What New Normal?
How can you help clients and their families —and your own family—plan for some new normal when it’s unclear what that new normal will look like?
- Where will interest rates and unemployment go?
- What will the value of our assets and properties?
- Will our jobs or businesses survive?
- What will schools will look like?
It’s futile to wonder, let alone worry about these and other unanswerable questions. But as we all wait and wait and wait, you can harness your skills to prepare for the future, whatever it will look like.
If ever there was a time to promote and impart financial literacy, it’s now. Those who understand basic personal finance, including financial values, skills and discipline will recover more easily and quickly from the downturn and rebuild with confidence and optimism.
Problem: There’s a huge disconnect between parents’ comfort talking with kids about money and how kids benefit when their parents do so.
• Money is a topic most parents dread talking to their children about. 66% of parents feel some reluctance discussing money with their 8- to 14-year-old children according to T. Rowe Price’s 2018 Parents, Kids & Money Survey.
• 88 percent of young adults have a budget when their parents have discussed money with them. They are also more likely to save, according to the same survey. These disciplines produce resilience during life’s ups and downs—even the current global economic storm.
Many parents who shy away from the “M” word feel incompetent because they have major gaps in their own financial knowledge. (No excuse! You don’t need a degree in finance to talk about money; you can learn together!) Some worry they are not the best role models, because they tend to beyond their means and have racked up large outstanding credit balances. (Also no excuse! You can talk about how this has impacted you financially and emotionally, and how you’re working to reduce debt.) A good number fear dreaded questions from kids, such as “how much money do you make?” or “Is the pandemic going to make you lose your job or business, or our home?” (There are many ways to address that question without disclosing numbers.)
Have YOU had “the talk” with your kids? Have you brought up financial literacy to your clients? Feel free to post comments at Linkedin’s Financial Parenting Group
Feel free to contact me (email) or phone (413-206-2774) to learn how a Smart Financial ParentingTM workshop license can help you guide clients and their partner to begin talking about money with their children.