Change the World! Help Kids succeed with money

My 10-year-old neighbor and his younger sister stopped by a few weeks ago with their brochure for the “K-9 Pooper Scooper” business. It was a well-done home-made ad offering to scoop my dog’s poop every week before I mow the lawn for the reasonable price of $10. How could I resist that deal!

The K-9 sales pitch reminded me of my oldest son’s first business when he was just 5 years old. He gathered the buckeyes that fell in our backyard, polished them, and then set up a table by the sidewalk with a sign offering them for $0.15 each. We didn’t have a busy sidewalk, so I am forever grateful to a kind mailman who bought a few of them from him.

But the buckeye business was just the first of many businesses to follow including a car cleaning service, lawn mowing, lemonade stands, pet sitting service and many more. Today, I can see the results of those early experiences in capitalism with my grown children running a variety of businesses. I think they are confused why anyone would be infatuated with socialism when they grew up seeing so much opportunity all around.

Want to Impact Culture and Politics? Invest in Teaching Kids about Money

Are you frustrated with the way the political winds are shifting this year? I know I am. It’s hard to believe that after the fall of the Berlin Wall less than 30 years ago, we have a large segment of America calling for a more collectivist government and an end to capitalism.

But we don’t need to fall into hand wringing despair.  I think it’s a better idea to focus on what we can do.  Let’s teach our children, neighbors’ children, and grandchildren about how wealth is created. For those of us who think in terms of generations, it’s always worthwhile to purchase services from the K-9 type businesses to encourage capitalism in a practical manner to motivated children. In addition, I came up with 9 lessons you and I can use to nourish free enterprise in our children and grandchildren.

1. Find a need, and start a business with a kid. Children do not naturally see the needs others have. They start life self-consumed with their own needs. It can open a whole new dimension in life to assist them in seeing the needs of others that they can meet. I’m pretty sure my neighbor kids didn’t see the need for the K-9 business without a little help from their parents. If they don’t approach you, be proactive and find kids in the neighborhood to water flowers, mow your lawn or shovel snow. It may be their first job and they will remember you forever for it!
2. Help a kid set a budget with the money they earn. I learned early in life from my father that part of the profits from my businesses were to go to my church. Part of the profits went to my savings account for college. And the remaining profit was mine to spend. We didn’t use a budget worksheet, but it taught me the principles of budgeting in a way I understood.
3. Ditch the idea of forced sharing of toys. Here’s an unconventional idea. How many parents do you know that are committed to the idea of private property rights for themselves, but who deny their children the rights to control who gets to play with their toys?  If our children bought a toy, they and their siblings learned that they were not required to share it. They might choose to share the toy, but it was their decision. My wife and I discovered that when toys are considered private property of individual children, it actually creates less chaos than the family committed to making all toys community property.  I’ve often found it awkward visiting friends when a fight breaks out and it ends with somebody yelling at junior to “share your truck!” Treating toys as private property is a great way to teach kids that “You shall not steal” is a wonderful command for a peaceful life and a key aspect of capitalism.
4. Gift your kids a few shares of stock of a company they can relate too. When my children were young, we bought them a few Nike and Apple shares. As you can imagine, as they got older, they started tracking the value of these shares as they went on incredible runs. In fact, just this week when the market was down over 500 points, I got an excited text from one of my kids that Nike was up $10! Kids can develop an interest in business early if they own part of one.
5. Let your kids experience the developing world. One regret I have as a parent is not encouraging all my children to take a gap year of service in a developing country. The impact on one of our children was dramatic after spending almost a year in Africa. She saw the result of socialist policies that led to real poverty, sickness and death among those she was serving. But it was also a great way for her to see that wealth is not essential for those she served to experience joy in their contentment with their life.
6. Don’t let your kids wallow in a victimhood mentality.  A recent article in Scientific American profiled how focusing our life on grievances is debilitating.  The article pointed to four characteristics that show up in those debilitated by victimhood including: constantly seeking recognition of victimhood from others, a sense of moral elitism used to control others they perceive as unfair and selfish, a preoccupation with their own victimhood that prevents them from empathy for others who may be in pain, frequent recounting of past offenses which lowers the capacity for forgiveness and moving forward. While not ignoring educating our children about real injustice, it’s important that we not allow a victimhood mentality to creep in and squash the creative, optimistic mindset necessary to take a risk and start a new business.
7. Combine wise sayings with real life stories to teach your kids. Proverbs 28:19 is an example of wisdom to discuss at dinner with kids when accompanied with a real-life example: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.” As a banker I could share stories at dinner of customers chasing fantasies such as day trading which always ended poorly, but balanced with stories of those who became rich slowly by working hard within their circle of competence. Kids hear stories like these and they impart wisdom they won’t internalize in a financial literacy class.
8. Live out a frugal life in plain sight of your children.  Children catch more than they are taught. I think my kids look back with a bit of wonder that we lived in one-bathroom house with 4 children for many years. However, they also know they were happy in the small house and it allowed us to save up for their college education and give generously to worthy causes.
9. Remember “parent privilege” is the true advantage for kids. Our country is currently experiencing a fascinating debate about who is privileged based on race. While that debate rages, it’s important to remember that regardless of race, color or creed, the advantage to children of living in a well-functioning, two parent household is unmistakable. There are certainly many kids who come from single parent families who do well in life, but there is also a clear statistical evidence that kids from two parent homes show significantly lower levels of risk-taking behaviors. Among the findings in a Cornell University research study I recently read, children from two parent households show consistently lower levels of substance abuse, less criminal behavior, less sexual activity when young, and show more long-term romantic relationships over time.  Not surprisingly, research shows kids from two parent households also tend to prosper economically over single parent households. So, if we want to change the world, let’s figure out ways to encourage married couples with kids!

Let’s not fret this week about the November election. Rather, think long term about how we can help change the course of the next generation by encouraging our children, grandchildren, and kids in the neighborhood. I’d love to know your experience!

Joe Kesler, Founder Smart Money with Purpose