This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Start early. Start young.
Believe it or not, allowing your kids to pay for their own education is a gift. My parents didn’t pay a dime for my education. I paid for it through work, grants, scholarships, and loans. To this day, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not only did I graduate with three degrees. After graduating college, I quickly formulated a plan to return to a positive net worth and pay off my student loans.
I didn’t have the opportunity to take my education for granted because I paid for it with my own time, energy, effort, resources, and money.
Lesson 2: Make Your Kids Pay For A Few Bills
Start your kids early with the fiscal responsibility train. When your kids are responsible for paying for something meaningful (e.g., phone plan, gym membership, car note, or car insurance), they quickly learn the consequences of not paying something on time or at all.
Learning about finances, budgeting, and paying bills is always best done early; this way, there won’t be any surprises when adulthood arrives.
Lesson 3: Read a finance book at the dinner table.
I didn’t enjoy eating at the dinner table often; it was a chore. I preferred to eat alone in my room. Oh well. We had to gather as a family and eat dinner most days, but I’m grateful we did. Family dinner provided meaningful memories, and we always read a book at the dinner table – often about finance.
The benefit of reading finance books at the dinner table:
1: Spend quality time as a family
2: Elevate your family’s financial knowledge.
Lesson 4: Invest $25 weekly in a ROTH IRA.
You can create a ROTH IRA for your child as soon as they arrive or before!
The benefit of investing in a ROTH IRA early:
1: When your child reaches the age of 18, if the average return is 12%, you’ll have saved close to 100k, saving as little as $25 per week. If you saved $1,000 a month, your child would have close to $1,000,000 saved.
Suggestion: Once your child starts working, match their contributions. For example, they invest $100, and you invest $100.
2: If your child needs a car or decides to go to college without getting awarded scholarships, they can pay for it all themselves with cash. Maybe they won’t go to school at all; they could travel, start their own business, or work a regular job and continue saving. Either way, they’re ahead of the financial ball game.
Lesson 5: Promote Entrepreneurship
I started earning income as soon as I understood the concept of money in elementary school. A few things I did to earn money during elementary school:
House chores
Hair modeling
Writing articles
Sell things on eBay
Lemonade stands @ the pool
Listen to leadership tapes ($5)
Read personal development books ($5)
Clean and do administrative work at my church
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Eventually, I had regular jobs, too, like retail and fast food. But my first jobs were always entrepreneurial, which is why I could never stay at regular jobs for long. My parents strongly encouraged me to start my music teaching business at age 14, which I managed for 10+ years. The start of my music business was a significant turning point in my life because I was able to taste test financial independence for the first time at such a young age, which impacted my financial future indefinitely.
The benefit of promoting entrepreneurship:
1: Teach your kids to work for themselves (which equates to financial independence) instead of a traditional employer. The government incentivizes (e.g., fewer taxes) investors and entrepreneurs.
2: Encourage your kids to be business-minded and monetize their talents and skills. Cultivate your kids’ resourcefulness.
Lesson 6: Introduce your kids to wealthy people.
Not everybody knows many wealthy people, but you probably know at least one; get your kids around them. Some people feel out of place around wealthy people; I don’t. I was inspired by wealthy individuals at a young age, thanks to my father…
My Father’s Side Gig Set Me Up For Success
My father had a side business that serviced many wealthy and educated individuals. I remember every job – I went on with my father – offered me more exposure to magnificent homes, luxurious decor, unique and grand artwork, and showerheads I had never seen in my life (I even saw the fanciest urinal to date). The jobs also exposed me to new ideas, knowledge, and intellectual conversations with wealthy people.
Yes, the stuff was attractive, but what was even more attractive was how quickly we earned $100–$200+/hour (over a decade ago); working full-time at this rate would equate to close to quarter-million dollars. Earning this kind of money so quickly and fast at such a young age exposed me to higher levels of thinking. On top of this, I observed how easy it was for our customers to write the check.
Looking back, I ponder how minuscule the amount of money we received was compared to these people’s wealth. My father’s jobs inspired me to think differently about money.
I would never be able to work for meager wages unconsciously and be satisfied.
I knew from this point that you attract the amount of money that aligns with your level of thinking. You don’t have to become obsessed with nice stuff. Still, it’s critical to distinguish between a wealthy lifestyle, a middle-class lifestyle, and a poverty-driven lifestyle.
The benefit of introducing your kids to wealthy people:
1: Expose your kids to higher levels of thinking.
2: Introduce your kids to wealth, so they can be comfortable around it and accumulate it. You only do as well as you know you can.
Lesson 7: Model healthy financial behavior.
At some point, the mask comes off, and your kids will know the truth: whether you’re good with money or bad with money. Here’s how to model healthy financial behavior to your kids:
Live below your means.
Maintain an emergency fund.
Don’t depend on your kids for money.
Maintain solid financial boundaries.
Have more than one stream of income.
Don’t use the words: “We can’t afford that.”
Consistently invest in your financial future (e.g., retirement).
Educate yourself on personal finance so that you can teach your kids.
Have open conversations about money; never shun the conversation.
Encourage your kids to earn money instead of bumming you all the time.
The benefit of modeling healthy financial behavior:
1: Help end the generational curse of financial ignorance across the globe by showing and teaching your children how to handle money properly.
2: If your children do better than you, hopefully, their children will do better than them, and so on.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.