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Growing up, there were four things that my parents taught me to never talk about: sex, money, religion, or politics. I understand now why they did this. Unfortunately, there is so much judgment and shame around these topics that they were trying to protect me from being in uncomfortable or heated conversations. But what I’ve learned now, as a parent, is these are absolutely the topics that I need to talk about with my kids . . . because if I’m not talking about them and teaching them these things, then who is?
When it comes to money talk, often the shame and judgment around this topic can perpetuate stereotypes and continue the lack of dialogue on money, which can add a lack of financial literacy that can then contribute to challenges in the future, like divorce, stressful debt, and money mismanagement. This is why it is essential for us parents to have conversations about money and finances with our kids. Our guest today, money mindfulness expert David Delisle, agrees and is on a mission to change the way we teach our kids about money. He says, “As a society, we need to eliminate all of the shame and judgment around money . . . which may even be trickling into our parenting methods.”
Who is David Delisle?
David Delisle, founder of The Awesome Stuff™, is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, real estate investor, speaker, and most importantly, a Dad. He is a contributor to Entrepreneur, Yahoo! News, Thrive Global, and more. At age 11, David made his first investment, and by age 20, he began investing in real estate and was retired by age 40. So inspiring! His book, The Golden Quest, is a Calvin & Hobbes-style graphic novel that teaches potent lessons about money, focusing on breaking the cycle of always chasing more. David’s goal is to change how our kids think about money and create more freedom for what’s most important to them . . . the Awesome Stuff™. David has been featured on Good Day LA, Good Day DC, Yahoo Wealth, Be Well, NTD TV, ScaryMommy, GoBankingRates, MindBodyGreen, Credit Sesame, and more.
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What Did We Discuss?
In this episode, we chat with David Delisle about how to teach our kids about money and boosting their financial literacy. Conversations around money are the foundation of increasing our kids’ financial literacy. Parents can demonstrate money mindfulness with their kids by simply talking about money, letting them know what you’re saving for, and your priorities. Here are several of the questions that we covered in our conversation:
- How do you believe we can boost our children’s financial literacy?
- When do you think is an appropriate time to start teaching kids about money?
- How are we, as parents, impacting our children’s future financial literacy?
- What is money mindfulness?
- What are the most important things parents can do to prepare their children for future financial success?
- Can you talk about the role shame and judgment play in finances?
- How important are family conversations about money?
- How can parents begin to introduce these types of conversations in an appropriate way?
- What are the most important financial concepts children should learn about?
- What is the awesome stuff?
After chatting with David, I can see that he has two core concepts for parents who are looking to teach their kids about money and financial literacy without shame or judgment:
1. Stop the shame game.
David said that we are all pre-wired to be either spenders or savers and by pushing “spenders” to adopt “saver” tendencies, we may inadvertently talk about their spending habits with judgment and shame. Our kids need to know that spenders aren’t bad and people are inherently born as spenders or savers. Rather than shaming our spenders, we should acknowledge as parents that this is how they were born and then work with it. David mentioned that it’s easy to automate our savings as adults, so it really doesn’t matter if you’re a saver or a spender as long as you understand money and the habit and mindset behind saving. Empowering our kids to then spend their savings on what is important to them is also key.
2. Money Mindfulness.
As a society, we are so focused on how to have more money that we often forget we even want more in the first place. Money mindfulness is a way to focus on what makes us “feel” happy. The more we focus on what brings us joy, the more we realize what doesn’t. This helps us and our kids realize that most of the things we buy don’t actually bring us joy. This awareness and noticing the feeling is something that we can teach our children and demonstrate in our families.
This was an amazing conversation filled with helpful and practical tips for parents to use when introducing the topic of money to their kids. Tune in to learn more and leave us a review!
David’s Resources
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