How To Raise Money-Savvy Kids - Episode 17
Are your kids Money-Savvy? Learn how to be intentional in your actions around money to teach your kids how to navigate money independently. Holly has created a Future Millionaire Money Camps for Kids and Teens. This program offers an engaging and informative learning opportunity from home and provides quick wins and practical ideas to plant the seeds of financial success far faster than going it alone.
Your camper will be equipped to develop a healthy Relationship with Money, Improve Financial Literacy, Strengthen Critical Thinking, and Build Confidence.
About Our Guest:
Holly Reid is an award-winning author, CPA, and Certified Financial Education Instructor dedicated to helping the next generation master money and empower parents to give their kids a financial head start.
She has educated thousands of people through her book, Teach Your Child to Fish: Five Money Habits Every Child Should Master, Money Camps for Kids & Teens, and curated workshops for parents.
Holly’s contagious energy and expertise connects with her audiences by taking the intimidation out of the financial equation and by creating a fun and engaging learning experience.
Learn more about Holly and her mission to close the financial education and racial wealth gap in America at www.TheMasterPlaybook.com
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TRANSCRIPT:
[00:00:00] Naseema: what's up? My financially intentional people. I am super honored to present to you my good friend Holly Reid. C P A C F P, alphabet Soup, all those incredible things. but most importantly, Holly is gonna talk to us about raising money savvy kids, cuz we all need to be doing that cuz what we're doing is all about changing the next generation.
So, super juice to have you here, Holly. Hey.
Hey.
there. Thank you for having me. I'm, I'm looking forward to this conversation.
[00:00:33] Naseema : It's gonna be a good one. It is gonna be a good one. You know how we do anyway, Holly, I wanna kind of just dive into your background and how you get got interested in finances and then how did you make the pivot to niche down to talking about money savvy kids?
[00:00:48] Holly : Yes, absolutely. So, I have a traditional background. You know, I'm a rule follower. I am the youngest of four girls, and so my parents did what. most parents, uh, teach us to do. They talk to us and give us all the things that they know how to do right, to be successful. So education was one of those things that they really pushed on to me and my sisters.
So I went to North Carolina a and t. Graduated with honors, was an accounting major. A and t really drilled into us to be, to go into public accounting. So that's exactly what I did. Went and took the c p a exam, you know, all the things so that you jumped through all the hurdles and all the hoops that could potentially, um, prevent you from going the farthest that you can go.
And along this journey, I had my own financial awakening, right? So, um, along the. Um, the.com bubble burst and little miss epitome of success. I lost my job. Right? And that was kind of my first taste of hitting rock bottom, right? Because I had been doing all the things, you know, my dad pushed us to buy our first home.
So I bought my first home at 23. You know, the, our. Teaches us to, um, spin, spin, spin to live above your means, to enjoy all the luxuries and conveniences in life. And that's exactly what I was doing. I wasn't saving a dime, I wasn't thinking really about my future self. And then when I was laid off, I was like, wait a minute.
Um, I, I was shocked. Initial. , but then I was ashamed. Like I was ashamed because my parents gave me great money advice, right? They told me, Holly, you need to save more of your money, Holly. You shouldn't be spending your money on this and that. Think about spending it here. But the one thing I realized, you know, hindsight 2020.
I saw that my parents never really gave us an opportunity to practice healthy money habits. Right. They told us what we should do, but there was never an opportunity because we didn't have the discretionary income. Right. To just, uh, you know, Play around with allowances. There were four of us in total and you know, the discretionary income was slim and they made choices to fit what was best for us at the time and best for our household.
And um, so that's kinda what propelled me into this space because when I had to have that conversation with my parents to say, Can y'all help me just a little bit while I find another job? Um, you know, that whole shame and embarrassment, I decided at that point, this will never happen again. Y'all will never catch me slipping.
I will never have to come back to you guys for anything else. And so I really just, uh, dove deep into listening to the financial gurus at the time. And we know who those were. Those were Dave Ramsey's. It was just
[00:04:00] Naseema : Susie Orman.
[00:04:01] Holly : Exactly. And so just trying to, um, figure out, based off of their advice, what worked best for me.
You know, now that I know what's best, I have my own opinions about some of the things that they shared back in the day. But, uh, what it allowed me to do was I managed to claw my way out of over $30,000 in. and then it was like I started preaching the debt-free gospel. Anybody who I knew, anyone I didn't know, I wanted them to experience life on the other side of student loans, on the other side of auto loans on the other side of.
