Navigating Financial Education for Children with Elizabeth Rosenberg

Welcome to today's episode on the Wealthy After 40 podcast. Today, my guest is Elizabeth Rosenberg. Elizabeth is a financial coach on a mission to empower parents to raise money smart kids. After working in corporate finance for over a decade, it was clear that most young adults didn't have the right habits. Or mindset to have a healthy relationship with money determined not to let her own children go down that path. Elizabeth realized there were so many other parents who wanted the same for their kids, but didn't know how to start teaching them. So she closed her business practice and launched grow my piggy to spread this knowledge. She is an award winning entrepreneur and her online courses, Speaking Engagements. And published works serve as practical resources for parents who want to instill important financial knowledge and skills in their children. So welcome, Elizabeth. So excited to chat with you on the podcast today. Yes. So it's amazing how many people have come from the corporate finance industry or like myself government, which There's just a small tweak, but it's still within the finance and, you know, we get exposed to it and we start, you know, we're in a better area to have those conversations about money. I think people are more open because that we've, you know, talked about how that is so hard. But with you having seen the gap, were you fortunate as a child to have learned from, about money from your family? Or is it something you pursued because it was your passion? So yes, we didn't talk about money very much growing up, but I saw very good examples. And I think that's where a lot of my my mentality around money came from. And. You know, one of the things that I saw specifically that benefited me and I really carried with me was that with money came the opportunity to be very generous. You know, I saw in the community that I grew up with or grew up in school things, community involvement, all because of donations and Generous things and so thankfully I was not someone who grew up thinking money is bad or wanting money is bad. I grew up thinking, look at all the amazing things you can do and the amazing ways you can help and be involved with money. So that was really like a fundamental belief that I'm thankful that I had because I didn't have to break any thought patterns of, you know, negativity surrounding money. And my mom also talked to me at a couple crucial points, I'd say, about money, like when I got my first paycheck. You know, she sat down with me. We looked at it. We talked about taxes. She talked about figuring out how much I needed to save. You know, think through how much do you need to spend on gas this week? If I'm getting a paycheck every week, think through the next week and then saving. A big chunk of it, you know, when you're 14, 15, you don't have huge expenses. So it's very easy to be saving more than you're spending typically at that point. But she sat down with me and we talked through those exact steps and you know, I was like, okay, thank you. Now I know what to do. So in a lot of ways, I'd say I was very fortunate by having some direct knowledge and just having a good atmosphere of money can be good. Money can be used for very positive things and to make a change. I love that. Yeah, I was fortunate as well to have parents that were just open. My mom was the one who was in charge of paying the bills at the time, you know, writing those checks, sticking them in the envelopes, putting the stamps on them. I think they were still like stamps, but I would sit by her and she was just very open and having those discussions. And so, you know, yeah, that was so fun. important I think to my open my eyes and me to start getting curious with money. And I think that was so helpful as I, you know, Went down the same path as well. Big check. And I don't even remember how old she was. And she calls me and she goes, who is this Bica dude? They took a lot of my money, you know? And so explain to her and stuff. So, you know, really is, it is key to have that open lane of conversation with your kids about money. So yeah, I love taxes. You know, they hear that phrase, but honestly you gain a really different perspective when you see that coming out of your first paycheck. You're like. Oh, this is, I've heard of this, but now this is real, you know, someone explain this please. Yeah, so true. I know. I still can hear her, her voice. Who's this FICA dude? You know, now she's just like, I don't like all that, but I understand it now. You know, it's like, I think where we're all at, it's just part of our due diligence. It's what we do. So yeah. So true, so important. I know you did in your finance, corporate finance before, and actually your business that you ran, you did taxes as well, did you not? So I sent, I did everything to prepare for taxes and then sent them to a specific CPA to file them, but did all the tax prep. Yeah, yeah. So I know that taxes are also an open gap of knowledge for a lot of people. Even people who are very well versed in personal finances. I was fortunate to see my mom do her own taxes and she's like, I just read. And so that, setting that example is so important as well. So, alright, so what is the first skill that you believe parents should focus on in helping their kids learn? Okay. First skill, top skill, whatever you want to call it. Yes. Okay. I think one of the most important things and one of the easiest to implement. So good news on both ends is being aware of how we talk about money in our home, being aware of the phrases that we use. You know, we talked earlier about how early or how young kids have an understanding of money. You and I did. And. The research has shown that at age three kids have a concept of money and at age seven most of their money habits are set. And I think the first time you hear that it's You kind of question it because it's like, wait, who's teaching their kids about money at that point? But what they're learning is how we perceive money is money stressful. When we're buying something or talking about a vacation is the response. No, we can't afford that. Or is it something negative like that? Or is it a different type of response? And so As parents, that is in our control. And that's a great thing. Sometimes as parents, we feel like, you know, money is maybe how much we're making or all these other outside factors, but we have direct control over how we talk about money. If we