Observe to correct

Just like most other learnings, it is during childhood and early youth that we must build in our kids the foundations for financial well-being that they would enjoy more later in life by helping them acquire the right knowledge, skills, personality traits and habits required to be CEOs of our personal finances.

If you would intentionally observe your kids, you will begin to take note of financial tendencies or behavior patterns in your children that if left unchecked would develop into something not beneficial to the child.

Normally, you would attempt to correct some of these tendencies without relating it to money because you simply think they are general.

While is this okay, but wisdom requires that you look into the future and take advantage of some of these behaviours that are closely related to money habits in order to correct the unhealthy ones and reinforce habits that will be beneficial to their financial wellbeing in the long run.
The idea is for you to intentionally influence their personal financial literacy during their developmental stages.

Although some of your kids’ behavior (especially with regards to their ages) is tied to their personalities or them just being children (normal child behavior) but if you leave these unchecked it may result in them having difficulties in the personal finance management in future.
Below are some money behaviours you might see your kids exhibit:

1. Inability to delay gratification:
Just like most adults, children want what they want and would ask for days for you to buy them what they want. You have the ones that would roll on the floor in order for you to buy them a toy or another.

Most kids are unable to delay gratification. Meaning, if they want something today, the ability to wait for a few more days for them to have it is something they need to develop.

2. They never have enough of certain things
3. Asking other kids for their items
4. Coming home with things that don’t belong to them
5. Angry when you don’t get them what they want, when they want it
6. Always wanting you to go shopping
7. Wanting what another child has

Don’t be scared. Most of these behaviours are normal but observation provides some of the avenues for positive influences during their developmental stages.

Next lesson will talk about money discussion you can have with your kids at any age including when they exhibit some of the behaviours mentioned above.

Over to you: what are some of the money related behaviours kids exhibit?