Credit card debt. And so that's what really, it just got me fired up. Cause I was like, Ooh, I don't owe anyone except my mortgage, mortgage . But it was just a freedom that I said, everyone should know what this feels like. None of us should be working day in and day out just to pay bills, just to have these material possessions that we are so.
That, you know, that we're influenced to have to, you know, say we live a good life, right? And, um, so with that, I just started talking to more people about getting outta debt. And the more I talked to people, I, the more I realized. This conversation was common, like it was too many of us who were facing some of the same financial mistakes, same financial missteps with credit, with student loan debt.
And I said, there's gotta be a better way. And um, it occurred to me, that we just need to start sooner. Like what if I had known this sooner? I could have avoided making this mistake if someone had just showed me how this works, told, gave me the playbook, um, hence the master playbook. Then, you know, I could have, I could have been so much further along in my financial life and, um, that's what propelled me to write a.
targeted to parents about what we should be teaching our kids, um, as they grow and mature. What are the five money habits every child should master, um, to really just reach the parents so we can start planting those, suit those seeds sooner and more often so when they leave the nest, you. They can't say they didn't know.
At least we gave 'em the tools. And then, you know, it's up to us to be the drill sergeant, to make 'em practice, make 'em, uh, start thinking critically about the ch choices they're making when it comes to money and finances. And, um, so that leads us to where we are today, where I am today.
[00:06:48] Naseema : I love your story and I love the fact that first of all, you're a financial professional. You're trained accountant, yet you still made the money mistakes. Right? And I, and I think what people don't understand is that they think an accounting degree translates into personal finance. You know how to run business, finances, you know, all of that stuff.
But when it comes to your own money, it's a whole different ball.
[00:07:15] Holly : I am so glad you heard that in my story, cuz that is the point, right? I was a whole accountant major. I got a whole c p a degree. Like they were teaching me how to, you know, run billion dollar companies, how to manage their money, how to forecast for theirs. But it didn't, it somehow didn't translate into my own finances and I think that's, That is disappointing , right?
You spend all that money on college and here I am, I could go tell a Fortune 500 company what they need to do, what they need to move around, how they need to forecast this, but it didn't connect with what I needed to be doing with my personal finances. Um, and so that, that is a key, key, key lesson in my story because, I don't want people to think, oh, she's a C P A, so she probably had it all together.
No, we are making the same mistakes. So it's important that we talk and have these money conversations. It's important that we are very intentional, um, about practicing these money habits, understanding how this money game works, um, as individuals. Um, and it plays into, you know, business and your career and, you know, once you become a business owner for yourself and how you manage and look at things.
But you have got to have. Own personal finances in order.
[00:08:49] Naseema : Yep. Yep. I love it. And it's not any easier for you because you have this accounting degree. You have to start at the same place everybody else started at, and I want people to understand that because yes, a lot of people, when they look at people's success story, yeah, Holly paid off $30,000 in debt, but.
She was a, she's an accountant. Of course she can do that. But then how did Ali get the $30,000 a debt? You know what I'm saying? So we gotta start there. Right. But anyway, I love what you were saying in your story too, about your, your parents were instilling money lessons in you, but you did not have the opportunity to practice.
And I think that's what's missing. All of us know, in order to build wealth, you have to, you have to. Spin less than what you make. It's just like everybody knows to lose weight. You, you have to have a calorie des deficit, right? You have to, you have to burn more calories than you eat, right? We all know that, but how it fits into our lives individually is something totally different.
And so can you speak to the lessons that you teach in your curriculum, uh, in your. Um, about like how we actually allow kids to practice those things.
[00:10:03] Holly : Yes, absolutely. And so one of the key things that we have to do as parents, um, is we have to tie money lessons to the things our kids care about, right? One of the big mistakes I see all the time is, um, one, parents don't set expectations, right? So, uh, we can get into these a little bit later. You have to tie it to the things kids are interested. and make it fun, right? Make it interesting. Or else it's just going to go in one ear and out the other and it still may go in and out the other, but we hoping that we talk about it enough, that something sticks. Um, and so when I talk about the mistakes, one, we don't set expectations. We have one conversation or we give them one lecture and then we expect our kids to master it like we expect mastery.
