Financial literacy starts at home. And that’s why the crusade to disrupt the financial industry must begin with families.
If you’re a parent, you have the power to influence your kids more than anyone or anything else. Your child’s response to conflict, their career, their relationships, their hobbies, their values, their politics, the core of who they are can all be shaped by you, the parent.
The same is true of your mindset towards money. The way you deal with your finances can have a profound impact on how your children deal with theirs.
Research has shown that most people start learning about money by age 3. By age 7, their attitudes about money are set.¹
What do you remember between ages 3 and 7? Probably very little on the conscious level. But you may carry some of their habits around with you…
You probably remember if your parents had frugal or flippant attitudes about money.
You probably remember if your parents fought about money.
You probably remember trying to persuade your parents to buy you things… or if your words fell on deaf ears.
On some level, you probably feel all those things now when money comes up in conversation. When your stress vanishes after buying a new toy. Or your heart sinks when you check your bank account. Or you get a head rush of discomfort when your coworker starts talking about the size of their investment portfolio.
Here’s another fact—almost no one is happy with the financial education they got growing up. 83% of parents wish they had learned more about money when they were kids.²They’re eager to avoid mistakes from their own childhood. But there’s just one problem…
Do they actually know how money works?
It’s unlikely. A 2020 global survey revealed that only 15% of young adults were financially literate.1 Translation—85% of adults, through no fault of their own, are poised to repeat their own parents’ mistakes.
That’s why reaching families with financial education is foundational to our mission. If parents get a financial education, their children are far better positioned to build wealth. And if families can learn how money works together, they can remove emotional obstacles and grow closer together, as well.
That’s why financial education is central to my mission. Because once families know how money works, they’re far less likely to be taken advantage of. They start making decisions that favor their futures, not someone else’s.
And when that happens to enough families, the financial industry will never be the same.
