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Is It Really “Win Win”? Teaching Your Children The Ethics Of Financial Compensation

July 18th, 2017 Posted in learning about money, Money Tips
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Is It Really "Win Win"? Teaching Your Children The Ethics Of Financial Compensation - compensation sign image

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In a world full of ambulance chasing and people demanding something for nothing,  the topic of financial ethics is something that you will have to discuss with your children at some point. We see commercials about it on a daily basis and even during your children’s favorite shows. Whether it is claiming compensation for a car accident, mis-sold PPI, or an accident in work it’s these things that are communicating to our children that we are able to get something for almost nothing. So it’s important to differentiate between ambulance chasing and gaining compensation that is owed to someone as a result of an accident. But when you see stories about someone suing another person for what can be perceived as a minimal issue, where do you draw the line?

In our material-laden lives, it is very difficult to communicate to our children the importance of saving money, especially when it is that much harder to do now. It’s a lot more difficult to show your children what money can buy when you don’t have much of it. A small round of shopping can cost upwards of £50, which, for many people is the equivalent of a day’s wage. And as inflation inevitably rears its ugly head, and items become more expensive, the temptation to get some sort of compensation where you can is always there. At least 50% of the population of the UK do the lottery once a month, so that shows 50% of people are looking for a financial windfall to solve their problems. So if you have a means to claim compensation, it’s quite difficult to argue with when so many of us are so financially stark that we try and find ways to make as much money as we can, while we can.

So, communicating to your children about the topic of compensation is where we can get into a moral gray area. The best thing to do is to define clear boundaries about when people should claim compensation. This is all dependent on your own personal views of course, but the definition of compensation would be financial help in the event of an incident causing physical or psychological harm to someone which has a detrimental impact on their life. So if you had a car accident that was caused by someone else and you were unable to work, then surely it’s within your rights to claim compensation for this? You would claim compensation for the amount of money that you feel you were owed because it had an impact on your life. The issue would be if you contacted the insurance company and they tried to minimize your claim in one way or another, and getting an attorney to stop the insurance company trying to minimize your claim is a route that you may need to go down if you have this issue because you may be in a delicate financial situation, such as needing to pay medical bills.

The important thing to teach your children about financial compensation is if they feel they deserve this. It can be a very sticky area depending on their own moral compass. If you’re teaching your child the importance of financial responsibility yet you are seen trying to take someone to the cleaners for every penny they have, it’s setting a confusing example about the value of money. Ultimately the best way to strike a balance between the topic of financial compensation and the value of money and is to put it within a work context.

If you can communicate to your children about the value of hard work and compensation is viewed as something that can help you when you are unable to work this might be the best approach if you are facing an impending decision on claiming for something in your family. You don’t want your child to feel that they are owed things without working for them, and until they are old enough to decide properly whether they are deserving of something without working for it, you are much better to instill this value of working for money when they are young.

Compensation is such a sticky area to get into because everybody has their own opinions on if they are owed something or not. But if you can start off on the right foot and communicate the fact that money is something that is earned and using compensation as a replacement in lieu of not being able to work this should help to reduce the ambulance chasing tendencies that we see a lot in the Western world.

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Invisible Money – How to teach kids about money in a cashless society

July 17th, 2017 Posted in kids and money, teaching kids about money
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Think for a moment about how many of your day to day transactions are made with actual notes and coins. In a world without cash, what are the implications for teaching children about money?

The Global Issue of Invisible Money

In 2014, the US Parents, Kids and Money Survey suggested 73% of parents agree that because of digital transactions, kids think of money differently than they did when they were growing up. An Australian survey revealed that over one in three (35%) children simply don’t know how digital purchases are paid for. Whilst in the UK consumers recently passed an important milestone on the path to a cashless society, with cash now used for less than half of all payments. These statistics highlight the influence digital technologies can have on how children understand money.

Not seeing physical money exchanged for purchases makes it harder for kids to get their heads around what things cost and how money works. They might not easily see the link between the ‘invisible money’ of online payments or contactless purchases with real money eventually coming in and out of their own bank account.

invisible money how to teach kids about money in a cashless society

Where Money Comes From

It’s not difficult to see how in an age where we can slot a plastic card into a ‘hole in the wall’ and obtain physical currency, or where you can ‘tap and go’ to pay, how our children might not fully understand where the money used to pay for things comes from. One method of explaining this is to describe to your kids the purchase path or the flow of money; from earning it, to depositing into the bank and ultimately the final purchase and receipt.

Making the point of using cash occasionally, rather than electronic funds can also help to provide younger children with a visual representation of how currency works. Once they understand physical money you could slowly introduce them to the idea of online and credit purchases.

