And so, my approach with my own children was to try to engage them with these subjects as early as possible in hopes that some of it would be retained into their adult lives. It\u2019s tough, though. As parents, we\u2019re often busy, overwhelmed, and downright exhausted.<\/p>\n
Here are a few ways I\u2019ve tried to teach my sons (and now my grandson) about real estate investing and personal finance.<\/p>\n
As a real estate investor, I\u2019m continually pursuing education. In fact, after 30 years in the business, I\u2019m still learning every day.<\/p>\n Over the years, I\u2019ve tried to involve my kids in what I was learning or what I was doing. For example, when my youngest son was in high school, I was taking a class online on how to trade options, and I asked him to take the class alongside me. I even had him invest some of his money alongside me, and he was able to see firsthand how to trade.<\/p>\n I also employed my youngest son to help me do my taxes, mainly by sorting receipts and assisting with bookkeeping (paid labor, of course!). He would often ask questions like, \u201cIs all this work worth it?\u201d and I would then proceed to show him how much money was saved through legal deductions.<\/p>\n As you can imagine, he became even more curious as to how I invested that money from the tax savings to increase my passive cash flow. Luckily, by the time I was 42, I was able to show my kids the real path to financial freedom\u00a0since I no longer needed earned income to get by.<\/p>\n When my eldest son was younger, I was running my own painting business and would often take him with me on job sites and to renovate my flips and rentals. So, he was no stranger to the construction world, and today, he runs his own construction business.<\/p>\n Now, when I get to babysit my grandson, I\u2019ll sometimes take him over to visit his dad at work. Sometimes, this is after we\u2019ve just played Robert Kiyosaki\u2019s Cash Flow for Kids<\/em> game, which models things like how to invest in \u00a0rental properties. He\u2019ll ask me questions like, \u201cPop Pop, is this a good deal? Will this make me money?\u201d Needless to say, I love those conversations.<\/p>\n When we visit his Dad, I\u2019ll tell him, \u201cSee, your dad fixes up houses just like in the game.\u201d Or maybe I\u2019ll take him by one of my rentals and say, \u201cLook, I bought this house as an investment. The money I make from those who pay rent to live there is more than what I pay the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n In all of this, I\u2019m showing my grandson that the rules of the game he enjoys are also real<\/em>.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever too early to start encouraging good saving habits. For example, I\u2019ll even pay my grandson to do certain chores for me, and then I\u2019ll follow up with him to see if he paid himself first.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be asking how much he saved or invested, how much he donated at church or to charity, and what he did with the remaining balance. He may have spent some of it on video games, but then I ask him how much all those used video games are worth, and more importantly, were they really a good investment? At least it gets him thinking about it.<\/p>\n When my youngest son was entering college, he asked my wife and I to cover the cost. We could have easily done so, but I thought that maybe it was another learning opportunity. Instead, I told my son that I would help him pay his student loan back. To do that, after graduation we bought a mortgage note with a payment that was equal to the payment amount of his student loan, but we paid a fraction of the total balance, and he used the passive income to cover his monthly payments. The other great thing about this note investment is that the loan term is much longer than that of his student loan, so he\u2019ll continue to receive payments even after his student loan is paid off in full. In turn, he\u2019s also learned more about how to use investments to cover expenses.<\/p>\n![\"kids-money-lessons\"](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/kids-money-lessons.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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\nRelated:<\/strong> Teaching Kids to Be Entrepreneurs is Key to Addressing the Wealth Gap: Here\u2019s Why<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n5 Strategies for Teaching Your Kids About Finance & Investing<\/h2>\n
1. Learn by doing <\/em>together.<\/h3>\n
2. Hire your kids.<\/h3>\n
3. Relate games to real life.<\/h3>\n
4. Encourage good habits.<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n5. Invest on their behalf.<\/h3>\n
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\nRelated:<\/strong> How to Teach Your Kids All the Money Lessons They Won\u2019t Learn in School<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nHow About You?<\/h2>\n
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