make it seem like it's stressful, if when we get the mail, are we like, ah, it's just bills in here. If we're looking at other people and they have something Nice. Not that we're trying to compare, but what sort of phrases come out of our mouth when we see someone who got a really nice new car? Is it just acknowledgement or is it something kind of snarky or is it positive? Is it like, oh, I love the color of those seats. That's amazing. That is so simple, but it. It trains our brain, especially so young little kids hear that any age really, but they hear that and they think, Oh, wanting that or having that is bad. I don't want to be bad. So I'm not going to want that, or I'm not going to, you know, want more money or want to be wealthier, want a nice car. And this is part of how, They create these thought patterns so young, or they create these identities surrounding money. Like if you really said a lot of the money raises and said, money doesn't grow on almost any young person could say trees. Or if you said money is the root of all, they'd be like evil. More money, more problems. Like, These are phrases that unfortunately most people can just finish the rest of it, you know, because we've heard it. So just being aware of what we're saying in our house is the number one simplest way that we can start to build a positive relationship with money in our family, in our house. And, you know, the great thing is that if we're like making an effort to teach these positive things to our kids, we're also implementing some really healthy habits for ourselves. Yes. I love that. And I was just thinking that I'm like, man, this is like a twofold, right? We're working on ourselves while also supporting our children to have that positive thought, that positive idea. I, I always share with my clients, especially if they're caught up in like a divorce and most of my clients have come through divorce, whether it's Real recent or it's been a few years and I always let them know like money isn't necessarily have emotion. It can evoke emotion in ourselves and I think that comes with the mindset and just like you were saying with the positivity instead of having that evoked emotion that reaction are we creating a positive idea a positive feeling, whatever you want to call it around that situation with money, you know In fact, I was I was doing a post yesterday and I was like, you know, there are some bills that we may not feel like bring us joy or value. Like your gas bill, your light bill, right? Those things. But if you think about it and go that one step further, and I think that is so, so important. So what are your thoughts? I'm going to throw this out here. I know we haven't discussed this at all, but what are your thoughts on bringing values into money and spending and Maybe reduction of expenses. I feel like I got chills because focusing on values is actually the very first thing that if I'm talking with someone, that's actually where we start. And maybe you do the same with your clients, which must be a testament that it works and it's the right place to be starting. It's what drives our behavior. And If our values are in line. So if I sit down with my spouse or whoever's making decisions in the household around money, and we first sit down and go through what are our values, which I recommend this practice to everyone, when we become really clear on it. The first thing you're probably going to realize is like, man, that really makes sense why you do something for your spending habits. And it can bring a lot of light to that. But also once you're on the same page and we're like, okay, these are our top five, maybe not in order, but like these five are core five. Now we can make all financial decisions for our household. on the same page, probably reducing arguments, which our kids see our kids pick up on. And it just makes decision making easier. If I know what lines up with my values, a decision is easier for me to say yes or no to. And so I believe that values are really where everything has to start. I don't know how you do much without knowing your values. So yeah, starting point. Yeah. And I have said before, like, you know, questioning people, like having them start thinking for themselves in a different way of, are you creating bills? Or are you creating the life and that values it's exactly where we are shifting our money to serve us. I do the same thing if you know very first session we we start talking about values, but then I go another step beyond beyond further future. I love talking about dreams and vision. I have recognized, you know, reflecting back on my journey and I, you know, retired early, so I've reached financial financial freedom actually. And we'll talk about that on the podcast in the future about what those different levels are and not everybody aspires for freedom but I would hope everybody can get to financial independence. But. I think back to the time when I had my aha moment, and I realized I had two goals. I had a short term goal and a long term goal, and I became so focused, like shuffling money to either here or there and nowhere else. And so when those new Fangled toys come up, those new things that are showing up in the marketing, you know, commercials and things like that. I was like, that's really cool, but you should see what I'm doing over here. And I think it's just so important to root, which is a values as well. Values, dreams, root your money in something more than just what is it giving you and what do you see? Right. There is a farmer, so I do live on the wrong side of town, I'm just going to state that but I don't have any problem with that. However, so we're closer to the farmlands, and there was a farmer who didn't look like he was filthy rich. As I grew up, I realized The man was filthy rich. All of his kids, he bought them a home, paid cash, wrote the check, you know? And so, but to look at him, you wouldn't know it. So I think that's the real, you know, the reason we need to, you know, try and get happiness with our money. So I love that. Is there something else you do with your clients to help them start finding that? I want to say happiness, but that joy, that calm with their money so that they recognize. You know, where they're at is fine. Yes. I think that, you know, owning and being okay with what's important to us is so important. And I don't want to say that, you know, culture can make us feel one way or society pressures, because that's a little unfair to blame it on anything