Why is that when we gift money to our children we feel that it is a good thing that we are doing? But what if it isn’t a good thing? What if it sets them up for a steep fall by this action? What if it instils in them a sense of entitlement? What if this results in them being unable to fend for themselves financially as they are so used to getting handout? The list of questions is endless on the potential downsides to gifting.
Watch Caitriona’s vlog on this here.
Should we or shouldn’t we gift money to our children? Well the answer really is that annoying one….it depends. It’s not a no but it isn’t a flat out yes. The best gift we can give our children is that of modelling financial wellness to them.
Granted when we gift money to our children we do so to help them out. We don’t want to see them struggle as we may have. We want them to have a better experience of money than we did. We don’t want them to lack for anything. In gifting we can attempt to heal our own money wounds and in so doing create wounds in them unintentionally.
Modelling financial wellness consciously and unconsciously will result in them having a great frame of reference on how to do money well which includes the challenges and the upsides. It shows them how to budget, give money boundaries, how to have a great relationship with our money, how to invest, how to diversify income and investments, how to manage debt well, how to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Gifting money is always something we can do with our children but when it is done to a child who has robust foundations in financial wellness, then it is in safe hands. Where that foundation is not already in place, perhaps it’s worth spending the time, energy and perhaps money installing this first.
To Your Financial Wellness,
Caitriona
