Finances are often a complicated matter, even for adults. Aside from budgeting for monthly payments and other bills, there are savings and investments to think about, too.
However, being a good steward of your money is important at any stage of life. Good parenting means relaying the principles of financial stewardship to your kids so that they grow up with the proper perspective of money.
There are different aspects of this that you can instill in your children, but it all starts with managing your finances well.
Setting Your Kids Up for Success
Being a good steward of your money is not just about having enough for your family today. When you become a parent, it also involves building a good future for your children. That means managing your finances so that you are not only making ends meet, but also leaving your kids with a good inheritance as they grow up.
How about debt?
Often, debt keeps us from achieving the financial independence we need to work towards a stable future for our children. Debt is one of our biggest stressors. It makes us feel anxious about the future and unsure about our capacity to lead a good life.
While there are situations in which we suddenly have to take on debt because of an emergency, such as sickness or death in the family, we must be careful not to be in debt due to our own negligence. If poor financial choices and living beyond your means leads you into debt, then it is a responsibility to honor God by repaying these debts.
Letting debt dictate your life turns you into its slave before you know it. If you want to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, then you must not let debt or money master you.
Make good financial decisions for your children.
Living free of debt is a good foundation for building a good future for your kids. With this comes knowing how to manage your finances well. One aspect of this is making sure you are on top of your monthly payments and other responsibilities.
Another aspect to look at is making good investments to keep your children from debt in the future. Don’t let your disposable income go to waste. Find ways to grow your finances, such as investing in apartment complexes and other real estate properties, in stocks, or other forms of investments.
These may not show immediate returns, but they can keep your finances stable and benefit your children in the future.
Teaching Your Kids Financial Stewardship
In addition to modeling financial stewardship, here are other points of financial stewardship to impart to your children.
1. Emphasize the importance of tithing
The first thing your kids should know about money is that they are not the owners of whatever they have. Everything is ultimately God’s, which means that we should obey His wishes when it comes to how we use it. One of the ways to show that our money is the Lord’s is by tithing.
Your kids do not yet earn their own income, but they can apply this practice with their allowances. 1 % of income or allowance is the usual minimum churches recommend for tithing, but remind your kids that their giving should be done out of joy, not an obligation. When they give, the most important thing is that they do so with an open heart.
2. Help them to budget and save
When your kids want something, do you immediately just get it for them? Rewarding your children for good behavior is not wrong, but they also have to understand the importance of saving their money.
Let them use their allowance to learn how to budget for their needs. Help them factor in items such as food, new school supplies, and tithes in their current allowance so that they understand how much they can spend in a week or month. Let them keep what’s left in a piggy bank or even their own savings account, which they can use in the future.
3. Explain the significance of work
In addition to budgeting and saving, teach them that work is a part of God’s design for man. Work lets the adults at home earn a living, which lets the family eat and live well daily. As you teach them that work is an important part of life, be careful not to nurture a fixation on working to amass wealth.
Whether you are blessed with much or little, commit it for the Lord’s work and not your own gain. Remember that the work you do and the fruits of your labor deserve to be treasured.
