Beginning My Children's Financial Education: A Personal Journey

Welcome back to my consecutive day 1137 of documenting a diary of a Runpreneur. Today, I'm excited to share with you a topic that is particularly close to my heart: beginning my children's financial education.

Before we dive in, remember to give this post a subscribe, share, like, and comment. The more people we reach, the more funds we can raise for the challenge I'm undertaking – the ultimate ultramarathon to save children's lives. All the details about this mission and how you can get involved are in the link within the comments below. Thank you, as always, for your support. Now, let's get started.

As I'm writing this, it's July 12th, which means we are into week two of the twelve week year process I follow. This method involves setting goals, objectives, projects, and targets for a twelve week period, scoring ourselves against these goals, and then taking the 13th week to evaluate our progress, reset, and get ready for the next quarter. This 90-day sprint is not just limited to business pursuits; it encompasses personal goals as well. One such personal project for this quarter is my children's financial education.

I believe education is crucial, but I also think the current system has some glaring omissions. It's almost as if schools are designed to produce career-minded, tax-paying employees to keep the government's coffers full, ensuring the country runs effectively. There's little focus on entrepreneurship or an in-depth understanding of how money works and how it can work for you, rather than against you. Given how much my life has improved with a solid money system in place, teaching my children about financial literacy from an entrepreneurial perspective became a personal mission for me.

So how am I approaching this for my kids? Let me break it down.

First, I considered their ages. My oldest son is twelve, my daughter is ten, and my youngest son is eight. What I teach the twelve-year-old can't be the same as what the eight-year-old learns, so I had to create a hybrid approach tailored to their developmental stages.

For my eldest, I've introduced Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens. It's only a two and a half-hour-long audiobook, and he listens to it for about half an hour each week, more if he's enjoying it. To teach him the basics of trading time for money, I pay him £5 an hour for work he does weekly, which is a pretty good wage for his age. This hands-on experience teaches him the value of money and how it operates in real life. He doesn't get advances or extra money, helping him grasp the importance of budgeting.

To further incentivize his learning, I pay him to listen to the audiobook. Each week, after his half-hour session, he has to share what he's learned. Rich Dad, Poor Dad has had a profound impact on my life, and the edition for teens is perfectly tailored to this age group.

In addition, I've just purchased the board game Rich Dad, Poor Dad 101. My plan is to play this game with all my children for 90 minutes every two weeks. Again, I'm paying them £5 per session to play, which might seem a bit controversial, but it serves a purpose. They're getting paid to perform a task, something they might not want to do initially. They each have a bank card where I transfer their money. As they start to grasp these concepts, I'll scale back the payments, providing them with opportunities to earn money from their own entrepreneurial ideas.

Before diving into Rich Dad, Poor Dad 101, we've also played Cash Flow for Kids – a simplified version of Cash Flow 101. After several rounds, I feel they are ready for the more advanced game, which will arrive tomorrow.

The takeaway here is twofold: first, understand how money works for you and not against you. This skill impacts multiple facets of life. Second, teach your children financial literacy. The school system doesn't adequately cover this, but that doesn't mean our kids shouldn't be equipped with this crucial knowledge.

I hope my approach can be a useful guide for those looking to embark on a similar journey. Feel free to drop any questions or comments; I respond to everyone. Don't forget to subscribe, share, like, and comment to help us raise funds for my ultramarathon fundraising mission.

Thank you, as always, for your support. Stay positive, stay happy, and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Warm regards,

Kevin Brittain