Overcoming Roadblocks to Teaching Kids Financial Lessons Intro: So, you got some cash, maybe from an allowance? Or, that money your grandma gave you for your seventh birthday. Here ya go, sweetie! Woo hoo! Thanks, Grandma! Whatever it is, what are you gonna do with it? Spend it? Hide it away? Or maybe invest it? Let's start learning how to make that money grow. Time to learn how to be a Cash Kid. What's up Cash Kids and here's a fun fact for y'all. Did you know that 57% of parents have some reluctance to discuss money matters with their kids? And 50% of America's youth will learn less than their parents? That doesn't sound right. So, joining us today is the financial "dadvisor", Anthony Delauney. Mr. Delauney is a certified family financial planner, and a behavioral financial advisor, and the author of the award-winning "Owning the Dash" children's book series. He's joining us today to talk about some of these roadblocks to teaching kids financial lessons today and how a more cashless society can be a challenging way to make money tangible for kids. Plus, we'll discuss his book series and stay tuned to the end for a free giveaway. Welcome to the show, Mr. Delauney, and first off, tell us a little bit about yourself. Anthony Delauney: Thank you so much for having me. Um, so I have been a financial planner for the past 21 years. I started it right out of college, and I discovered pretty early on that I loved helping families. Since I started, I got married, had children, bought my first home, bought another home, went through all those fun stages, and realized that, um, it's hard enough to figure out stuff on your own, but when you've got to figure it out as a family, it gets really crazy. And when it comes to talking to your kids about it, it gets even crazier. Cash Kid: Mr. Delauney, we started to talk about how 57% of parents are reluctant to discuss money matters with their kids. Why do you think this is the case? Anthony Delauney: The simplest answer I can give you is, I have spoken in front of adults, uh, for some time, for 20 plus years, and I am more nervous about this interview speaking to a child than I am speaking to adults. And I think that part of the reason that it's so hard for a lot of kids to learn about these things is because parents don't know what to say or afraid of what to say. And sometimes we're intimidated around even having the conversation. They don't want to mess up for their kids. Cash Kid: That's a great point. Why is it crucial that financial planning be a family affair? Anthony Delauney: It's important because the sooner we start talking about these lessons and kind of getting the real basics of how life works, investing and all that stuff is really important, but really understanding how a budget works, understanding how money works, understanding how to live life on your own, the sooner we can start instilling those lessons and teaching them, just like brushing your teeth. As soon as you start to learn that, it becomes a habit, it becomes a ritual, and you become, it's part of your life. If we don't teach those lessons early enough, it becomes much harder to learn them later in life. And, once kids are on their own, it's, it's, we don't have as much involvement in the lessons that they learn. Cash Kid:: Totally agree with that. And so, what tips do you give parents to start the conversation with their children around money? Anthony Delauney: Sure. So, I think the most important part is, just like this conversation today, You are, you're the cash kid, but you have an intrigue. You have a desire to learn. And most children do have that desire. Even as very young children, kids want to play grownup and want to do the different activities that they mimic their parents, the good and the bad parts of what their parents do. So, um, if we can, when it comes to talking to our children, treat them like many adults, treat, treat them, like respect them. Okay. not judge them. I think that's the biggest part is when it comes to having these discussions, we want to be there for them. Let them know that they can they're in a safe environment where they can talk about things where they can ask questions where they can fail. But if they do fail, parents have to be really mindful of how they react because the kids are not only focusing on the lesson being learned, but how are my friends, my family and others treating me? Based on my response and my questions and my, you know, my mistakes. Cash Kid: I totally agree with that statement. So do you have any financial lessons to teach elementary or teenage children? Anthony Delauney: So I've had for, as I mentioned, being an advisor for 20 years, for families, I get the question a lot. How and when do I start talking to my kids about these various topics? And one thing I've noticed as a parent and as a, an advisor is that sometimes when we ...
