August 27, 2024
Building Financially Resilient Families Q&As
Recap: Hosted by LMY Executive Director, Bjorn Larson, and guest Money Personality, Ericka Young, Building Financially Resilient Families is a recorded LMY Teams live event where Bjorn and Ericka share their personal experiences managing money and empowering their loved ones along the way.
Q&As
Q: My kids are age four and two, and I’m wondering what’s the best technique to have them earn money and split up their earnings between spend and save. Should we force them to have 2 jars of money and make them put half in save and half in spend? What should we allow their save jar to be spent on?
A: Jars are great for this age! My girls decorated and labeled three respective boxes each, 'Give’, ‘Save’, and ‘Spend’. At first, it was a third of their earnings Interested in joining a live event? allocated evenly to each box, but as time went on, they decided to spend more, save more, or give more, depending on their priorities.
I would suggest spending money on toys and new experiences with friends (like going to a new park or movie, or even the Dollar Store). The save jar can be reinvested into future savings with interest ($5 becomes $10), or maybe you allow your child to choose between $5 immediately or the former.
Q: Any ideas on discussing differences among children? One of our children has a special needs trust, and the other doesn't need one.
A: It depends on the age of each child. If your child is old enough to understand what it takes to run a household and care for one another, (age 12+), you can share with your children the purpose of the special needs trust and the importance of saving money to care for oneself into the future.
Q: How to have conversations with teenagers about money without stressing them out?
A: Share one budget category at a time, like groceries or the electric bill. Allow them to experience what happens when you pay the bills – whether it’s logging into a platform or writing a check. You want your teenagers to know you can afford to pay for everything, but it must be within your means of living.
Let them know you are educating them before they need to take this on themselves so it can be much less daunting. Invite them to share their concerns about money matters so you can address them directly as well.
Q: Is it too late to try to instill better spending habits in young adults (early 20s)? And if not, what suggestions would you have? Sometimes, it feels like we have lost the war against instant gratification.
A: It depends on where your young adult is financially; If they overdraw accounts, discuss how this impacts their financial opportunity and ask how they are going to recover and change behaviors to continue to work toward their goals; If they spend money as a form of therapy, talk through new habits to help alleviate stress; If they experience second-hand money issues, challenge them to reconsider their financial independence. Ultimately, encouraging positive habit-forming behaviors – like paying bills on time, moderating splurges, ensuring their financial independence, first and foremost – is key to long-term financial wellness.
For example, we’ve matched what our daughter saved each month so she could build up her emergency fund. We had to find out what motivated her (more money) to encourage the behavior (saving even more of it) to help her establish the emergency fund.
Q: I don't have kids, but I volunteer for the Big Brother Big Sisters Program. My ‘little’ wants to further her education after high school but is terrified of loans. What can I do to ease her worries with big purchases that have a long-term goal?
A: Let her know there are many ways to pay for college. Get perquisites done at a community college, become a resident advisor to save on housing, apply for scholarships to reduce the cost. Ensure she knows there are many ways to pay for higher education that won’t leave her in an unmanageable amount of debt, if planned properly.
Then explain how the monthly payments of student loan debt work. Share the dollar amounts as she gets older. You want her to attend college with her eyes wide open and expectations set.
Q: Do you offer one on one coaching for money saving assistance?
A: Life. Money. You. offers free coaching with Certified Financial Coaches.
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