Hey everyone and welcome to Mothers Teaching Money. The place where we take control of our own financial lives and pass this invaluable life skill onto our children.
Is It Ever Too Late To Learn A New Skill?
No friggin way. It is never too late. Especially something as valuable as financial literacy and financial capability.
And I am proof of this. At the age of 52, I am for the first time in my life financially capable and I have made huge changes in my financial life which not only affect me but also my child and his future.
Number 1 – not only is it empowering for us mothers (and women) to take control of this part of our lives.
Number 2 – not only is it essential that our children grow up learning about money and understanding money as if it is just part of their everyday lives.
Number 3 – our children will grow up learning what questions to ask themselves and what questions to ask everybody else.
For example if they have a credit card and they get an email one day saying “congratulations, your limit has been increased to XYZ”. Instead of thinking “oh that’s great” (that is how thought the first time I received that letter in the post), they will understand that this increase is not in their best interest.
This ‘free’ money is not their money, it is the bank’s money. This is one of the classic ways that banks make money. They increase a person’s credit limit on their card and it makes us feel – I don’t know quite proud of ourselves really.
They (our children) will know how to manage a credit card. They will understand interest rates and minimum payments and how this increased limit on their card could get them into huge financial trouble and start that debt snowball rolling for the rest of their lives.
The thing is not to go into credit card debt and our children will know that.
So at the ripe old age of 48 I woke up and realized that I was just as capable as anybody else to learn about finance and take control of this part of my life. I started studying and studying and I am still studying and studying and I don’t think I will ever stop studying.
And we must remember one thing and that is that every single professional in this world is a professional because they studied a particular subject.
I feel different and it is a good feeling. It is a good feeling to be in control of this part of my life and to understand something that I thought was reserved for the few.
Possibly even a better feeling is that I am now equipped to teach my son this invaluable life skill and set him up for success.
So onwards and forwards and never ever stop learning and never ever stop teaching and don’t stop talking to your kids.
Remember having control of your financial life is empowering and necessary.
Have a wonderful day and I will see you next time