like that. But when we're clear on like for this, for me is what I want to be doing or what I want to be spending my money on and then owning it. You know, there's there's something right now, or like, I feel like there's times when that's totally acceptable. Like if we're saving for a wedding or saving to buy a new house, if I'm saving to buy my first house, it's just totally acceptable if someone says, Hey, do you want to go out? Or, you know, you know, Any sort of toy shiny thing that you had mentioned, it's so acceptable for me to say, Oh, no, thanks. I'm saving for for my house or Oh, no, thanks. Remember I got the wedding coming up. I'm saving everything and everyone's like, Oh, yeah, I know. That's great. And you're so supported with that. But take away some of those really acceptable things like a house or a wedding and turn it into Something that's just important to you. It might be a vacation. It might be a charity something It might be that you can retire at 50. Like that might be it Owning it and being okay with that and then you can say no To some of those outside things with confidence, not feel like you're missing out. And lots of times we don't even feel like we're missing out, but we feel a little like embarrassed about saying no, or we feel like we have to explain. So that would be where I would go next. Once we're clear on it, being comfortable and confident with it. And some of that does come with maybe age or maturity. I do recognize that. But again, as parents, the more they can see that from us, or we have those conversations when they're 16 and they're, we can see they're comparing or feeling like they need to have these brand name clothes or this phone or whatever it is, That's where we can have that one conversation. I think comparison is a big drive to buy for kids and adults. So until you learn to manage that or become comfortable with it, it can always be. Kind of a nasty little thing. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I remember the day when I was at work and I was talking with a co worker about, you know, a square footage size of a home. And, you know, he was saying his was 4, 000 and I said, oh, I live in a 1, 700 square foot home and his mouth dropped open and he looked at me like, what? Like I was in some shack. There's three of us, you know, there are three of us. The house is bigger than we actually even need, you know, but it's just, it's getting yourself to be able to. Be comfortable with those responses you get. I think that's where money conversations can be difficult is like instead of being hurt by it. I was like, okay, well, you had four kids. Yeah, you probably needed a bigger home. I did not, you know, and it wasn't. My priority either, you know, and we didn't go down that road. I just pointed out there's three of us and we have four bedrooms. So, you know, it's like, no, we're fine and good. And so, yeah, I think it's, I think it's hard for people to start to do, like you were saying the owning. And so how, are there some tips, some suggestions? Maybe some small ways to start down that path to help somebody start building their, you know, I guess this would be their confidence, right? We have to do to build our confidence for sure. Yep, exactly. It is our confidence. So if we're talking about with our kids, since, you know, that's my focus, is helping them see that first their worth doesn't come from like a paycheck. That's a big thing. So you had shared with me a story about, you know, someone who would, wanted to make a career choice and you were, they were like, oh, they don't make that much money. And your first response was, Yeah, but that's not the most important thing, and that's not a cliche thing. You then dove into an actual conversation about fulfillment and enjoyment and what you're doing because you're not doing it for two years, you're doing it for like 30 or 40. And so focusing on that, you know, it's okay to You know, maybe a lawyer is making this much and and a school teacher is making this much and acknowledging why are those different? Let's talk about the schooling that was needed. Let's talk about the skill set or let's talk about, you know, the different passion to do these different things. Let's talk about the time that they have to put into their work. You know, maybe working nonstop for the lawyer and Not having to work nonstop for the teacher. Listen, I think teachers work all the time. That probably wasn't the best example. But, you know, we can talk about these things in a healthy way. Neither one's right, neither one's wrong, but we are acknowledging them. So building our kids confidence, having some of these conversations openly. It's not even about money specifically, but it ties to money. You know, and that's one of the things that parents can pick up on is that they're not just sitting down and talking to their kids about money all the time. We're talking about all these other things that pull in with money. Making a career decision, making a decision to go to college or not making a decision to buy a car or what car should I buy? This car looks really nice, but this car is within my budget. Let's all talk, also talk about reliability and if it's a neat fix. Like, They're not just conversations focused on money. They have, we are teaching them, and I think this is one of the most important things, is that we're teaching them how to think through a process. and make a decision. And so we're teaching them how to think through this car and, you know, the maintenance that might need done, how long it's going to last. Is it going to be reliable? How far am I driving? And then when they're 25 and they're making decisions, it's not the first time they're thinking through it. They know how to, they did it with you and they're confident in themselves that they can now make this decision. And that's one of the key things that as parents. That's really our goal. We're exposing them to these processes and how to think through things so they know what to do. Yeah, so true. I know. I've tried to think, like, of our life, I think money touches probably every part of it, but I don't want to say that. So I'm at the 99%, still trying to find, like, You know, because even if you are just sitting on the couch with your loved ones, that couch still costs money, the home you're in costs money, whether you're renting or you own it, you know, and so, yeah, it's very easy, at least I think, I know people struggle with conversations with money but I believe it's so, so important, and, but everything surrounds itself around money, and just, Leaning into the situation you're in, right? The activity you're doing and talk about it with kids, going to the public library. I mean, it depends on the age of your kids, right? Taxes paid for that public library that came out of your paycheck or your property taxes or whatever you want to call it, but in a sense, you know, you, you can share some of these ideas and maybe taxes with little ones are not right, but it still took money to drive there, you know, and just pointing out and not to say that everything costs. But I think it's important to show people like everything does cost. And so we can't have it all. We've got to, we've got to choose. So I have loved this. