I have a confession to make. I don’t play games with my kids often. They tend to enjoy virtual and video games more than the traditional games that I grew up loving as a child such as Dominos and Monopoly.
This past Friday, I decided to play a game with them.
They’ve known for some time that I enjoy investing and that I have a passion for the stock market. They understood the concept of having a brokerage account and that I would invest for them. But, they had become increasingly interested in how investing in stocks actually works.
I must admit how impressed and excited I was when they asked me to teach them about investing and to understand brokerage accounts.
I’m sure that I went much further in teaching them the basics of investing. I’ll attribute the detailed instructions to the fact that I really want them to do well in life and that I am extremely passionate about not leaving them with money, business or opportunities that they are not equipped or had never been taught to manage or maintain.
This is what I did:
I thought long and hard about all of the things that I had learned in life that I wished someone would had taught me.
I conducted research on mistakes that wealthy people have made with finances and investments.
I wrote down every financial term that is commonly used and made sure that they had a non textbook definition and related it to something in their world to make in relatable.
I incorporated all the terms from the book “A is For Accounting” written by my friend Quan Jamison.
To one extent or another, my kids are all motivated by money. What I’ve tried to incorporate into their lives is that money is the result of having completed some form of work.
The work can be a job, a chore, something that they did with their minds or with their hands.
As I began to go through the process of teaching them all they need to know about money, stocks, and investing I wrote down a list of terms, phrases, and a few questions that needed to be researched. I made two copies of that sheet. The first sheet was used to cut out each word or phrase. I allowed each of the kids to select an equal number of words or phrases as they were faced down on the table like we were going to play memory.
Once they all received their words and phrases, they were given time find the respective answers. One of the key learning points for them was to NOT give me the google answer, but to give me the answer in their own words.
Once they all got their answers, they took turns teaching each other what they had learned about their chosen word or phrase.
On the other sheet of paper, with the identical words and phrases I wrote a monetary value for each and every words or phrase (picture Jeopardy).
They were so excited to tally up money and discuss Blue Chip company’s that they desired to invest in. Listening to them talk to each other about stock prices and compound interest rates brought a huge smile to my face.
Hearing them debate about whether or not it’s best to pay cash or to finance certain things gives me hope. I found out that one of them has started to follow people on TikTok that specifically talk about stocks. One of them spoke of a friend that asked for stocks for his birthday. I take great pride in knowing that they may be seeing the bigger picture sooner rather than later.
As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, I have yet to meet an adult that has not uttered the words “I wish I had known that then”. Or, “I wish someone had taught me that.”
As parents, we love and often spoil our children yet give them no real guide for the the future. Kids often pickup on things that we do and will develop the characteristics we show in the form of hard work and dedication. But, when our love and adoration is combined with life lessons and knowledge… Their is no doubt that the world will be in a better place once we depart it.
For more info on the Author, Marlo Richardson, investing, and stock tips follow BusinessBullish or MsMarloNicole Instagram and Facebook. Enjoy our Podcasts, Vlog and Blog all accessible on www.marlonicole.com
