The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids
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The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids: Kids’ Smartphones and Computers
In our attempt to raise smarter kids with money, my wife and I decided to allow our children to buy their own cell-phones when they were entering middle schools.
That’s right. My kids were not allowed to have cell-phones before 7th grade. I admit it was kind of rough as many, if not most of their peers had phones way before 7th grade. We had plenty of tablets at home for them to do what they “needed” to do with technology, from iPads to Kindle Fire, they were plenty used to using technology. They just didn’t have a smartphone of their own.
We kept telling our kids that we would match what they saved for a purchase of their phone. My eldest ended up getting her first phone as she started 8th grade. She saved up $160 for her phone, and we matched that $160 and got her a great used iPhone 6s, rose color, 64 gigs for $320 2017 right before school started for her. When my second child was getting ready to start 7th grade this year, he saved up more money but he was content in getting a good used iPhone 6, 64 gig for the total price of $150. Not sure if we did the right thing, but we just paid the full $150 for his phone. Part of me wished he had paid half of the phone, but looking at the way he relates with money, we knew he would take good care of this phone even though he didn’t pay anything on his own.
We told both of our kids with cell phones that they could either pay $20 per month for their cell phone usage or do extra chores to help the family at home. Both have opted to do extra chores for now. Both of our kids do 2 loads of laundry per week as well as 2 set of dishes to help out. That’s the cost they pay to use their phones.
On another note, I wanted to get my daughter a laptop or a Chromebook considering she was 9th grade at the high school. To be honest, I was so tempted to either do the research myself or post on social media for suggested laptop or Chromebooks, asking for suggestions with pros and cons. I wanted to provide a laptop with the best specifications while saving as much as possible.
But as I was getting ready to post and start my usual research, I was convicted that I was not training my children to be better financial stewards, money-smart kids. How could they learn to make good financial decisions if they don’t learn to do the research and do the homework themselves?
So that’s when I decided to give my daughter a budget of $500 for a laptop or a Chromebook, find out pros and cons of the item she wants to get along with reviews by others, the best price for it, and where we can get it.
I told her that sooner she can give me a pitch on why she should get a device, sooner she would be able to start using it. To be honest, my daughter took longer than I had anticipated. This assignment was given to her about a month before school ended, but at the end, we missed a sale price and ended up buying Samsung Chromebook Plus 2 in 1 Touch Screen for $399 plus taxes in the middle of July.
It took about 2 months longer than I had anticipated, and I had to ask my daughter multiple times about pros and cons, her source of info, the best price and where we could buy the device. This was probably the most expensive item she had researched on her own so far, and I hope that she makes many more of these decisions based on her careful research and learn to be smarter about money.
The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids: The Cost of Preparing Future Stewards
During my years of serving as a youth pastor in an immigrant church, I have witnessed countless families hustling, working easily 60 hours or more per week in many service-oriented jobs. They worked hard to provide the best they can for their families. An honorable thing that I too want to do for my family.
One thing that really irked me was seeing some of these parents buying their teenage high school kids brand new cars like BMW. They didn’t even drive a nice car like that themselves, but these parents bought their first time driving teenagers an expensive car like a BMW. This puzzled me for the longest time some 10-20 years ago.
Then perhaps about 10 years ago, I came across a man by the name of Dave Ramsey who taught people how to be good money managers. And I heard about his story and how he raised money-smart kids of his own.
Here was Dave who had millions of dollars and could afford to buy nice new cars of his teenagers but instead of buying brand new, he told his children that he would match what his kids earned and saved up for a good used car! Why would multi-millionaire who could afford to buy his kids any new car they wanted do such a thing as having them earn and save, and match their savings to have them buy a good used car? There is got to be a good reason for this.
Dave’s daughter, Rachel, worked and saved money. There were lots of tears, drama, and long days of babysitting and walking dogs for this, but finally, she did save $8000 for her car. When Rachel bought a great used car with dad’s matched $8000 for the total of $16000, how do you think she treated and took care of the car?
Dave Ramsey’s kids learned to treat and take care of their cars. They understood what it meant to value money in a healthy way. Many of us who grew up working hard and received no handouts understand that those times of major difficulty formed our work ethics, the value of money, and more. We recognize that our character was formed through the difficult ordeals and deepened our faith. We learned to appreciate simple things in life.
Yet sometimes, with all the best intentions, us parents want to shelter our children from such life-transforming, character-forming learning opportunities? Dave Ramsey knew. The best way to learn to be money-smart adults who respect money and manage it well is for parents and adults in children’s lives to train kids to work hard and learn the value of money.
What do we really teach our children when we just gift things to our children without them participating in the process? What are we teaching them about the value of money? I coach and counsel countless adults in their 20s through 60s whose parents or adults in their lives never taught them that they were limits and boundaries to spending, and rarely ever worked for the things they bought. And they are still struggling with money and buying things when they don’t have the money for it.
I had the privilege of sitting with about 20 seasoned financial stewards a few months ago who regularly teach others to manage finances well and have done so themselves. Yet, when I asked how their adult children were doing in their personal finances, their responses weren’t that positive. It’s hard. I get it. It’s been hard for me too, especially because kids are different and I am a sinner. I’m still a beginner, learning to train my kids as future stewards. After all, God has temporarily given these kids to me and my wife, to love and raise them well, and if there is anything more valuable God has given me to steward well for His approval, I would say are these children.
As Ron Blue, one of the premiere teachers on biblical financial stewardship, reminds us, raising future stewards is one of the most important responsibilities of us stewards. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, or a youth worker, we can all make a difference in God’s Kingdom.
Ready to Start?
Are you ready to get started? Contact me at paul@jangfinancial.com if you want to help disciple your congregation as God-honoring stewards from a biblical perspective, or if you yourself want to grow as a steward seeking to practically manage the finances better to hear from our Lord upon his return, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21, 23)
Paul Jang
Pastor | Personal Financial Coach to Individuals & Financial Discipleship and Generosity Specialist to Churches
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Paul Jang served as a full-time ordained pastor for close to 15 years in Bergen County, NJ. Currently, he serves as an associate pastor at the Church Gathered & Scattered and as a personal financial coach and a financial stewardship ministry consultant for churches at Jang Financial Coaching LLC (jangfinancial.com), he serves Christ-followers and churches position toward financial peace, independence, and generosity. He is a certified Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach, a Financial Discipleship & Generosity Specialist with Compass, finances God’s way, and a member of Christian Stewardship Network. Paul has been serving as a financial counselor for about decade and enjoys running while listening to a good audiobook on anything financial. He is happily married to Joy and committed to raising 3 future stewards in God’s Kingdom.
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