Start with your future freedom. Are you saving for retirement? I hope the answer is yes, especially if your company offers free matching money when you save a certain amount. Have you looked at your 401(k) or IRA performance lately? Take a look. The second quarter wasn't so hot, but I'd bet your nest egg looks golden compared with where it was two years ago.
Teach your kids financial independence. It's our job as parents to teach our children the financial basics, just as it is to educate them about basic hygiene and cooking spaghetti.
My suggestion? Talk about money as part of daily family life. Explain credit cards when you're at the grocery store, and start a conversation about wants and needs when you say no to a new Lego set.
As kids get older, it's our responsibility to teach them how to manage finances as an adult. In addition to opening up a checking account and explaining a debit card, I plan to add my kids as authorized users on my credit card when they are teens. The backlash against credit has many families advising their kids to avoid credit altogether. I think it's a wiser strategy to teach teens how to properly manage credit, which will help them build a solid credit history.
Free yourself from debt. When I talk to people who toiled to become debt-free, they usually tell me that it feels as if a weight has been lifted off of their shoulders once the last bill is paid. Wouldn't that be nice?
