Believe it or not, Mother's Day isn't just an invention of the greeting card and flower industry. The tradition dates back to the ancient Greeks as a celebration of Rhea. From there it became a Christian ritual paying tribute to Mary. By the 19th century, Mother's Day evolved into roughly what it is a today: a celebration of Mom.
For the kids and dads, Mother's Day may be all about paying tribute and giving mom a break, but as every good parent knows, raising a child means never really getting a day off.
Camilla Webster, co-author of "The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom" is putting a slightly different spin on the day. She's looking to remind us all of the power of mom by encouraging every parent to rethink their influence on their children's financial futures.
Here are Camilla Webster's 5 Ways to Raise Your Kids to Be Wealthy
1. The Big Three
Webster says mothers need to teach your kids the fundamental point of making money in the first place. Income isn't a way to keep score with others or determine your non-financial self worth.
Kids should understand the "Big Three before" drawing their first allowance or paycheck --Save, Spend and Benevolence. Every portion of every dollar coming in should be divided into each of the three.
Stashing some cash for a rainy day, providing for basic needs, and giving back to others. If there's another reason for making a living Webster doesn't think your kids should know it.
2. Model Behavior
"Do as I say, not as I do," is a way to teach your children how to behave recklessly and lie about it.
Your kids are going to imitate the behavior they see at home. The only way to teach them to manage their money correctly is to start doing it yourself.
3. Money Language
Parents recklessly talk about money in an exaggerated, dramatic way bound to confuse kids. "We're broke!" or "We're going to Disneyland" may just mean the heating bill was unexpectedly high or an investment had an uptick, but kids are likely to take the words at face value.
A good mother should no more toss around such talk in front of her kids than she would vulgarity. Speak about your financial situation in plain, honest language in front of your kids.
4. Financial Literacy
Speaking of money talk, finance has a language all its own. Gross, net, tax rate, income bracket... these terms can be indecipherable to many parents, let alone the kids.
Take the time to walk your kids through a financial statement the same way you'd teach them to read or write. Moms will be shocked how fast kids can learn to speak the often bizarre language of money.
5. Drip, Drip, Drip Theory
Step five is to read steps one through four and make them part of your every day life. Sometimes it'll be hard, if not outright painful to spend time organizing and staying on top of your finances. Getting your brokerage statement in the mail after a brutal month in the market is much like bringing home a bad report card; you simply don't want to look at it.
The dirty little secret of being a mom or a dad is that feeling overwhelmed is often par for the course. Teaching your kids to take control of their spending and develop the proper habits will put them on the road to wealth of every kind.
When you think about it, giving kids gifts that last a lifetime is exactly why Mothers deserve their own day in the first place.
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