Growing a fiscally savvy family – Involving your entire family in financial decisions

This is a post from SB, enjoy! Let me know if you would like to guest post on RFI.

Do you think you are blessed with more patience for handling the household finances than your spouse? Are you the one who makes all financial decisions as the better financially savvy partner? Did you ever give a chance to include your children in a monetary discussion? There are many vital decisions about our finances which we make keeping our family in mind but still the duties for handling finances aren’t always a family affair.

If you want a financial plan to truly support the dreams of an entire family, you need take decisions as a family unit. But very few families and households are savvy about finances as it is usually seen that there is one member who is repeatedly taking decisions. Here are few tips you may follow to develop a family that is financially-savvy.

n style=”font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif;”>Financial management can become a partnership – How to make it

When both partners are involved in a friendly relationship, team mentality starts from there. They often become the leaders of all monetary decisions and they are the ones who later on motivate the rest of the family and encourage them to learn and participate.

When both the adults in the family tae a positive role in managing finances, it can safeguard the one who has been left in the dark and this can also minimize the level of financial arguments. It was found out in a study in 2014 that most fights take place in a marriage over money and this leads to divorce. Here are few tips:

• Discuss your goals and values, what you both are working towards, how you’re spending and saving and how these behaviors are affecting your goals?
• Keep aside a time to check your family budget and make adjustments.
• Design a plan for communicating about your spending habits with your family members and encourage others also to do the same.
• If there’s a family member who feels left out on some specific topic, consider taking an enrichment course or reading a book on finance together.

Allow children to feel included in all financial discussions

As per a survey done in 2015, only 25% kids claim that their parents allow them to speak about money. Not teaching them to learn on finance and excluding them can leave them entirely ignorant on personal finances and its foundational values. Whatever values you give them will help them throughout their lives to make their best financial decisions.

• Allow them to give their opinion when it comes to setting family goals and then tell them how you want their spending habit to be if you wish to achieve the goal on time. Also discuss all those things which will keep you from accomplishing your goal.
• Use allowance or other sorts of monetary gifts to teach them the value of money. Assist them in dividing the cash into similar portions to donate, save, invest or spend.
• Keep teaching them all sorts of lessons so that they can grow up to be financially responsible citizens.

Seeking help of a third party advisor

Often it is seen that households can benefit from working with a professional advisor. Firms which focus on generation planning can usually bridge the gap from a generation to another. Everybody in the family should comprehend the nuances of every generation of people. Always focus on your immediate goals as these are the keys to success.

Therefore, if you’re still considered about the ways in which you can include your entire family in taking financial decisions, take into account the above mentioned tips and recommendations.

About the author: This post is written by SB , a father and husband who was born in India. He writes about personal finance in his blog onecentatatime.com.