Today, with all of the turmoil and money pressures in our lives, is it any wonder that your children may be confused or, even worse, irresponsible with money?
Sometimes, as parents, we unintentionally aid our children in being irresponsible yet stew about their childish behaviors when we observe them. Doesn't seem to make much sense, does it?
Of course, it’s always OK to be a kid when you are one. The problems arise, however, when we want and expect our kids to become responsible adults yet haven’t given them much, if any, foundation to build that on.
Many parents want to make excuses for their children and try to fix whatever they have broken. However, in doing so, we make our children more likely to repeat their mistakes because they know mommy and daddy will bail them out.
Bailing a young adult out of financial trouble is admirable, but it doesn’t teach them much aside from the fact that you are there to catch them when they fall. If you don’t want to teach your children to be independent, be sure to teach teenagers about money.
In doing so, at the very least, they understand you don't have an endless stream of money flowing in and that maintaining control of your finances takes planning and care.
The sad fact is that many adults do the same which can lead to high amounts of debt that are difficult to recover from. You simply can’t get everything you want in life just by presenting your credit card and pretending the bills come rolling in.