Money makes the world go around and it makes people go round the world.
In my time we counted money and most of us had seen our parents earn just enough to be counted in about 10 minutes flat. Then the amounts increased, the currencies and the assets varied.
My perspective changed as I saw my kid look at money in a different way. Karthik is an articulate kid who voiced his thoughts well and asked questions. My husband was abroad most of the time he was growing up. Since I had help and I ad grown in India and it was a reasonably priced place to continue my citizenship, he was brought up here. Surrounded by family and friends. My dad was retired and spent a lot of time with my son. When he had to go to a bank or something , he would say he is going to "Office" . That is what Karthik had heard his own dad say. He also knew that you got "Money" if you went to office.
Very soon, he figured out that "Money" in US was a lot. The next time my Dad went to office, Karthik declared " Thatha.. (Grandpa in Tamil).. You don't have to go. My dad is earning enough for all of us.
The next perspective came when I went off to work after a nice 3 year holiday where I was with him. He was not too perturbed because now I too was going to get money. I cam neck from my first day of work. I was touched by the enthusiastic greeting. So we hugged and chatted for just a little while. e then put out his hand and asked fr "Money". i told him I did not have any. He was annoyed and told me that I should not work for free. That is the tender age when the concept of bank was introduced to him. He listened patiently and had many questions. " How do I know that it will go in there?" . "How much was it.. It was a tiny amount." "Do you count it?" He then went onto extrapolate it and asked about his Dad's salary and I converted it into rupees. That was when he asked another question,"Does he have to take a day off to count and make sure they are paying him correctly" . I think a few people in Finland and other bankrupt banks could have been as cautious as him.
If anything, I am a proud parent and I cannot give a parenting tip here. Trust your kid with money and they will be wise with it. I learnt this accidentally when we wanted to stop Karthik from drinking too much Soda. He was about 8 or 9 years old. We used to give him a tiny allowance . We increased it but said he had to buy all the soda from his allowance. The tyke stopped drinking Soda almost altogether. He gulped it down at restaurants etc where it did not come from his kitty. The amounts increased substantially over the years, but he has been careful about very large amounts too.
I definitely thought he was going to be very money minded. He is too. I am very happy that this is more in terms of money consciousness rather than pure greed. He now works abroad and earns a bit more than he spends. he keeps asking me "Shall I send you money?" . In his mind. he only needs a 3 month expense back up. he lives in a country where that is the maximum period when he can be without a job and stay. He is quite confident that we will share the money we have so carefully preserved if he were to ever need it.
I will stop writing just in case I get mushy and emotional about this very fiduciary topic. Post your thoughts and maybe we can make a primer on Money and Kids.
In my time we counted money and most of us had seen our parents earn just enough to be counted in about 10 minutes flat. Then the amounts increased, the currencies and the assets varied.
My perspective changed as I saw my kid look at money in a different way. Karthik is an articulate kid who voiced his thoughts well and asked questions. My husband was abroad most of the time he was growing up. Since I had help and I ad grown in India and it was a reasonably priced place to continue my citizenship, he was brought up here. Surrounded by family and friends. My dad was retired and spent a lot of time with my son. When he had to go to a bank or something , he would say he is going to "Office" . That is what Karthik had heard his own dad say. He also knew that you got "Money" if you went to office.
Very soon, he figured out that "Money" in US was a lot. The next time my Dad went to office, Karthik declared " Thatha.. (Grandpa in Tamil).. You don't have to go. My dad is earning enough for all of us.
The next perspective came when I went off to work after a nice 3 year holiday where I was with him. He was not too perturbed because now I too was going to get money. I cam neck from my first day of work. I was touched by the enthusiastic greeting. So we hugged and chatted for just a little while. e then put out his hand and asked fr "Money". i told him I did not have any. He was annoyed and told me that I should not work for free. That is the tender age when the concept of bank was introduced to him. He listened patiently and had many questions. " How do I know that it will go in there?" . "How much was it.. It was a tiny amount." "Do you count it?" He then went onto extrapolate it and asked about his Dad's salary and I converted it into rupees. That was when he asked another question,"Does he have to take a day off to count and make sure they are paying him correctly" . I think a few people in Finland and other bankrupt banks could have been as cautious as him.
If anything, I am a proud parent and I cannot give a parenting tip here. Trust your kid with money and they will be wise with it. I learnt this accidentally when we wanted to stop Karthik from drinking too much Soda. He was about 8 or 9 years old. We used to give him a tiny allowance . We increased it but said he had to buy all the soda from his allowance. The tyke stopped drinking Soda almost altogether. He gulped it down at restaurants etc where it did not come from his kitty. The amounts increased substantially over the years, but he has been careful about very large amounts too.
I definitely thought he was going to be very money minded. He is too. I am very happy that this is more in terms of money consciousness rather than pure greed. He now works abroad and earns a bit more than he spends. he keeps asking me "Shall I send you money?" . In his mind. he only needs a 3 month expense back up. he lives in a country where that is the maximum period when he can be without a job and stay. He is quite confident that we will share the money we have so carefully preserved if he were to ever need it.
I will stop writing just in case I get mushy and emotional about this very fiduciary topic. Post your thoughts and maybe we can make a primer on Money and Kids.