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. I was going to say, and a great way to, you know, showcase that exact example is if say at Christmas time, you guys were going to donate to a family in need and you said, okay, we're going to spend 20. Let's go to the store and pick stuff out. You're in charge. We have 20. Use an example like that so that it's fun, they're thinking through, they're feeling involved, and then, you know, you're like, we have to stop at 17 because they're going to add tax, right? It gives you an example of how you can show some of this stuff, but make it fun. You know, if you're eating out, that's a great time that you can explain like how a tip works and, you know, show them the bill and talk through that. Like. I think that so much of it is just these little conversations that we have throughout our lives as parents. And we keep them age appropriate, of course, so the conversation shifts. But they're just these constant little, let's talk about it. And the last thing I would add to that is that You don't want it to be, you know, like, I don't want to say overwhelming to the child, but you know, it's not like we're talking about money nonstop. However, the more that it is just part of conversation, it's less intimidating for them to talk about. And that I think is how we build the comfort level that is healthy, is that it's just simply another topic of conversation. And you have a question about it, you can ask about it. And You know, that's how we build that familiarity and comfortability with it so that it's not embarrassing or shameful. And I think that is what holds a lot of parents back from talking about it is because they have those feelings. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think, you know, like you were saying, if you, they're being positive, they're also working through those feelings and those feelings more than likely were carried from their childhood. So, yeah, definitely healing those while you're helping your kids not have to, you know, Later heal their own and it's so, so important. I think, you know, and I shared with you prior to jumping on about being in a space where there's these women who are afraid to talk about money at all with their kids because of the examples they had growing up. And so, you know, like What advice do you have for those types of moms, right? And maybe there are some dads as well that, you know, they're, they were very scarce, lived, you know, lived without money struggled from, you know, like meal to meal. I mean, we're not even talking paycheck to paycheck, but say they've come into their own and now they're doing okay, right? They're not that, but they're afraid to open up with their kids. Any advice there? Yes. I would say two things to focus on. One, there are so many free resources out there. I'm sure some of yours, some of mine, and many people like us who have a passion for educating on this topic. So first, if there's ever something that I'm unconfident about, and just don't feel like I know at all where to start. I'm looking for some resources and that's where I would first point them, you know, have someone show you steps one, two, and three. That way you can just follow, follow suit on that. But secondly, I would remind them that they don't have to be perfect with money to talk to their kids about money, because guess what? They're probably going to be really empathetic if their kids mess up, you know? They have probably been there, and what a great teacher that they're going to be if they can relate and understand. Even sometimes sharing examples of, again, age appropriate things that we wish we had done different. That can resonate with a child if they, you know, respect your feedback. So not feeling like we have to be perfect. Acknowledging, I believe our money journey never ends. I believe we are all on our own money journey. And this journey only ends when our actual journey ends, you know? So acknowledge that with them. And even though they're in different places, because they're a child and they're 12 and you're an adult, you're still on it. You're still learning. And You know, that's where I would start. Get some resources. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So, I know you have some online resources. Let us know how can people, well, first of all, where can they find you and what resources do you have that they should be looking for? Yes. So, it's GrowMyPiggy pretty much everywhere. Website is www. growmypiggy. com. On Instagram, same thing at grow my piggy YouTube and tick tock. So the, all of those are free resources of training little clips, you know, 30 seconds, learn something three minutes, learn something. The courses are all online as well, but there's lots of, lots of training material on there and. Yes, feel free to send me a message. I'm here to help. This is, I was sharing, you know, with Deline earlier, like I became extremely passionate about this topic was always important to me. But after having my own kids, I was like, I will be teaching them about money so that they're not saying, I wish I had learned this sooner. Cause that's what I heard from all of the grown adults that I was speaking to. And then I realized I'm not the only mom who feels this way. Or dad, not just trying to single out the mom. We're not the only parent who feels this way. So let's do this together and let's be a little bit more proactive with the next generation. Yes. I love it. I love it. So thank you for being a guest. So thank you for sharing your thoughts. Everybody go connect with her, go find her on Instagram or her website. Learn how to talk about money more easily. Thank you for helping us see that and I appreciate it and we'll see you guys next week.