Our 2011 spring semester is off and running! At our January 13th meeting we had the privilege of having a financial planner - a member of New Life and a father of two girls - speak to us about raising financially responsible children. He emphasized that, as Christians, we have the great responsibility to teach our children how to approach money management in accordance with God's word, not just the latest financial trends.
Key Take-Aways:
1. Raising financial responsible children starts with responsible parents. Get your own finances in order to set the best example for your children.
2. The power of the compounding dollar. In a nutshell, putting a little money aside early on will net you greater savings in the long run that saving more money for more years later on. There is a financial formula that can give you specifics, but teaching your older children about this is very important.
3. Give your children opportunities to earn, manage and grow money early in their life. Geared for their specific age(s), teaching them about money - and allowing them to fail, which they certainly will - prepares them to handle larger amounts of money as young adults. Our speaker's daughters have savings and investment accounts and even have the opportunity to borrow on credit from their dad (at a high interest rate, no less). They are only in late elementary school. Think of how prepared they'll be when they go off to college or start their first job!
5. If you have to choose between funding your own retirement, or your child's college fund, choose your retirement. There are many options when it comes to paying for college, but there is only one way to fund your retirement: save money now. See #2 above.
