Family Matters

Here is how the reading marathon works: Kids go home with a form asking Mom and Dad to give them permission to participate in the marathon. The kids need to go to grownup friends and relative (grandparents are the best victims for this) and ask them to commit to paying a certain amount of money for every book they read. The kids then read as many books as they can. At the end of the marathon, they bring the signed sheet with the payment and the money goes to the school.

Children are born into a world that buys feelings. When they turn to you as if you were a bank, they are really trying to buy a feeling that they lack, a feeling that they think they can get from the thing they want you to buy for them. They are asking you for money as a symbol of your love.

“Marriage is the foundation of the family and the family is the foundation of society: if we strengthen marriage, we strengthen the family, we strengthen the children and we strengthen the community. If your goal is to help improve the world, marriage is as good a place as any to start” - Diane Sollee, Grand Rapids Family Summit, 1998

When coaching people on wealth creation, it is amazing for me every time to discover how strongly people who are not wealthy believe that this question is valid. Don’t get me wrong. I came from a simple family, where my mom and dad both worked hard, very hard, at more that one job, to provide for 5 children. When my clients discuss this, I know what they are talking about because we had such discussions around our dinner table.

People who do not have “enough” money (90% of our society) have some beliefs that support their identity as “poor”, “struggling”, “cannot have what we want”. Here are some of them:

I read a lot about success and attend personal development and wealth creation seminars. It is very inspiring. Unfortunately, the more I do this, the more I hear about people who are making it big time overnight.

The overnight success factor works very well on people who are not successful. It really helps sell stuff. Look at some of the best overnight success promotions:

- Lose 14 kilos in 14 days!

- How to make $250,000 from property without using your own money!

- Use this drink and be blond and beautiful in just 4 days! (OK, so I made this one up myself ;))

I bet overnight success was invented by unsuccessful people to help them feel better about their lack of success.

Handling money is something we all need long before we leave home. When friends have brand-name shoes or a computer game and your kid wants them too, your kid’s ability to understand money is going to be very handy. So if you wonder when it is the right time to learn about money, my answer is: the minute your kid can count to 10.

Children can be taught at a young age that money is their way to get the things they want in life. It is, after all, your way of getting the things you want in life.

Here is how…

At this point in a teen’s life, wealth is “a grownup word” and does not mean much. Teens value fun, friendship, love and being unique and accepted much higher than financial freedom. Many teens will sacrifice their future wealth for some good partying, which makes them pretty normal, just like we all were when we did exactly the same as teens…

Convincing a teen to save money is not an easy task, mainly because the benefits are in some unknown future, but the commitment and effort start in the present.

Oddly enough, the attitude towards money, saving and wealth passes from one generation to the next

Chris called and came to see me the next day. He parked his blue Mercedes Benz in the entrance and came in. He was at his early fifties, beautiful blue eyes, holding his diary tightly.

“I wanted a Mercedes Benz so much”, he said, “But now I feel uncomfortable driving it. I can get up in the morning whenever I want, I can have everything I want, I have money, I have Lisa, I am successful in my business but I am depressed and sad.”

Do you ever think to yourself, “If only I had a million dollars, I could have everything I want”? Think again! What would you do with that much money?