Learn How to Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even if You’re Not)

By Angela Sellari

This is sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Beth Kobliner.

We teach our kids a lot of things from their ABCs to tying their shoes. We help them learn to be independent by giving them chores and an allowance. Many parents miss the mark when it comes to teaching our kids what to do with their money. I was guilty of that with my oldest, but know I am not alone in this. It might be because the parents themselves don’t fully grasp what it takes to be a money genius. I’m excited to share Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) by Beth Kobliner as a tool to help parents teach their children to be financially responsible.

Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) by Beth Kobliner is a jargon-free book that helps teach parents how to teach kids about becoming financially stable. Whether your kids are 3 or 23, Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) is filled with “teachable moments” that help parents find simple ways to teach kids what will help them in the long run with important character traits, things like a strong work ethic, self-control and how to weigh choices, working towards a goal and a giving spirit.

Beth Kobliner, a personal finance expert and bestselling author, has based Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) on the latest field research of psychology, child development and behavioral economics. Featuring various financial chapters that are divided into the different stages of child development like toddler, elementary school, college, etc, parents can read through the book or just reference what they need to.

There were many things that I learned while reading Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) and some I knew. While I was never one to cave in to a demanding preschoolers demands at the store, I didn’t realize that giving in all the time can make the child more likely to misuse credit cards as an adult. Parents often give kids allowance, pay kids to do chores or bribe kids for getting A’s in hopes of encouraging kids can actually have the opposite effect, but giving kids a “wad of cash” can actually be a good parenting move. Start talking about financial matters early. Talk to your 14 year old about paying for college or to your 16 year about opening an IRA.

I want to make sure that I am giving my 8 year old, Tati, the best start I can. I want to watch her grow into a well adjusted happy adult, who makes smart decisions about her future. She already has such a great sense of not wasting things. We can be in the grocery store and she is the one saying about not spending money on things that we don’t need. The next thing I want to start teaching her is investing money. I always wished I had started investing sooner and more.

In Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) Beth Kobliner tells parents that elementary school age children are able to absorb more than you think when it comes to simple investing concepts. I want to start teaching Tati about investing. I am going to purchase stocks in something she is interested in, such as Disney or Hasbro. Then, we will follow our investment overtime and see how it grows. I think it will be a great learning experience for her and something that she can, then, use as she gets older.

Want to start reading Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) Beth Kobliner? You can purchase the book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, and Books-A-Million.