And I liken it to teaching 'em how to wash the dishes, teaching 'em how to wash the clothes. How many times have we had to go back and say, you know what? I know I showed you how to wash this pot, but you missed several spots. , right? So it's
[00:11:13] Naseema : mean, I'm just thinking about how many times I have to tell my daughter to put lotion on. I'm like, I like for real. Like, I mean come and so we expect, have one conversation about money, which is way more complex, and then they just get it not
[00:11:30] Holly : no, that, that's not going to work. And especially if you're doing it in a lecturing conversation. Um, so if you are one of those parents who feel intimidated by finances, if you're a parent who, who's like, you know, Holly, I'm still trying to get myself together so I don't feel qualified to talk to my kids about money.
What I say to those parents is, you do not have to have a PhD to talk to your, to start these money convers. All you need is a l a level of vulnerability, right? To be able to share what are the money mistakes you made. But then what was the lesson in that mistake? So we can laugh and Kiki about the times we were high knock cars around the corner from the repo man, cuz we weren't paying our bills on time.
Okay. But what was the lesson in that? Right? The lesson was you gotta honor your obligations. The lesson was, um, maybe you took on more than you could actually handle. And you didn't realize that if you had known, you would've done some more math or some more figuring out before you took on that 400 $500 car payment. right.
When you're only bringing in a thousand dollars a month. So, you know, what were the lessons in the mistakes or in the laughable moments? Because those are the teachable moments. Like, just like adults. Our kids remember stories. They remember, um, they remember the emotion. Like how did it make you feel?
You were angry, you were mad, you were sad, you were like, oh, I got caught. Cuz I was trying to do something dishonest in the first place, hiding the car. So, Be able to share those stories. So one, share your past money experiences, whether it was mistakes, whether it was successes, things you did Right.
and, um, and share those with your kids.
My dad tells my sisters, he tells us stories all the time. One of his stories he tells is about how he got his first, um, bank account, how he got his first savings. And, um, back in the day, his dad was a, um, an estimator for construction jobs, right? So his dad would go out, my grandfather would go out, uh, estimate how much wood or whatever was needed for the project, tell the project manager and then they would go buy the material.
Well, my dad went out on a job with my grandfather one. And, um, the, the woman that, the, the couple that they were working for building on a porch or something for, asked my dad did he have a savings account. Now, my dad was probably like 12 or 13 years old and my dad was like, No, I don't. I don't have a savings account.
And the woman gracious said, I'm gonna help you open your savings account. I'm gonna give you your first $25. Back then you needed $25. Open up his savings account, whatever. Right? Fast forward, my dad starts dating, right? And he, he has his savings account and he meets the father of the young woman that he's getting ready to take out on.
And the dad is like, you know, like most dads, let me, let me meet this young man. Let me see what he's about. Son, do you have plans to go to college? Yes, sir. I'm going to Morehouse colleges. Uh, son. Do you, what are your career plans? Well, I wanna do this. I wanna do that, sir. Do you have a savings account? Yes, sir.
I have a savings account. And so he tells these stories where you realize, okay, it's important to have like certain things in place to kind of even get social approval. So back then the, the young lady's father was asking my dad and was measuring things to see if he was worthy of taking out his daughter.
And so I laugh at that, um, because it's things like that, like just planting little seeds along the. About how important it is, um, and what it says about what kind of person you are, what kind of future, uh, you may be set to have if you have just certain boxes checked. Right? Um, so tell your kids' stories, tell them your experiences.
Uh, going back to my first point, which is, um, to incorporate money lessons in the things that they are most interested. Think about the life milestones as your child gets older, right? One life milestone is becoming a teen teenager, right? You go from 12 to 13. I say make that a really big deal, almost Like a rights of passage, like you are a teenager now.
So now that you're a teenager, that comes with more responsibility. That means you need to start learning how to manage your money better. All right, so let's go open up an account. Like if you don't have a account for your child already. Make that a really big deal to go open up a savings account or open up a, um, some kind of brokerage account that maybe you as a parent are managing, but you let them know this is going to be yours and let's talk through it.
Let's look at bank statements. Lets walk your child through bank statements, right? So these are celebratory times. But then as they get older, a lot of kids are excited about giving their, getting their learner's permit, getting their driver's license. Going to the prom, um, you know, graduating being, it being their senior year in high school.
So what are the money lessons that you can attach to these important milestones that they aren't gonna forget? They aren't gonna
[00:17:04] Naseema : buying your first car? Yeah.
[00:17:06] Holly : Buying your first card, making them go through the exercise. Okay, you want a car? Let's go look at how much cars cost. Let's look at all the expenses, attach.
