularly asks, “What kind of companies do we own?” She is certainly ahead of the curve.

Ankur Patel, Vice President of Investments

Ankur realized he had taught his kids about saving but not how to intentionally spend. He built a “bank of mom and dad” spreadsheet showing how much his daughter saves each year from gifts, chores, and more, then split it into a 50% save bucket and 50% spend bucket. She thought he was joking around telling her she could spend half her money. Ankur is already teaching wealthcare to his daughter.

Veronica Taylor, CFP®, Wealth Advisor, and Shai Wagner, Client Services Manager

Both Veronica and Shai had a similar experience with their teenagers: the money conversation has flipped from “how much can I spend?” to “how much do I have to save?” They both agree that having this conversation regularly (and consistently) is the only way to turn it into a habit.

One important thing I have learned when speaking to women at all wealth levels is that your relationship with money is not typically governed by how much money you grew up with or how much money you have now. It goes back to how your parents actually spoke to you about money, and how they spoke about money to each other in your home. And that doesn't mean you can't give your kids any luxuries in order to teach them about money.

I often hear from parents that they never want to tell their kids how much money they have in their bank accounts, investments, and so on. From my experience, the problem doesn't stem from the kids knowing about the money. It comes from the lack of building blocks in the formative years which is the foundation of their relationship to money.

Amerina Dollentas, Senior Client Services Manager

If you have young kids, take the approach many do with other life lessons and get a children’s book about money. Amerina recommended The Gumball Effect — a great book about saving and investing. I bought it right away and highly recommend it.

Be intentional about how you speak to your kids about money, and set aside time every month to talk to them about it, even if it's at breakfast before school or reading before bed. And be intentional with the way you talk about money to the people around you.

My son came home from school on St. Patrick's Day with a toy pot of gold. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he told me, “Work to make more gold, so I have lots of gold!” While I love that he has clearly heard me talk about investing a lot, I realized I also need to teach him that money can and should be enjoyed.

After all, that is wealthcare.