Many
adults
suffer
financially
all
through
their
adulthood
because
they
did
not
learn
money
management
skills
in
their
youth.
How
families
use
money
can
influence
young
children
into
adulthood.
At
one
extreme,
children
can
become
financially
secure
adults,
while
at
the
other
extreme
of
adulthood
they
live
paycheck
to
paycheck
in a
state
of
constant
financial
distress.
It
is
very
important
to
teach
your
children
to
be
wise
money
managers.
•
19%
of
Americans
between
the
ages
of
18
and
24
declared
bankruptcy
in
2001.
1
•
The
fastest
growing
group
of
bankruptcy
filers
are
those
people
who
are
25
years
of
age
or
younger.
2
•
Over
80%
of
undergraduates
have
at
least
one
credit
card
and
nearly
50%
of
college
graduates
carry
4 or
more
credit
cards.
According
to
the
Department
of
Education,
the
average
balance
carried
by
these
students
is
more
than
$3,000.
3
These
statistics
show
that
many
children
are
not
being
taught
how
to
manage
money.
Teaching
your
children
how
to
handle
money
while
they
are
young
will
help
to
prevent
making
mistakes
later
on
in
life.
When
teaching
your
children
about
money,
focus
on
these
money
concepts
of
earning,
spending,
saving,
borrowing,
and
sharing.
You
can
begin
to
teach
most
of
these
concepts
around
age
4.
Borrowing
and
sharing
will
probably
come
at a
later
date,
probably
later
on
in
elementary
school.
They
require
the
ability
to
understand
math.
Earning
teaches:
-A
sense
of
freedom
and
financial
independence
-Work
standards
and
ethics
-How
to
evaluate
job
alternatives
-Relationship
of
money,
time,
and
skills
Spending
Teaches:
-Balance
between
wants
and
necessities
-Opportunities
-Making
decisions
and
taking
responsibility
-Keeping
records
i.e.
balancing
check
book
Borrowing
teaches:
-Cost
of
borrowing
and
repaying
-When
it
is
appropriate
to
borrow
-Consequences
of
buying
now
and
paying
later
-The
idea
of
credit
limits
Sharing
teaches:
-Good
feelings
for
giver
and
receiver
-Helping
other
people
-Obligations
to
give
money
to
certain
organizations,
i.e.
taxes
to
the
government
Saving
teaches:
-Saving
for
wants
and
needs
-Identifies
the
"pay
yourself
first"
idea
-Planning
-Interrelationship
of
spending
and
earning
-Different
purposes
of
planned
and
regular
saving
Find
ways
for
your
children
to
earn
money.
You
can
pay
an
allowance
for
chores
done
around
the
house.
Allow
your
children
to
spend
some
of
the
money
that
they
earned.
Set
up a
piggy
bank
for
your
children
as a
way
to
save
money.
As
your
children
get
older
you
can
teach
them
about
borrowing
and
sharing
money.
It
is
important
to
set
the
right
example
in
order
for
your
children
to
learn
the
concept
of
money.
Setting
up a
budget
and
sticking
to
it,
shows
your
children
that
you
have
the
discipline
to
tell
yourself
“no”,
rather
than
presenting
the
idea
of
“do
as I
say,
not
as I
do”.
Currently,
Stacey
L.
Morin
works
for
Wilshire
Associates
Inc.
in
their
Private
Equity
Division
as
Financial
Assistant
Controller
and
holds
a
Masters
of
Business
Administration
in
Finance
from
California
State
University
Northridge
and
Bachelors
of
Business
Administration
in
Accounting
from
Eastern
Michigan
University.
Ms.
Morin
is a
Freelance
Business
Consultant
Writer
on
the
side.
By
Stacey
L.
Morin,
MBA-Finance,
August
2008
[1]
USA
Today,
2001
[2]
Senate
Committee
on
Banking,
Housing
and
Urban
Affairs,
2002
[3]
Senator
Chris
Dodd,
CT
