Kids, Wealth, and Consequences: Ensuring a Responsible Financial Future for the Next Generation

Chapter 4. Financial Literacy

By addressing intergenerational equity, estate planning, and portfolio management in Section I, you have taken important steps toward getting your financial house in order, which is a necessary step in preparing your wealth for your family.

It's equally important to prepare your family for that wealth. An important part of that requires teaching kids the financial facts of life. Regardless of how sophisticated (or not) you as a parent are about personal finance and investing, you have a responsibility to prepare your children to live in our complex economic times.

Self-Survey about Financial Literacy

First let's assess the assumptions you are bringing to this discussion with your self-survey about teaching your children to be financially literate.

Self-Survey about Financial Literacy

1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Disagree, 5 = Strongly Disagree
BEFORE		AFTER
____	Allowance is not necessary for high-net worth children.	____
____	I don't need to bother encouraging my children to get after-school or summer jobs.	____
____	It's not necessary to force kids to live within a budget when the family does not have to do so.	____
____	There's no purpose to encouraging my children to save because they will inherit enough money to cover their needs.	____
____	My children do not need to learn about investing because professional advisors will be managing their trusts and other family funds.	____
____	I believe it's important for my children to create their own wealth, ...