Why don't we teach or children about money?

The financial crisis had made many people rethink where they are financially. It has also given people the opportunity to rethink their relationship to money and the value of a dollar. When I was growing up money was one of those subjects you just didn't talk about unless it was in a whisper. Occasionally I heard my parents arguing about money. My father was a real estate developer and builder and he went broke twice in his life. This is fairly common in that profession but I didn't know it. I grew up with major issues around financial security. As a result, I traded my dreams of being a "creative" person - artist, actress, movie maker for the stable profession of accounting. You can always get a job if you are an accountant.

Over the years I used my accounting training to move in to different roles and learn about business. I also used my understanding of "the numbers" to learn more about investing, finance and operations. I worked long hours climbing the corporate ladder to provide financial security for myself and my family. All the while ignoring the need to teach my own children about money. I have "two families". My daughter from my first marriage is now 21. I didn't teach her anything about money, except that if she needed it she could come to me or call her father (if it was a really big amount) and we would provide. The Bank of M.A.D. (Mom and Dad) is all that many children from her generation know. With my second marriage, I had two more children now ages 10 and 12. I had the opportunity to correct my mistake and teach them about money. But I didn't start out teaching them either.

Teaching children about money is absolutely critical to their survival in EVERY way. How is it that schools and parents and society don't teach anything about this? Its nuts. So I resolved, after the crash, to start teaching my own children about money. It was a slow process without any sort of a plan. So I've decided that having a blog about teaching kids to be financially savvy with help me put some structure around teaching them and perhaps provide some guidelines for other parents who want to do the same. So each week (sometimes more often) I will be writing about a particular lesson or aspect of what I am trying to teach my kids about money.

#1 - Money is good. Money provides freedom. Its not bad to want to make money - its how you make the money and what you do with it that matters.