Reading this WSJ Blog post got me thinking about this issue of money talk within families:

“Money should not be a taboo subject. I often hear parents in stores say, “No, we can’t buy that.”  But the conversation ends there. I urge parents to take the conversation a step further and say, “No, we can’t buy today because it doesn’t fit into our budget.” You can follow up in private with a discussion about how a budget works and why it is important.”

What if instead of relying on parents to talk to kids, we flip the paradigm and have kids talk to their parents about money issues (OK, I haven’t experienced teenage kids yet so maybe this is a stretch).  What if you gave students an assignment to talk to their parents about issues like budgeting, investing, credit cards, paying for college?  You could scaffold the conversations, do some role playing, develop lists of questions in the classroom and then send them off to have these conversations.  Let’s stop waiting for parents to teach and put students in charge of their learning experience.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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