Sure do wish there was a cashflow 101 class offered at the schools around here.

We ran our own for our kids. It stuck pretty well until the oldest went to college. She bumped her head on something and forgot nearly everything she knew to be true before.

Now she is digging herself out. An expensive learning experience for sure.

I agree it's very important to teach fiscal responsibility starting when they are young.

It's the parents' responsibility to teach (well, everything is, really) - not to rely on outside educational systems.

I am very thankful that my high-school educated and very poor mother instilled the basics in her kids. Be responsible, don't spend more than you have, & earn as much interest as you can (back then it was CD's)

I'm VERY thankful I was able to pass on financial intelligence to my kids, adding more complex concepts to my mother's, & they got it.

Makes a person wonder why the schools don't teach these things. But then they are busy teaching and encouraging "other things". I worked hard to give mine a good idea of the responsibility and it worked until college. Then it went to the trash bin. Now, 13 years out of college, the monthly bills still eat most of the earnings. Money got wasted on expensive conventions and vacations, thousands on lego's and other stuff. BUT, thankfully not on drugs, tattoos, clubbing and other crap like that. Still, like many millennials, can't afford a house. Did not listen to my advice. BY the same age(mid 30's), I owned at least 6 houses.

I applaud you all for planting that seed. Not all seeds grow and sometimes you have to wait and see what happens.

Some of the best lesson learned are via the school of Hard Knox's. I reflect back on my time in the military....when the ship would pull into a place there was routinely a list of places that were off limits to the crew. Any idea where we would go? Well, we had to see why the places were off limits - normally it was because it had questionable business practices to begin with.

My sis didn't homeschool, but she did start her kids on a budget as pre teens. They were responsible for buying their own clothes (with a little supervision), saving money, and planning for entertainment dollars.

Our high school had a home economics class. One area we touched on was budgeting. In economics we had a chapter on stocks and investing.

We never got allowances. Instead, we earned a nickel for every dandelion root we pulled out of the lawn. We were given lunch money but I didn't buy lunch, I saved the money. I never had to buy anything but got a part-time job in high school and started a business during the summer. Saved that money and made a downpayment on a car.

I enjoy giving money-saving gifts to nieces and nephews, i.e.

Getting back to NE's question to me about what influences my kids had in college.

People from different areas. Some that had everything handed to them on a silver platter. Those seemed to be the ones that cared the least about how things got done or bought.

Some of the professors were geared more toward a society where everyone was equal and should get equal shares of whatever was available.

The worst were the students that wanted to be hip, I guess is a term for it. These people would spout things about what was going on in the world, but always with an undertone of stupidity.

Everyone should have an equal opportunity for everything, but only if they work for it. So many socialist or communist thoughts clouded the mind of a young person who had very little contact with things like this.

Now she has a spouse who is so caught up in these thoughts she can not escape. It's sad to me. She is a different person. We keep fighting for her, and sometimes we see a spark of intelligence sneak thru. But it no longer comes naturally for her, and working on common financial sense is too hard.

I am from a split family. My bio father was a factory worker. He had all the neatest things. But he worked seven days a week, twelve hours a day. He lived for the vacation time and relied on the OT from work. He delved into other money making schemes but never really got them to go thru.

I'm not zero, but in response to your question, NE:

I believe strongly that our children must be taught from a young age not only what is right, why it is right and how to do it - but we must also teach them about what is wrong.

Do not shelter them from the bad things that are so prevalent in the world around us, but help them understand that many different people do things in many different ways. Teach them to evaluate why people do things they do, what the consequences are - good & bad.

They need to learn to discern & judge between good & bad & how to explore 360 degrees around every situation before making a decision. Not just do/don't do because Mom & Dad said so when I was a kid.

Very well said, DJ.

One thing to add - In HS and College my children had part time jobs - I see so many kids who were sheltered by there parents - let them be kids and at 30 there are still kids.

Now, my children are in there 40s have nice houses- good jobs - and 401ks above target for retirement.

I was frugal and value conscience and I see it in them, but the part time work was the intangibles that parents need a little help in teaching - such as being on time for work - teamwork - meeting the public and if you want to buy something work for it.

