Working Wealthy – Who’s the Best Coach?

I took my daughter ice skating recently. Ever since she caught the skiing bug, she has been determined to try ice skating.

Having played hockey nearly my entire childhood and through college, I was thrilled she wanted to try something I thought I knew a lot about. However, I quickly learned that knowing a lot about something doesn’t necessarily mean you can teach your child how to do it.

And I’m sure all of the seasoned parents reading this just let out a collective, “uh, yeah…”.

From the start, my inability to explain how your inside edge interacts with your outside edge on each foot was apparent. Her frustration with skating was only matched by my doubt in my ability to teach her something I thought was totally basic—even second nature.

As a newish parent, I am constantly learning things I never considered in my pre-parent life. Is it possible that as a parent I may not be the best person to teach my daughter how to skate?! YES.

And so this life lesson got me thinking about how I’ll teach her, and my son, other things in life. Will I be the one to teach her about finances and investing? Perhaps, but could someone else do a better job at it and actually be more effective?

At BDF, we’re constantly encouraging our clients to allow us to help them educate their children and grandchildren about money. It’s with good reason that we coax people to consider us for this role. A third party that understands your money values is likely a great resource to help your family learn about money.

Here’s where BDF can help from a basic to advanced level.

Budgeting – helping a young adult or recent college graduate tackle their first budget is very familiar to us. We start with the basics of how much is reasonable to pay for rent, what should a car really cost and why should you always pay yourself first?

Saving – most people understand that saving is paramount to financial well-being, but not everyone knows how to actually do it consistently. We can help build habits, provide ideas and execute on savings plans for even the smallest savers.

Investing – what’s the difference between a stock, bond, mutual fund or ETF? How does active versus passive management really work? Dispelling the mystery behind how to invest can open a whole new world for some young people. The best investors are the most informed investors, and we believe that it’s never too early to build that foundation.

Money Smarts – using credit, understanding investment costs and making smart financial decisions are not easy. For most, they don’t come second nature. We want young adults to have the financial wherewithal to avoid the pitfalls of overusing a credit card or making poor financial decisions early on in their lives.

Benefits – anyone that has had their first job knows that your first paycheck or first round of open enrollment brings not only questions but also surprises. We strive to demystify all the machinations of that first job and income stream to help empower young people to understand the decisions they make and why things like taxes get withheld automatically.

All of the items mentioned above are likely things you’ve already taught your family at some point. And BDF could help supplement those lessons through a different voice that’s encouraging those same messages.

Helping our clients live a full life certainly includes helping maintain financial harmony within families. We’d love to bring that value to any of the families we work with.