To buying a first car. Let's look at how you gonna be putting gas in that tank every week, every month, the insurance, let's talk about that. Like, it's just so many things that you can, um, just start making a part of their daily conversation, but also letting them know what it really takes. To have the things that fortunately a lot of our kids are able to have because we have the discretionary income to give it to 'em, right?
To give them the things that, that we didn't have growing up. So I think, um, tying it to things that are important to them are gonna be really important. And I think that becomes easier obviously as they get older, but you don't have to wait till they're older. You can start having these conversations now when they are four years old, when they are 5, 6, 7 years old.
So I'd love to just share how you can do that.
[00:18:15] Naseema : Mm-hmm. . I would love to hear it.
[00:18:16] Holly : Okay, . So, uh, with the four year olds, the young, the young ones, you want to help them understand like concepts, relationships, when it.
comes to money. So one of my favorites is making sure your younger kids understand the relationship between working hard or working smartly and being rewarded.
Right? What does that look. So for a four year old, it doesn't always have to be monetary. It can be all right. There should be a chore or chores that your kids help you out with that when they complete them, it makes the entire house run smoother, right? So with a four year old, it could be something as easy as when I do laundry.
Your job is to pair all the. Pair all the socks. That's your job. That, right? And so when you do that, your reward on the other side could be your favorite treat. It could be your more screen time. It could be, you know, hang, inviting a friend to come over to hang out. Like it could be anything, right. . Um, and, you know, talking to them, there was, there was another one that a lot of parents were doing with their toddlers.
There was a bunch of celebrities doing this at one time, I think. Oh, I know it was called the Fruit Snack Challenge. Do you remember that? So the fruit snack challenge is based off of an experiment. It was called the marshmallow test. So anybody wants to go Google the marshmallow test, right? So the fruit snack challenge is basically testing your child's, um, patience level.
There's self-control, there's self-discipline. So in the initial test, the marshmallow test, they, they'd say, Hey, I'm gonna give you a marsh. But I need to leave the room for about 10 to 15 minutes if you can hold off. If you don't eat this marshmallow when I come back, I'm gonna give you two marshmallows.
Right. Trying to incentivize them to wait. And they were doing the same thing, uh, modern day with the fruit snacks, giving the kids a fruit snacks and say, mommy's gonna be right back. Don't eat the fruit snacks. And then they would record the toddler and the ways that they would either distract themselves.
Or some of 'em couldn't hold out at all, but, but the test was all about, you know, the marshmallow test. was saying, okay, if your child could hold out, if they had the self-discipline, self-control, then they would be better. Um, with their money, right? They would be better with school, you know, and so if you do this fruit snack challenge with your kids and.
Eat the fruit snack before the time is up. Uh, I don't want people to feel discouraged. Okay? Cause , the great thing about this is you can self correct and, um, it, because it helps them practice that delayed gratification. That's the whole point of, of it, all right? We wanna teach our kids to have self-control, um, to delay their gratification. and I think that's an important skill.
To teach and practice with our young people, particularly because we live in an environment now where Everything. right, everything is instant, right? You can literally press a button on your phone and tomorrow, whatever you've ordered is there, or. 30 minutes later, the food, somebody's delivering the food at your door.
Um, but it's an important skillset for them to practice because it's going to help them master the money habit of saving money. Right? And we know saving is the foundation for investing. If you can hold, save your money for the future, then you can invest your money for long periods of time. For the future. So think about the underlying behaviors and traits that your, that your kids are going to have to need in order to be really good at money. And, um, delayed gratification is just one of those that helps making, saving and investing easier, like a easier concept, um, to get into practice as they get.
[00:22:41] Naseema : So I know you have kids just like I have kids. . How have you instilled these lessons that you have written about in your book, in practical applications in teaching your kids about money?
[00:22:54] Holly : Yeah.
so I have a bonus son. He is now graduated from college. Um, but I came into his life when he was 13, right. So we have these money conversations, right? We open up the accounts and walk him through the bank statements, making sure that he understood and giving him really setting expectations cuz by that age, and living between two households, you do what you wanna do.
Like what I tell you may not be reinforced somewhere else. So the real important thing is setting expectations, right? Setting high expectations. Um, that's something that my dad did for me and my sisters, my parents did for us. And um, one of the examples that I share, if you, if you've heard any of my story in other places, is.
Um, my dad was really big on real estate, like all of us buying, like leaving our home as a family and buying our first property. . And, um, he knew the value in that. And so that was something that he pushed us all to. So when I saw my oldest sister do it, then I knew it was possible. I was like, okay, she did it.