A few things that helped me and my siblings enormously:

1) My grandfather gave us each a small trust fund ($3K) when we were young. We couldn't touch it until we turned 18. For years as teenagers we got quarterly statements and got to watch the value creep up, and up, and up--with no effort on our part! Invaluable lesson on the value of savings over time.

2) When we turned 12, our parents instructed us to make out a clothing budget. They approved it (and reduced the amount for some of us!). Every month we got 1/12 the amount, provided we could show an accounting of any funds that had been spent.

3) They kept us "hungry." We got allowances, but they were pretty meager. If we wanted REAL spending money, we had to work. They gave us plenty of opportunities to work.

NE, I am sure that things could have been done differently.

Hindsight and all that.

We chose a small rural community for them to grow up in. Once they got to college there was such a diversity that it might have been a little overwhelming.

We paid for their four year degrees. As long as they kept the grades up I was fine with it. The number of kids they saw drop out because of either bad grades or lack of funds was an eye opener for them both. They have both gone on and worked thru master's degrees on their own. Well I did give short term loans a couple semesters but they were paid back.

I think that when they were bombarded with all the different choices it sometimes got to them. Not sure when it actually happened with my oldest. She was a 4.0 student, had a part time job and seemed to have retained what little common sense we beat into her. Then she got out of college and things started slowly fading away.

She got a new boyfriend (husband now) who feels that everyone should be entitled to things, no matter what. When things need taken care of his priorities get all out of whack.

I can only do so much I guess. They got into CC trouble. I bailed her out and she paid me back per our agreement. Unfortunately they still made a lot of financial blunders while that was going on.

He wants to live life while he is young, but also wants all the things that hard work and time bring.

Some will say that we coddled the kid too much. Maybe so. I am finishing up on the last project I plan to help them with. I am sure I will do more, but they need to fall on their backsides and feel the sting. Although having what I considered near crippling CC debt didn't stop them from going to concerts, movies, out to eat and other things that were not needed.

Wow, what a rant about how my kid lost her way.

No problem ZERO. This should be a safe space for the hive to rant if they need and share. I see no fault with her upbringing. You can't hold onto them forever, although my sister-in-law has; her daughter is in her 30's. When she wanted to forego her dental scholarship to remain home to continue to date her boyfriend at the time, SIL marched over to his house, spoke to him and his parents and forbid the relationship. Off to dental school in Iowa she went. Met her husband there, they own a dental practice together and have two young boys. Not bad for a kid who wasn't supposed to live past 16 (cystic fibrosis). I think her Mom was the catalyst. Thwarting young love is not my forte.

I often think back at my own childhood. My parents ran a small business and truthfully it wasn't super successful in making money. But it did inspire two of us kids to go into business for ourselves. I that regard, the business was a huge success. I only wish my parents were still around so I could thank them more.

Well said Ray.

Not true zero - or my stepson would be a genius.

If two savers get married, they will be fine - but might actually run into the trip of not actually enjoying the fruits of their labors: there does need to be a balance. Sometimes you have to buy a new toothbrush.

If a spender marries a saver, they MIGHT have a chance if the saver is the dominant one. But if it's the spender they are toast: the saver will always be going crazy over the spender's purchases :( Tensions will run high over every purchase, necessary or not.

If two spenders get married, they are beans on burnt toast. Even high earners can easily out-spend their income.

My DH once put together a whole presentation on saving and compound interest. He used Microsoft's slide show program (what was that called??) and made the kids sit and listen. He opened 401ks or whatever was the norm then for each kid with $1000 in it.

DS #1 and #2 both took out the money, paid the taxes and went on with their lives. DS#1 now regularly says "I was stupid then, but I did listen and I did change." He's over 50 now and financially okay as far as I know. He is married to a high earner who's a big spender though, so I really have no idea. They don't ask for money so none of my biz.

DS#2 is always broke - and he's married to a spender who simply does not understand the concept of rainy day saving despite decades of us trying to teach it to her. If they have a dollar, she can spend two without thinking about it. I gave up. He's the earner and put her in charge of the money long ago, back when I was trying to teach them both about running their first household. Big mistake, as it turned out. And they always have new fancy toothbrushes :)

DS#3 is a saver - he's terrified of spending a dime. His wife is, too, but not quite as much a miser as he is - she's a fan of second-hand shopping. They will never be broke, though, unless something catastrophic happens.

Ray, I said sometimes.