Sometimes I just don’t know where time goes. It just seems like yesterday we were celebrating New Year’s and now we just celebrated Memorial Day. For most people, Memorial Day is a day off from work and a day that family and friends get together and enjoy each other’s company. But even more importantly, we should never forget that Memorial Day is the one day a year we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Throughout our country’s great history, one thing has remained constant and that is, as a country, we have been blessed with men and women who 24/7, 365 days a year sacrifice themselves to protect our country, to keep it safe and allow all of us to live in freedom. I believe on Memorial Day it is incumbent upon all of us to take a few minutes and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country. As Americans, we live in the greatest and freest country in the history of the world. The freedoms and the quality of life we enjoy are not by luck but rather, because of the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives to protect our great country. I know that on Memorial Day, as I have every Memorial Day, I gave thanks to those who sacrificed for me.
Memorial Day also represents the end of the school year and before you know it, kids will be out of school and enjoying their summer vacation. Although kids are entitled to enjoy their summers, as parents, summer is a great time to begin teaching your kids to have an appreciation and understanding of money. The reality of the situation is personal financial skills are more important than ever and unfortunately, it’s not taught in school anymore. Therefore, it’s up to parents to teach their kids and summer is a wonderful time to do that.
For those of you who will have children going to college in the fall it is so important that before they go you teach them money skills. After all, in today’s world if a college kid gets themselves in financial difficulty, not only will they have issues obtaining credit in the future, it can also impact their ability to get a job. More and more employers today are using credit scores in making their hiring decisions. Therefore, having good money skills will not only potentially help a college student get a job, it will also help them to successfully manage their finances throughout their life.
Good financial skills are not just for college-bound students; rather, they are for everyone. As far as I’m concerned, when your child heads off to kindergarten, it’s time to begin to teach them money skills. Having good skills when it comes to handling money is, as far as I’m concerned, as important as anything they will learn in school. If your child learns and understands personal finance at a young age, I have no doubt it will increase the quality of their life now and well into the future. Therefore, as summer arrives, you should look at spending time teaching your kids to have an appreciation and understanding of money. I guarantee the skills they learn today will help them for the rest of their lives.
Good luck!
Rick is a fee-only financial advisor. If you would like Rick to respond to your questions, please email Rick at rick@bloomassetmanagement.com.