What do I need to do in order, you know? And so it kind of just sets that expectation of something that's achievable. So once I had the money saved up, Then I could, you know, then I could see myself becoming a homeowner. Right? Um, the, the way that I do it now is really. To me now, it's all about legacy right now that our bonus son is out on his own doing, making his own choices, right?
Uh, we are expecting he may have to come back. Like I had to come back to my parents, right? . But we'll allow you one comeback and then you need to get going for good So we, that is the goal. We want our kids out of our. So for me now, it's all about legacy and that's why I focus my work and my. On impacting our youth and our young people.
So today I host money camps for kids ages 10 to 14, and then also for teenagers for 10, 14 and up where we go through these money habits. Now I'm not just. Lecturing and talking. This is engaging, this is, uh, giving them things to practice. This is showing them what's possible by things that have been done by kids their own age, whether they've started a business.
You know what's possible when you save and start investing your money at your age cuz you got time on your side. Y'all can become millionaires far faster than me or anyone else, you know, older than us because a lot of the things that they. available and accessible to them. Now we didn't have. Right. Um, and you know, our kids can literally start making money with a cell phone and a YouTube channel.
Right. So it's just a totally different landscape and playing field, um, where they don't have to necessarily follow the traditional route that I did or that my husband did, where we were. , go to college, get a good job. You work that job and you know, for 20, 30 years, and then you can live your life. Now we, we, we give them a totally different perspective.
If you do what you need to do early on, um, and consistently you can reach these, uh, financial milestones much sooner and really live. and do the work that you really want to do, right? Because a lot of us, unfortunately, have been doing things that we didn't wanna do just to kind of keep up and to, and to make sure we get survive and pay bills and buy all the things that we bought early on in life when now you know, you, it.
We know better.
[00:26:57] Naseema : Yeah.
[00:26:57] Holly : we know better. We are learning the rules. We're starting to play by different rules and getting different results and, and as a result, I see a lot of people now in our generation, you know, they call it retire early, but you know, it's really giving you that freedom and flexibility to work how you want to work, work when you want to work and do the work that you really feel called to.
[00:27:24] Naseema : Right. And also we're in a position where we can set our kids up to have to opt out of the things that we had to do to get to where we're at. And so I think like that's like the most empowering thing is, is that you always plan on wanting to do better for the next generation. That's what your parents did, but your parents instilled in you what they knew.
And so, and their knowledge was limited to, you know, probably what their parents knew and all of those kind of things. And it was just a different kind of, um, world. And we, they didn't have as many, as much access as we do to, to knowledge, or, I mean like even retirement accounts, high yield savings accounts, like all these things, like didn't, yeah, like access to the market.
The accessibility used to have to have crazy, insane minimums to even like invest.
[00:28:15] Holly : up an account. Yep.
[00:28:16] Naseema : Exactly. And so what they had available to them was totally different to what we have available to us now, but it's putting us in a way better position to be able to set our kids up for success. And so that's why I like to say like we are doing things so our kids can opt out of all the BS that we had to get to, to where we're at.
Therefore, they get to things way faster, like the little money. I'm able to put aside now because of the thing, the actions that I've taken is enabling my kids to be millionaires in their twenties or early thirties, you know? And that to our parents was like, wow. Like they
[00:28:54] Holly : Unheard
[00:28:55] Naseema : that. Yeah, it's totally unheard of.
[00:28:57] Holly : May I think about, I think about, cuz my, my dad was really the, um, One who demonstrated saving money. So, he worked for the federal government and every paycheck he would, um, he would invest in savings funds. Right. And I look back at that now, like that was the thing, and I was like, If he had been putting that 25 $50 in the stock market instead, like how much faster would it have compounded and grown in the market versus in these little t bills and, and savings bonds?
Um, But
[00:29:33] Naseema : how did that
[00:29:34] Holly : said, they didn't have the access, right. They didn't have the access that we have now. And now our little $25, our little $50 a month can really. and set our kids up, like you said, to avoid, um, put them in a, just a better position. But here's the thing with that. So although we may as parents, um, I think you take care of yourself first.
Right? And then? if you have overflow and abundance, which a lot of us do, chick-fil-A Cut, cut a Chick-Fil-A cut
[00:30:07] Naseema : One visit out a month. It
[00:30:09] Holly : Right, right. You exactly. You can find it.
[00:30:12] Naseema : home.
