What is the best leadership style for managing money?

Sammy Rabbit shares with kids it is to lead by example. It is the core message of the song and video titled ‘Show My Family the Way!’

Did your parents teach you as a child or as a teen to manage money? It seems like a timely question given the recent Yahoo Finance and Marketwatch article titled: ‘College freshmen flunk financial literacy 101!’

I strongly believe financial education is needed womb to tomb. I have held the belief “early age” financial education is needed from the inception of the “It’s a Habit” company and the creation of Sammy Rabbit in 2001. This belief has been further cemented in my thinking by fifteen years of delivering financial education programs and research like the University of Cambridge study revealing adult money habits form prior to age 7!

What do you believe? What are you teaching your children and students about money management? At what age are you starting? If it were possible to go back and give yourself one money lesson as a child, what would that one lesson be? Would it be saving is a great habit? Would it be to prioritize your spending choices? Would it be to understand the difference between risk and reward?

There are two things you definitely do not want to do. One, is to wait or avoid talking to your kids about money and how to manage it. Two, you do not want to underestimate kids abilities to grasp concepts, even seemingly difficult ones. Kids minds are like sponges, they area able to absorb and understand a wealth of information.

References and Resources

Dream Big Day Blog – Sam X Renick: 11 Ways Teaching Kids to Save Money Pays Off

New York Times – Shelley Emling: Teaching children about money is a two-way street

Credit.com – Gerri Detweiler: 3 Ways to Make Your kids Millionaires

Parent Magazine – Stacey Colino: Dollar Wise Kids

T Rowe Price: 2014 Parents, Kids, and Money Survey

CNN: Financial Education for Kids / Kids and Money – Money Essentials