You want to teach your kids about money but you're a mess yourself
You want your children to grow up wise about money — and you feel like a fraud, because your own finances are a mess and you never mastered it yourself. Who are you to teach what you have not learned? So you say nothing, and worry they will repeat your mistakes.
This worry is worth examining, because it need not stop you, and reason lifts the charge of hypocrisy. Three things: you can teach the lesson without having mastered it — a parent honest about what they got wrong and what it cost teaches more truly than any flawless expert, so your struggles are your best material; children learn from what you do more than what you say, which means the small improvements you make in your own conduct teach without a word; and you need only pass on a few plain foundations through simple practice, not a grand curriculum. You do not have to be an expert first. You have to be honest, and to improve a little in view. Let us think about what you most want them to learn.
What changes unlock by starting
- You drop the hypocrite charge
- You teach honestly from your own mistakes
- You improve your conduct where they can see
- You pass on the few plain foundations