The other day, I asked my eldest daughter: I appreciate that this isn’t a very uplifting question to ask, but please bear with me as it links to an important lesson about kids, money, and investing. After thinking for a bit, my daughter said, "Weak swimmers" (although she was cautious as the answer seemed too obvious). She was right to be cautious as it’s the wrong answer. More strong swimmers drown each year. Granted, if there were a situation where a weak swimmer and a strong swimmer got into trouble swimming in deep water, you’d be right to say that the stronger swimmer is more likely t ..read more

Playing Monopoly is a great way to teach your kids about money. The key is to make sure your kids learn the valuable money lessons embedded in the game. This is really important as most adults today probably know what they need to do in order to win at Monopoly but very few apply these lessons to the real world. In this blog, I go through the key lessons about money from Monopoly and how to teach your kids to apply these in the real world. I’ve also included some bonus tips for you so can keep winning, even if you teach your kids the key lessons below. After you've read this blog, you should ..read more

For your kids to grow up wealthy, it’s not about how much they know about money or how much money you have as parents (although, having money is an advantage). It’s all about the actions they take. I’ve shared stories of rich kids who lost all their family’s money as they didn’t have the right traits, such as the Vanderbilts. I’ve also shared stories of people with little money or education who went on to become extremely wealthy, such as The Millionaire Janitor. You’ll note that I have said, 4 traits of Wealthy kids, not rich kids. You can learn more about the difference between the rich and ..read more

In this blog, I share some of the clever tactics that supermarkets employ to get us to spend more money without us really knowing it. It’s important for kids to learn about the clever tactics used to get us to spend more for two reasons: To save money: For every $100 we have, companies can adopt tactics that can lead us to spend it all (and more). If kids know about these tactics then they can be better prepared to save before they go shopping and therefore ensure they keep at least $10 out of every $100, i.e., follow the First Rule of Wealth. To make money: If kids want to start thei ..read more

Two of my most popular blogs over the last year have been Career Advice for Kids and Earning Money 101: Different Sources of Income. Both of those blogs focused on HOW kids can earn money as they grow up. One area which I haven't written about much (and I haven't seen others do much either) is WHERE kids can earn money in the future. The decision over where in the world your kids choose to earn their money when they are older can have a big impact on their future ability to increase and build their wealth. Don't get me wrong, choosing where to live shouldn't just be about money, however, it ..read more

My eldest is 11 years old and when people ask her what she wants to be when she is older she tells them "I want to be a teacher!". Sadly, a common response from the adults who hear this is "There's not much money in teaching!". As you can imagine, this response isn't what my daughter wants to hear. Essentially, people are telling her that she shouldn't become a teacher because of money. As my daughter is only 11, there is no saying what she'll do to earn money when she is older but for me, I hope that she does something she really wants to do and is not just driven by the salary it attracts ..read more

When it comes to spending money, people don't always do the logical thing. If they did, most people would be a lot better off financially than they are. Some illogical spending decisions people make are due to some very clever marketing tricks, such as the Two Vending Machines example, which I've shared in a recent blog. Other times it is due to some biases that we have. This latter point is the purpose of this blog. Empowering Good Spending Decisions Before I share the Pen and Suit Experiment, I want to expand on that last point about developing good spending habits. I recommend that parents ..read more

The other day I heard a great short story and shared it with my kids. It led to a great conversation about reputation and money. First, let me share the short story with you. The Frozen Chicken Story A woman goes into a butcher's shop and asks for a whole frozen chicken. The butcher goes to his freezer and pulls out a chicken. He puts it on the scales and it weighs 1.5kg. The lady asks if he has a bigger chicken. The butcher goes back to the freezer, puts the first chicken back down and realises he doesn't have any more frozen chickens. He decides to pick up the first chicken again. This time ..read more

I recently asked my eldest daughter (11) the hypothetical question: Would you rather keep your old iPhone 8 or get a new Samsung phone? Straight away she said that she'd rather keep her iPhone. I asked her why but she didn't have an answer. She just likes having an iPhone. I explained that a new Samsung would have a better screen, an upgraded camera, the battery would last longer and it would be a lot quicker. She didn't care about that stuff and just preferred having an iPhone. This shows the power that brands have on a lot of people, especially younger people. In this blog, I explore this to ..read more

This Christmas there are going to be plenty of mini-teachable moments to help your kids learn about money, in a fun way. In this blog, I share 3 big opportunities. Before I share these opportunities, I want to share something that I think is important when it comes to teaching kids about money (and also helpful for learning other things too). Studying vs Learning The other week I asked my eldest daughter: What's the difference between Studying and Learning? She thought about it for a little while and said: "I think studying is when you take in a lot of knowledge for homework, a test or an exam ..read more