[00:30:13] Holly : Um, but we, we want to give them that financial head start, but we don't wanna give it to them without leaving them the blueprint to follow, to make sure that they can continue to grow that money, double that money, use it wisely, um, know what their options are.
Uh, so, so I think it's great. The responsibility in giving them the financial headstart is also giving them that playbook to follow as well. Yep.
[00:30:44] Naseema : Yeah. I love that. And I wanna talk about like your, your workshops that you do for the kids. Like what are, what are the expectations at the different levels? I know you have the pre-teens or the early teens, then you have the older teens. Like what should they expect coming out of the program?
[00:31:01] Holly : Yes. So, um, I really push, uh, entrepreneurship and, um, during the camps, right? So I challenge them both age groups to earn at least a hundred dollars be before our time is over, right? And the, the camps typically are about four weeks in length. They can be, be extended, but typical. four weeks is, is what I typically lay it out to be.
And um, and I give them ways that they can do it, right? So whether that's starting your own business, whether that's monetizing a specific skill or talent that you have, because again, we are so caught up in, you know, sending our kids to college. And I still believe education is a, is a great equalizer.
Right. But at the end of the day, our kids also need to know that they are enough and that they have special skills, talents, and abilities that people will pay them for, right? So what are, what are the things that they enjoy and tap into those things throughout the camp, right? If I receive a student who doesn't have, you know, I poll and ask, do they have a savings account?
Do you, um, so we talk about opening up that savings account, making that a. , right? So that when they leave the camp, they now have the tools and they have the know-how on how to save consistently. Where am I getting this money from? So even if you don't do, even if you don't work a job consistently, you know now when you have monetary gifts, From family members.
You know, when you are rewarded, there's a certain amount that you should put away for saving and investing for the future. right?
We talk about, I give them a, a one-on-one crash course in investing, and these are things where. They should absolutely be introduced to. And the urgency in this for me is because money is becoming invisible, right?
So I think it's different for us when we have the tangible dollar bills and $20 bills when we actually see money exchanging hands. There's an emotional attachment when we give it up, right when we spend it. But because now everything. It is digital transactions, invisible transactions. Um, there's not that psychological connection, so we've gotta make sure they understand how things work.
We talk about, you know, the differences between debit and credit cards. Nasima, you would be surprised. How many of our scholars, I mean, high school students don't know the difference between a debit card and a credit card, how it works. That's so important, especially when our kids at young ages are being introduced to.
Gift cards and I tell 'em all the time, gift cards are just credit cards for training wheels. They're teaching you how to write, they're teach you how to swipe, dip, tap. They're teaching you how to track the money on the card. Um, you know they are. It's introducing our kids to credit at earlier and earlier ages
[00:34:11] Naseema : I mean, but they're being introduced to it whether we are teaching it or not, because now everybody, all these kids got iPhones. Then they have access to the, these digital wallets. They get access to, you know, their, their parents' Apple accounts. And so they need to understand how that money works because to them it's like magic money.
It's my phone. I could just tap my phone now and pay for something. And you know, we don't, they don't know the consequence. They don't know the back end of where this money is coming from. They just think, I got money
[00:34:43] Holly : Right. I hear it all the time. Standing in line, the parent tells the child no, and the, and the child is like, why not just put it on your card? Wait a minute, . Wait a minute, how you, What What? Do you even understand how this
[00:34:58] Naseema : Yes.
[00:35:00] Holly : They don't know, but they see it, right? So they learn. from observation. And so it's important for us to take a step back cuz I think? we take it for granted that okay, they see us making these payments but they don't understand the backend.
So it's important to stop, teach them the backend, like how it all.
works. Where is this money coming from? Oh, I'm using my credit card this time, so that means in 30 days I gotta pay it back. Or else there are penalties and these are the things that. through with the kids, um, and make it real for them so that they understand.
Uh, we talk about, um, budgets, of course building budgets, what apps they can use. Cuz they're, they are in the digital, you know, I'll do the paper budget, right? But, okay, now that's on paper. Now let's talk about the apps that are age appropriate that you can use and practice this without having to put it down on paper, right?
So you can keep track of, you know, your spending or your allowance or the gift money that somebody gave you. Um, so it is really important that they kind of get these things, or at the, at the minimum introduced to it, so then the parent can continue to build up on it with the, I would say one of the key differences I do with the teenagers, Um, the kids, I reward them, right?
I just want them to learn, have fun with the teenagers. I want y'all to feel it so I incentivize them, right? So they actually have an opportunity to learn and earn meaning. When you complete the assignments that I have given you for this week, that is going to reinforce the money habit that we just talked.
