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Some of the Personal Finance content I will be writing about in this series of articles may be obvious or rudimentary to many of my readers but it also may be of great value to young people you may know. Please share this information with those you believe will best benefit from it.
The family stage begins when you and your spouse decide it’s time to begin having children. Having children requires making many life-changing decisions, is an enormous responsibility and it is expensive. Some of the life-changing decisions you will face, typically after your first child is a few years old, will be leaving your apartment and purchasing a home in a neighborhood that has good schooling.
Buying a home, for almost everyone, means you will be putting some money down and borrowing the difference from a bank or other lender. This borrowing is called a mortgage. The mortgage will have an interest rate. Most individuals purchase a home with a thirty-year term, which means you will be paying off the loan and the interest on the loan, over a thirty-year period.
The more money you are able to put down on the purchase of a home, the less you will need to borrow and the less interest you will need to pay. If you put down less than 20%, the lender will require you to have Private Mortgage Insurance. Everything you need to know about purchasing and owning a home I covered in 17 Personal Finance Concepts – #5 Home Ownership.
The home you decide to purchase must be big enough to raise the children you expect to have. And the town you decide to raise your children in must have a good school system for your children.
The best parents involve their children in many different activities: Sports, Boy/Girl Scouts, Dance, Gymnastics, School Clubs, etc. The more activities the better.
Why?
Most children are never exposed to enough diverse activities which is a prerequisite to discovering their innate, God-given talents.
Experimentation is the only way for your children to discover their innate talents in life. Your innate talents are revealed any time you try something new and one of two things happens:
- It comes easy to you – this is life’s way of telling you that you have some innate, natural talent for doing something.
- You love it – when you really enjoy doing something, when it makes your heart sing, that is life’s way of telling you that you have discovered an innate talent.
This is why I recommend to every parent to have their children join either the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts. Each organization offers children diverse activities to pursue in exchange for a badge. These organizations exist to help children unearth their innate talents.
Whey is finding an innate talent so important?
When you find a hidden innate talent, everything about your life will change. Your thinking will change. You will develop a clear vision of who or what you want to be in life. You will become excited and hopeful about your future. Life is enjoyable every time you engage in your innate talent.
Lastly, when you discover an innate talent and devote your life to perfecting that innate talent, you will make more money, feel happy and your life will feel fulfilled.
Another big decision parents make is deciding to send their children to public or private school. Most opt for public school because it is less expensive. If the town they live in, however, has a sub-par school system, parents who can afford to do so, choose private schools. Private schools are an expensive investment.
As children enter their junior year of high school, parents and their child need to have a conversation about whether their child should pursue a college education, or pursue some trade. Most parents feel an obligation to send their kids to college, in an effort to help their children do better in the real world. However, not every child is college material. It all depends upon the type of learner your child is.
There are five types of learners:
- Visual Learners
- Auditory Learners
- Reading Learners
- Tactile-Kinetic Learners
- Combination Learners
Some Learners are better suited to a classroom environment and some aren’t. Visual and Tactile-Kinetic Learners struggle in a classroom environment, so college will not be a good fit for them.
When your adult child leaves the house, that does not always mean an end to your parenting responsibilities. Your adult children will get married, purchase homes and may struggle financially raising their family. Some will struggle financially and lean on their parents. Others may get divorced and need help. Chronic disease, illness and the death of an adult child forces parents to step up and be their for their loved ones. So, being a parent, and all of the obligations that imposes, only really ends upon the parent’s death.
But it is worth it. Love makes it worth it.
Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, Effort-Less Wealth, Change Your Habits Change Your Life, Rich Habits Poor Habits and “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”