 

Pocket Money and Chores

Many parents recognise the value of using pocket money, or an allowance, to teach children about budgeting. Giving your children pocket money in return for jobs around the house can help them understand the connection between time spent doing work and money. A weekly pocket money allowance can also help to develop your kids’ budgeting skills. If you give them a weekly sum which includes both an element for daily routine activities plus some personal discretionary money, it can teach them to prioritise between needs and wants and make choices around spending and saving.

Understanding the True Cost

Mobile phones and tablets make it easier for your children to spend money online sometimes without even knowing it. Another example of invisible money is where many games and apps are now ‘freemium’ – meaning that whilst the app was initially free to download, it will proceed to ask users to purchase special features or content for a fee. If making app purchases is not prevented by a password prompt, then a couple of accidental taps in a game could cause your children to make real-money purchases.

Figures show that 61% of kids are buying apps or making in-app purchases every month, it’s important therefore as parents to establish some ground rules to ensure your child is conscious and aware of the money he or she may spend and its consequences. One useful tip is to ask for the money from your child before they make the purchase to establish the connection that it is still real money.

Setting up a bank account.

Once they are old enough and especially when your child has a job or gets an allowance, having a bank account and watching the balance grow (or shrink) is important. By downloading the bank’s app they can easily monitor and track his or her spending. Another important habit for later in life.

If you can’t beat them join them

The ease and convenience of cashless transactions puts us on an irresistible march towards a cashless society perhaps in your child’s lifetime. Get them prepared early by giving them a prepaid card with a weekly or monthly allowance. These cards can be monitored online and teach the principle that money, whether invisible or not, can only be spent once.

 

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Dare To Dream – Showing Your Kids What Money Should Buy

July 13th, 2017 Posted in learning about money
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As responsible adults with families, we know where our spending priorities lie. Nothing is more important to us than our kids, so cash is spent wisely on providing them with the very best opportunities for the future. You might invest money in their education, their health care, and quality food. Of course, your kids would rather have the cash for the latest toys or fashion! So how can you encourage them to dream big and make their money count?

Is it all about values or just about value? Most of us spend money to provide the type of lifestyle we want. This is about values. We enjoy clean living (sometimes we use the services of this cleaning service in London), so perhaps we spend our income on solar panels, organic food, and an electric car. For someone else, these things might seem like status symbols of the affluent. To them, these purchases are about cash value, not lifestyle values. How you see your purchases can easily seem very different to someone else.

When you’re teaching your children about the value and values of money, it’s important that you discuss intention too. In the eighties, many young people were encouraged to aspire to a life filled with designer brands, fast cars, and the latest tech. These were status symbols – nice things to buy with the good money you’ll earn if you work hard at school. These days, perhaps our priorities have changed.

Dare To Dream - Showing Your Kids What Money Should Buy, Values - nice home image

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Buying a nice home is still quite high on the list of priorities. However, many of us would like a property that is also a good investment for the future. This might have a monetary value, or perhaps it is about the amenities and community on offer in that neighborhood? Have a look at property listings like the Joe Manausa Real Estate web pages to see why we might value a neighborhood or the local amenities. Can a home offer the lifestyle your kids aspire to?

Education is very important, but where should it come from? You might save for years to provide the funds for America’s top colleges. Indeed, in many companies, the school choice is essential for a top-level position. You might consider this investment to buy choice and opportunity for your child. Does it buy their long-term or even short-term happiness? Can they take the course they really want? Would experience prove more beneficial? And what have you sacrificed to squirrel every penny away for this?

Dare To Dream - Showing Your Kids What Money Should Buy, Values - graduation image

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It’s difficult to get a balance that you can all agree on. Your choices are your choices, but it might be enormously beneficial to speak to your children about them. Talk about why they are your priorities, and why you’re willing to make the sacrifices you’ve made. Most importantly, discuss why you chose not to borrow money. To a child, it might be difficult to comprehend why you wouldn’t just buy something on a credit card so you can have it right away.

Impulse buys or big dreams? How can you balance the two? This is, of course, down to personal choice and financial situation. Do you discuss these things with your children?

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Teaching Your Kids About Car Finance

July 11th, 2017 Posted in teaching kids about money
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Kids grow up so fast, sometimes too fast – especially when they start talking about getting their first car. Kids may not realise the financial implications of getting a car, but you do. Teaching them from a young age will help them understand what responsibilities they will need to take on when they get one, even if you agree to cover the cost until the leave for university. Having a car will be one of the first major financial responsibilities your child can have, and it’s important to prepare them right for it.

