If more families had the “debt” conversation with kids, maybe this country would be better off right now. I mean in the last twenty years kids have grown up on a pink cloud. Only now, in post-recession America, are 18 year olds seeing the value of skipping college and going to technical school.
So how do you have the “debt solutions,” conversation with your child?
Well there are a number of highly simple debt solutions, that could benefit adults as well as children.
1) Learn the value of hard work: This is a basic one. But nothing counteracts debt better than regular income. Financial freedom is all predicated on the ability to make money and keep making money. Let your kids know about these types of debt solutions early and reap the rewards.
2) A penny saved is a penny earned: If we all saved a little more, maybe there would not be this terrible unemployment problem…and maybe, just maybe, the lines at the unemployment office would be shorter. Small deposits of allowance into a savings account will serve as debt solutions even your kid will understand.
3) Spend on assets: It can be hard to identify assets from liabilities as a child. Is food, for example, asset or liability? Well, if it’s good food it helps your brain and body function, thus enabling you to accomplish more- asset. Now how about very expensive unhealthy food? LIABILITY. Teach your kids how to develop a sense of humility and avoid excess so they don’t end up in debt later on down the road.
4) Keep a map near by: Meaning, always have a goal on your mind. Whether it is finishing school, getting a job, or making the soccer team. It almost does not matter what the goal is as long as it is approached systematically and accomplished. It’s all about creating a sense of drive in order to avoid being caught in a cycle of debt.
5) Do what I do and what I say: The best types of debt solutions are those that are authentic. Parents often sit at the table and rue their mistakes, hoping their kids won’t do a repeat performance. Well guess what? The law of manifestation states whatever you put out there is what you will manifest. So if you are putting out a sense of failure, that is what your kids will get. If it’s a sense of success, they will pick up on it and follow suit.
Debt solutions can be tricky. But if you hang in there and speak earnestly with your child, both of you should be set for financial freedom.
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