Six Things Your Parents Never Taught You About Money

The following is a guest post from Life Cover.

Most parents try to teach their kids about money such as how to make it and how to manage it but only life experience can give us the full picture. With that in mind, here are six things your parents never taught you about money.

6. Hard Come, Easy Go

Making money is hard work. However spending money could not be simpler or easier. Not only are there the things we want to buy for ourselves (whether they be necessities or treats), but when you factor in bills, mortgages and debts and so on - our pocket might as well have holes in them.

5. Just the Tax, Ma’am

There’s only one way for lessons about taxes to stick and that’s by paying them. When you’re a kid, the idea of taxes is hard to wrap your head around. But once out in the real world, taxes become a fact of life. Death and taxes. And sometimes the latter can help bring about the former.

4. Hold The Gratification

The word child must, in some forgotten Latin dialects, mean Instant Gratification. Cravings are continuous when we’re young and patience is pretty hard to come by. Well, who knew it takes money to fulfill those cravings? Sometimes a lot of money. And once you’ve lived the first two items on this list, you know that the carrot on the stick must occasionally stay out of reach a lot longer than we would want.

3. What’s it Worth?

We’ve all heard it, whenever we didn’t want to finish our peas. You remember: “Don’t waste food, there are people starving in Africa.” Remember that one? Well, when the fridge is always full and our allowance isn’t the reason there are groceries in the house, wasting food does not seem like that big a deal. And so we learn how much things like food, shelter, clothes and gadgets are actually worth only when we start paying for them ourselves. Suddenly wasting things we shelled out our hard earned money for isn’t the picnic it used to be.

2. What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

Astronaut. Fireman. School Teacher. Mailman. The answers to this question roll off the tongue when we’re kids. Realistically, though, the only true answer to this question comes through the benefit of life experience. It’s only after we’ve test driven various jobs do we begin to get an idea of where our destiny lies and whether or not we can earn a living at the job we choose.

1. Happiness, Not For Sale

When we’re kids, it seems obvious that money buys happiness. After all, our needs usually consist of whatever passes in front of our eyes when we’re dragged along on shopping runs. It’s on the store shelf, things in the store cost money, you’ve got to have this doodad or life isn’t worth living, therefore money gets you that item and saves your life. Well, it doesn’t quite work that way in the grown up world, does it?

Comments

[Financial Samurai]

What they don't tell us is also that life ain't fair and some have to work harder for money than others.

[Beth]

My parents taught me all these things, and I'm grateful!

[MC]

With the exception of taxes (#5), my parents taught me all those things.

And possibly they tried to teach about taxes but I didn't listen?

My father insisted that I open & contribute the max permitted into an IRA when I started my first full-time job right out of college in 1983. I followed his advice, even though I didn't think about why at the time. Now the paltry amount that I contributed during 1983-85 (before I went to grad school and became too poor) has grown into a very large amount--thanks Dad!

[Elizabeth]

Yes, my dad taught me most of this and a lot I learned from observation. I continually try and teach these principles to my own children although I'm not so sure they're listening.

[myfinancialobjectives]

I'd like to emphasize your instant gratification point. This is something I have been struggling with for many years, even to this day. Instant gratification is something I feel many Americans have trouble dealing with. Credit has allowed us to get What when want, When we want. Plain and simple. A little more discipline will solve this problem, resulting in less debt, and less wasted money in the form of interest payments!:)

[Squirrelers]

Hard come, easy go. Well said and very true with money!

When it comes to letting go of money, some people have butter fingers - the money just slides out of their grip. The other end of the spectrum would be the folks who, when you try to take a penny from their hands, you practically rip their flesh off their hands.

I hope to be neither, but much closer to the latter than the former.

[DIY Investor]

What do you want to do with your life? Early on I read a practical philosopher who emphasized there were only 3 important questions to answer correctly to lead a satisfying life. This was one of them. Parents should talk about this at an early age with their children.
Some people can't wait to wake up in the morning to get at a passionate life's work. Others go to a job they hate. To get in the first group takes a lot of self analysis and looking at what is out there in the work world. There are jobs that offer travel, connections with music or big time athletics, teaching, helping the sick, producing something with our hands etc. etc. Some thinking when young can go a long way towards finding a life's work that is fulfilling.
I also believe that finding one's passion lessens the craving for material objects and the need for instant gratification.

[Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

I have to thank my parents since I was taught all of that...doesn't mean that it all sunk in immediately, but at least the lessons were there for the taking.

[Jeff]

I'm impressed (though I guess I shouldn't be surprised) that most readers of this blog had parents who taught them these important concepts. My parents taught me these lessons also, but I'd like to take an informal poll of how many kids you see that are not being taught these things. How many children (your own or others) do you see that are not being taught to wield this tool called money? It seems to me that there are far too many parents who address their children's financial desires instead of financial education needs.