The hustle and bustle of everyday life does not always give us the chance to have meaningful conversations with our children about money and charitable giving. The long holiday vacation is the perfect time to have these conversations, but does any child want to spend school break listening to lesson from their parents?
Some ways to sneak in teachable moments around money and giving this season:
- Keep extra change with you when you are out shopping and have your children donate to the Salvation Army red kettles. Have a conversation about where the money goes and how it helps.
- While shopping for Christmas gifts, have your children pick out an extra toy to give to Toys for Tots or other charitable organization. Again, talk about where the toy is going.
- As part of your family holiday tradition, consider adopting a family to provide Christmas or Hanukkah gifts. Have a conversation about helping others to have a holiday that they might not otherwise have.
- After your children have opened their gifts, ask them to go through their old toys and clothes to find those that they have outgrown. These gently-used items can be donated to an organization for others to use and enjoy.
These are just a few ideas to help you instill the spirit of giving in your children this holiday season; to teach them that this time is as much about giving as receiving.
In my next blog, I will provide tips for talking to your teenage children about preparing for college funding.
Sandra Adams, CFP® is a Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Sandy specializes in Elder Care Financial Planning and is a frequent speaker on related topics. In 2012 and 2013, Sandy was named to the Five Star Wealth Managers list in Detroit Hour magazine. In addition to her frequent contributions to Money Centered, she is regularly quoted in national media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine and Journal of Financial Planning.
Five Star Award is based on advisor being credentialed as an investment advisory representative (IAR), a FINRA registered representative, a CPA or a licensed attorney, including education and professional designations, actively employed in the industry for five years, favorable regulatory and complaint history review, fulfillment of firm review based on internal firm standards, accepting new clients, one- and five-year client retention rates, non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered, number of client households served.