Disclosing Income to Child ...

Jahaba
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:11:26 +0000

My kids are 16 and 12. They both know how much money comes into the household. They both know what are required monthly expenses are. They both understand what it takes for me to provide them their cell phones, camp fees, sport fees. They know how I have to juggle finances when it comes time to purchase that “I MUST HAVE IT” $300.00 prom dress. They know what responsibility they must shoulder in high school if they want to attend their dream school because they know what our financial situation is and how little finances are available to cover any gaps in aid. They also know that Parent loans are out of the question because of the amount of income and expenses already undertaken by the household.



I see what you’re saying. My parents were immigrants, but something that I got when talking to students whose parents were born in the U.S. is that Americans don’t like talking about how much they make. I understood that it applied to, say, strangers but apparently it applies to your own kids too. No wonder a lot of kids get in trouble with money later on; if your parents are dishonest about how they keep the lights on then how are you supposed to know what you’re doing when you have to do it for yourself?

It’s kind of like teaching a kid to drive entirely using the Gran Turismo games and never allowing them to see anyone else driving in real life. Yeah, they’ll screw up, because they live in a world of stories.