Day 10: Rewriting History
by Edward Smith
15 Jul 2020
Changing Things Up
If you read my last article, entitled 🤠How to Know When Your Goal Isn't Even About You, you would have learned that I didn't learn about money until I moved out. I was a kid watching my parents, but my parents didn't show me anything when it came to money.
When my kids were born, I knew that I wanted to be open about the money subject so that they wouldn't have to repeat the same struggle or mistakes that I experienced. I wanted my kids to receive an honest education about money. I wanted them to learn what money is, how it works, what to stay away from, and how they could do better then me.
As my wife and I have paid down our house, we've showed my kids mortgage statements. We've gone over our philosophy and have explained why we pay extra on our house when no one tells us to. My kids have seen our budget. They are being trained to think about money in an inclusive, positive and respectful way. They're next in line to run things. I want them to be good managers.
My kids already know that they need to give. They do it. They know they need to secure their four walls. They know it's okay to spend money for fun, but they know to plan for the serious stuff as well. These lessons will continue to happen for as long as my two kids choose to listen to me. I don't want money to be a mystery. It's too important. It needs to remain out in the open.
Who is This For?
I decided to think of this education as working like compound interest. I was the initial deposit. I had to do things the hard way. My kids would have it easier. I would learn as much as I could about money during my life time, and then I would teach everything to my kids free of charge.
Together, we'd form a team, and learn what works, and what doesn't work. The topic would remain open for discussion. During my life, I would center my focus on building the foundation. Then my kids would receive the hand off and build upon it. Neither of us would achieve immediate success, but we'd be moving the thing forward.
Each successive generation would repeat the process and the thing would get bigger over time.
I realized, I wouldn't get to enjoy the whole thing during my lifetime. It didn't matter. My life sparked the idea and the dream. It was the inspiration behind why the family was doing something amazing. I was doing it for the future person in my family line. A person I'll probably never meet.
That person will receive a better life, with a hundred years worth of family education backing them up. That person will be lifted out of normalcy and begin life free. They will have the option to pursue their passions. They will have the opportunity to travel and help those in need. They will get to use their time to change the world in a meaningful way. That's pretty cool. I wonder why more families don't try it.
Conclusion
If you have ever wanted to change your destiny, or wanted someone to give you a helping hand, why not set things up so that a future member of your family gets to experience that awesomeness. Doing that for them, would take some major character and selflessness on your part.
You would be setting up a precedent for this person. They would learn that money doesn't have to be an evil thing. It can be used to empower the future. You'd be teaching through doing.
Remember.
Your kids, even your future generation kids are watching.
Next time I'm going to talk about what you do when you aren't trying to make a buck. Income and money aren't everything. Some things are more important, and you should totally invest in those things. Find out what I'm talking about in my next article by clicking the following link below!
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