As we approach the holiday season, I thought I would share a story about how I attempted to educate my son as to the meaning of money and making decisions on how to spend it. In our business, we often deal with situations where individuals are naive as to money.
Many of you might remember there were two toy stores, Children’s Place and Toys R Us, in the Belden Village area. My son David, who was six years old at the time, wanted at toy. (He wanted, not needed as I referred to back in my original snippet.) The toy was $8 at one store and $6 at the other store. I asked David, “Where should we buy the toy?” I had hoped that he was beginning to learn the value of money. The response I received was totally unexpected from a six year old, but I was impressed by how observant David was. He said, “Dad, it doesn’t make any difference where we buy the toy. All you need to do is put the card in the machine, money comes out, and you buy the toy wherever you want.”
Welcome to the world of educating Generation Y about the value of money. In summary, it’s important to start discussing money and finances with children at an early age.
Scott Whetstone is a partner with 415 Group. In Snippets from Scott, he shares financial tips through his experiences as an accountant. Scott welcomes your comments or suggestions for current or future blogs.
