Money Minded Families

4Our Money Personalities

Before we can teach our children about money matters, we must first understand and become aware of our own relationship with money and how it shapes our own financial wellness. I grew up in a blue-collar community with a father who worked in banking. After serving in Vietnam, my father got a job at Girard Bank in Philadelphia. He met my mother while working there and hoped to keep working forever.

Though he had a steady white-collar job, we were lower middle class from a socioeconomic standpoint and always struggled with the bills. He left at 7:00 a.m. and was home at 4:30 p.m. every day. He did not have a profession, but rather a job. My mom worked odd jobs and neither of my parents had a college degree. Both were extremely intelligent; they just never had the support financially or otherwise to attend college.

Talking about money in our house was taboo. My parents considered it disrespectful to ask the kinds of curious questions that kids always have: How much does Dad make? How much is our house worth? Do we have a bank account? A savings account?

I remember hearing about a friend's dad who made $100,000 a year. At age 15, $100,000 sounded like a fortune to me. When I asked my mom how much my dad made, I was told it was none of my business and how dare I ask such a question. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. After that, I always felt a sense of misfortune for our family. My parents quarreled regularly about finances. Money became associated with negative ...