My Dad teaching us kids financial planning when we were just a bit older (Part 1):

Besides instilling in us the idea of Tithing, Savings, and Missionary Fund, as we moved into later elementary school years, my Dad used a method to teach us about how to take responsibility for our financial outcomes.

The first way was to teach us that we were part of a family which included the finances to run the family, and not just independent beings. I am sure this lesson took a bit of preparation on his part. Here is how it went.

He would bring out a bunch of money from our Monopoly Game. He would then line up what looked like a bunch of money to us kids, and say, “This is how much money I make in a year.”

Wow, to us kids, this looked like a HUGE amount of money. Then he would begin paying our “bills”, starting with Tithing, Savings, and Next Big Life event (that was my parent’s mission), but would of course move on to house payments, utilities, food, clothes, and even get closer to us with school fees, PTA money, etc. At the end there would be just enough money left to pay us kids our “allowance”, and all the money would be GONE.

Then he would say, “Dad works to make this money to support the family, because he is the Dad and because that is his role in the family. Mom works hard in the home and takes care of all kinds of stuff because she is the Mom, and because that is her role in the family. You kids study hard, and help around the house and do your chores because that is your role in the family. You get allowance because the family has enough money to give it to you. It is NOT payment for doing your chores.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. Dad made up all kinds of jobs around the house that we could do to be paid for. But cleaning our own rooms, and doing the tasks that we were normally assigned to (like emptying the garbage, mowing the lawn, etc.) were not part of these. (I remember washing the car being one of the “for pay” jobs.)

This was really interesting to me, because it showed me what “entitlement” is really supposed to mean–that I am entitled because I am part of a group (the family) with responsibilities for each member: that when all work together will generate something that can be shared-and we are entitled to our “share” once it is generated.