Live in class virtually then um, now you have an opportunity to earn some money And what are you, what are you gonna do with that money once you earn it? So helping them set goals, their financial goals, um, and I think the earning money part is what gets them a little bit motivated. Cuz you know, that's one of the key concerns.
My child, my, I've heard parents. Come and say, well Holly, my child really isn't into money right now. And I'm like, how old are they? This is a life lesson, like money management is a life skill, so they may not be into it, but they need to know it. They need to learn it, they need to start practicing it, which is why, again, I really try to attach it to something that they're interested in so that you know they can, they can.
So it becomes a little easier. They see it in a different lens, and then as they grow and mature and are exposed to different things, their perspectives change. They start thinking about things differently. Um, so I hear a lot from parents about, oh, uh, you know, my child. So I have an example. I have, um, one student, she was a foodie, right?
She loved cooking, baking, all the things. and her and her mom, after she attended the money camp, her and her mom go to Starbucks. And one of her favorite things at Starbucks, this is like a 12 year old, one of her favorite things at Starbucks were the cake pops that, uh, that Starbucks sells. And so she looks at the cake pops, and of course Starbucks is trying to sell 'em three, four x, right?
Three for X number of dollars. And now that she's gone through the money cam, she's like, For that amount. I can go bake a whole cake at home like, and I was like, yes. The aha moment, the critical thinking starts to come in and you're like, well, I don't want the cake pops, ma, can we just spend the money instead?
And I go buy, I bake a whole cake at home, you know? So,
[00:38:47] Naseema : sell her cake pops at school, and then make her money.
[00:38:49] Holly : That's right,
[00:38:50] Naseema : Yes.
[00:38:51] Holly : That's right. So, uh, you know, it's those kind of transformations. Um, and it's, it's not all about making our kids money savvy, although that's the goal, right? But we also talk about giving and giving generously because we want our kids to be money smart, but we also want to raise, um, money savvy kids who are empathetic, who have compass.
Who, um, you know, who understand the value of giving back and helping others out who may not have as much as we have. And again, it's because this generation, they get a bad rep about being so selfish and so self-centered. Um, that I just wanna highlight and pull out what are things, you know, Things celebrities are doing with their earnings, like they could be keeping that money.
But no, uh, LeBron created a whole school, I promised school in Akron, Ohio. Or, you know, just looking at other celebrities that they can relate to, that they look up to, to say they could keep all their will, but instead they're choosing to help others. And what are the things that you care about where you would feel like you could lend your time, your talent?
or your treasure right to, to help and, and, um, build stronger communities or help, you know, out the homeless or, you know, whatever it is that they care specifically about. And just diving deep into that as well.
[00:40:24] Naseema : I love that practice piece of it because I remember being a teenager and you know, I earned a lot of money, but I was never taught what to do with it. And if I could have even practiced like putting money into a savings account and what that would look like, that would. Be a skill I could build off of later to invest instead of learning how to invest in my thirties when I had the money, even though it wasn't a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, if I would have, you know, implemented those tools earlier on, it could have helped me in my adult life.
So I love how you teach that practice. I wanna know, though, from the parent's perspective, I know you have to hear it a lot. , well, it's too late for me. At least I'm going to, you know, help my kids. And so I see parents willing to sacrifice and give for their kids, but they're not willing to put that effort into themselves because they think it's too late.
Have you experienced that?
[00:41:26] Holly : Yeah, I do see that. Um, I mean, we even see that?
with the material, things that they are willing to invest in and, and give to their kids. Um, and so I do a lot of talking to parents who are probably prioritize more of their kids looking good. And I'm like, yeah, they look great. They look, they look fantastic.
They, they setting trends out here, they got the. This, they got the latest that, but what are they going to be able to carry forward? We want them to, you know, maybe even be able to take care of you one day. But for the parents, Yes.
we have, uh, workshops where we talk to the parents, not only about, um, why it's important to set your kids up, but how they, your kids need to see this demonst.
They need to see you thinking through your budget. They need, they need to see you, um, looking. What, what doing comparison shopping, Right,
To say or, you know, and the more that you, um, take on the, the challenge and the responsibility of showing it, it's gonna rub off on YouTube ,right, If you take your child to the, to the store and say, okay, this is why I'm buying this in.
or this is why I'm buying this brand over this brand, um, it's going to rub off on you because you care. You care what your parent, your what your kids think, right.
