Are Your Millennials Missing Out on Financial Knowledge?

It’s not surprising that financial literacy is a top concern parents have for their kids. Whether it’s watching children struggle with money decisions or worrying about them responsibly handling their eventual inheritance, parents have good reason for concern. Many Millennials, and younger generations, don’t learn much about personal finances in school, and in many families it’s not a typical dinnertime topic. Here are some steps you can take to build strong family habits around shared financial literacy.

Include Kids in Financial Decisions

Help your kids learn about money by involving them in your own financial decisions and transactions. It’s more effective and much more fun to learn from a mentor than from Google. Advice found on Google may be confusing, inappropriate for your child’s situation or just plain wrong. Your own experiences will be much more relevant and valuable.

The next time you do a real estate transaction, review your tax return, choose a credit card, pay your property taxes, research insurance options, read the Wall Street Journal or track expenses, invite your kids to watch over your shoulder or have them drive. (For related reading, see: Teaching Financial Literacy to Kids.)

Speaking from personal experience, exposure to financial matters early and often opened my eyes to the importance of money and got me interested in finances way before most of my peers. I remember reading old, odd and arcane details on a real estate contract when we were moving one year. I also remember around age 12 having a discussion about McDonalds stock with one of John’s colleagues at Morgan Stanley in New York City, while holding a McDonalds bag no less.

Exposure to a mix of small and large financial events provides valuable context, and remember that it’s never too early or too late to get started. Don’t underestimate your kids. They might even find something you missed and end up doing a more thorough job than you would—especially where technology is involved. Egos aside, that’s an example of a strong family habit.

Follow Your Favorites

One way to cut through the fog of fake news and information overload is to pick a few trusted editors or columnists and read them regularly. Some of my top favorites are:

• Matt Levine’s Bloomberg View column because he’s got great logical arguments and entertaining commentary.
• DealBreaker because it’s irreverent and does a good job of capturing the spirit of the stories.
• Barron's because it’s high quality. It does require a subscription and it’s released weekly. I read mine on the Kindle.

Test-drive these sources and share them with your Millennials, along with some of your own favorites. (For more from this author, see: The 7 Best Books for Investors to Read.)

Schedule Time to Discuss Money With Your Kids

Discussing money is easy to ignore or postpone, but it’s too important to let slide. On your own calendar, try scheduling one question and one task per week to cover with a loved one. It may not be their first choice for entertainment, but it’s often received as a genuine sign of respect and care.
Some examples of questions could be: What credit card do you prefer? How do you keep track of your monthly expenses? Have you read any interesting investment books or articles lately? Are there any new technologies, brands or apps you think are going to be very successful? Would you invest in them? Why or why not? If you received $10,000 tomorrow, what would you do with it? What kind of charitable organizations do you think we should support? Adding these to your calendar can help jumpstart the habit.

(For more from this author, see: How to Stop Doing Nothing With Your Investments.)