Have them save towards the car

Teaching Your Kids About Car Finance - toy car image

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One way to teach kids about car finance is to make them save towards any car they plan to have in the future. Whether this is through saving their allowance or getting them to take on a part-time job, it’s important that they realise that saving is a key part of getting the things that they want, rather than relying on borrowing/credit to get there faster. One way to get them to learn is to teach them about cutting household expenses and other costs which could help them to make the savings they need.

Show them the bigger picture

As well as the cost of a car, children will need to know about the other costs that come with it including fuel costs, repairs, maintenance, and insurance. These costs annually can amount to as much as the car itself if their first car is an older car, and they will need to learn how to work and save to be able to afford all of these things, and not just the car itself. If you want to take it further, you can talk to them about pricing up the cost of accidents, why they might need to hire a personal injury lawyer and the costs associated with parking fines and speeding tickets. The message her is that a car isn’t just a single item, there are many other responsibilities that come with it.

Don’t stop at now

For most kids, a first car will be more of a run-around, a second-hand car which will teach them responsibility as well as helping them to learn to budget. This could teach them more about car finance and responsibility than getting them a brand new car would. In the future, your kids will need to earn money in order to afford a nice new car, and learning all about the different finance options, including leasing, will help them understand for when that time comes.

Even if you’ve done all you can to put them off the idea of owning a car for the meantime, it’s a subject that will keep coming up as they get older. Helping kids find ways of saving for a car will make the end reward much sweeter for them, and will make them appreciate their car more because they bought it with their own money. There’ll be tough lessons to learn, but you can certainly guide them from a young age.

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Preparing Your Kids to Eventually Succeed You in a Family Business

July 11th, 2017 Posted in Entrepreneurship, Money Tips
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Preparing Your Kids to Eventually Succeed You in a Family Business - family image

Even though running a budget of a family business and running a household budget are in no way the same thing, they are more than closely related. In a way, the way in which you handle your family finances reflects the way in which a family business is governed. First, you start with one generation (the parents) who are in charge of running the household/company and then proceed to pass on the baton to their successors.

At first, children or earning young adults are in charge of no more than slightly contributing, while in time they might start to play more vital role in the decision-making process as well. With this in mind, here are a few ways in which teaching your kids about household chores and budget might prepare them to take your place in the family business when the time comes.

1.      The division of roles and responsibilities

The first obvious connection between these two notions is reflected through the issue of roles and responsibilities. Each family member gets assigned tasks that are in accordance with their abilities and experience. For instance, you wouldn’t expect a 10-year-old to do the entire grocery run, but you might ask them to clean the bathroom, wash windows or even wash the car. Nonetheless, once you start adding these responsibilities, you need to give more recognition to your child in order to keep them motivated. Otherwise, you might make them feel underappreciated, which might discourage them from taking future initiative within the company.

2.      Start early

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that the age of the child (we used in the previous example) is not the best indicator of the part that they should take in the company. Corporate experience is a much more reliable factor. Of course, we are not suggesting you should push your child in a company business before they are ready or exploit child labor. Still, you could have them run some business errands during weekends or breaks at quite an early age. In this way, you can include them in the numerous processes of your business and have them learn about the company from inside.

3.      Use the perspective of their generation

From these menial positions, they will later advance to some more delicate administrative tasks and in time even advance to a decision-making position. You see, the generation Z (the post-millennials) tends to be much more hyper-connected to the world and therefore might have some radical new ideas your company as a whole might benefit from.

For instance, you might ask your teen about the advice surrounding your company’s social media campaign, especially if their peers are one of your target demographics. Next, you might consult them when inquiring about LED lighting solutions for your business and see where they stand in this regard. Having someone else (someone adult) actually need their opinion is definitely going to make them feel appreciated.

4.      Teach them the value of money

Finally, one of the most important lessons that any parent can teach their child is – the real value of money. By introducing them to a family business you can show them where your family’s income comes from and in this way demonstrate that there is a finite amount of it that needs to be managed carefully. Next, instead of giving them an allowance, you can give them a ‘salary’ for all the hard work they invest in the household and family business. In the end, make sure they know the difference between emotional and rational purchases and in this way nurture healthy spending habits. They will need this as both adults and future management of your company.

A lot of young people whose parents own family businesses feel the urge to abandon it and start something of their own. This, however, most commonly happens due to a mistake in the attitude that these parents sometimes assume. You need to make it clear from the very beginning that the company in question is not ‘mine’ but ‘ours’ and that they are the part of it from the moment you start it. Even if they are too small to serve as its active part, these children are probably the motivator of its existence. It is your job to make them feel this way, as well as to prepare them for all that is to come.

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