And so, um, it'll start helping you even practice healthy money habits because you don't wanna, I mean, we wanna send the Right messages and we wanna be that good example.
Like I. I know sometimes we're not, we're nobody's perfect, but if we know they watching , we wanna do our best to try to at least set the good example. And so it's not too late for parents And um, Again, when parents feel that intimidation factor or they feel that it's too late for me, it's not. And one of the great ways is you can learn alongside your kids, right?
Um, I have parents, especially all the time when it comes to investing, they were like, well, I never learned. Well, guess what? Your kids don't know either. So it, it's, it's, this is a perfect opportunity to learn together and, uh, to start practicing it.
[00:43:54] Naseema : Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Yes. I love that. And I was hoping that you would share that because I, I know that a lot of parents are just like, well, at least I can just do better for my kids. But that's the way I kind of like draw them in is like, oh, you know what I told you, it is really about your kids, but really these are things that you can be implementing right now as well.
And then they're just like, oh, okay. I think one of the greatest gifts we can give to our kids, Leaving them so they don't, leaving them the tools so that they don't have to take care of us when we are older. Like so we're in a good place ourselves. Um, so it's not just about like making sure that they're okay because you can set them up for success, but if you are not in a place where.
You know, you, you are taken care of at an older age, well then what's gonna happen? We perpetuate this cycle again because they're going to have to take care of you. And that is a huge financial burden. And so like, just kind of just shift perspective and think like, Hey, you have to take care of yourself too.
And again, uh, more is caught than taught you. They still need to see those examples to see that it's possible for them too. So
[00:45:05] Holly : Absolutely. And, um, like you can, first place you can start is if you wanna talk to a financial advisor, right? A lot of people think financial advisors are only for the wealthy. They are not. They can help you figure out exactly what you can do. What can you afford to do to put in place for yourself? Bring your kids to those conversations.
Let 'em let 'em hear that you. Making a plan that you are thinking about your future self because it's all for nothing if they have to end up spending their money to care for you when you could be doing things for yourself and planning for your future self. So absolutely.
[00:45:45] Naseema : Yeah, and I think we have to like shift like our, I know you might have heard it and my parents, with my parents' generation, it's like, you know, stay in a child's place. Like we don't, you don't bring them into money conversations. I think we need to shift that and, um, You know, my kids hear and talk about, we talk about money all the time cause they hear me talking about money.
We talk about money and you know, then they listen to like all these things and they listen to things that I listen to in the background, which is usually like personal finance podcast or whatever. And you'd be surprised how much they pick up. And my kids are only four and eight, but they know so much.
Right. And like even like my daughter was showing. , like one of her friends, kind of like how much she'll have like on, um, due to compounding interest alone. Right. And he was just like, how do you have all that money? And she is like, because I am invest. Like, duh, like, you don't know about it. And then she's even talking to my stepmom and she's like, I mean, I don't understand why you don't understand investing.
I mean, it's just, it's. I, I don't get it. And so like you would think that they, it, it's a lot for them to understand, but when it's their norm, they can pick up on it. Like these concepts are no less complicated than the math that they're learning in school or how they're learning to use tablets. You know, your three, four year olds know how to navigate through your tablet.
And so these lessons are not above them. So I love you mentioning, including them in conversations. So Holly, I know you have written multiple books now. You have your camps, you have your classes for parents. How can people access all your resources?
[00:47:27] Holly : Yes. If you guys are interested in connecting with me, you can find me@themasterplaybook.com across social media everywhere at the Master Playbook. . Um, I would love to connect with some intentional parents who really wanna give their kids this financial headstart. Um, whether it's through education or just understanding what are the things you can do now to set them up?
[00:47:52] Naseema : I love it. And thank you so much Holly, cuz you have dropped some, uh, gems in this episode and even some things that, you know, some practical steps that I can take with my kids to teach them about money. I wanna put 'em in your, in your camp . I'm like, my eight here is about to be in that camp cuz she'll be in there thinking she knows something.
Cause and that would be hilarious, but . But sometimes, you know, they get, they hear things differently from other people too. And that's another lesson is because they think I'm done. My kids think, you know, they know way more than me because, you know, they're so smart. And so hearing things from another parent would be great too.
So I'm definitely signing my daughters up for that bootcamp when they come of age, so, or your, your camps. So I appreciate all you do, Holly, and I
[00:48:41] Holly : Thank you
[00:48:42] Naseema : the podcast.
[00:48:44] Holly : I, I have enjoyed my time. Thank you so much.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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