Six Tips For Raising Millionaire Children

One thing we are often asked, as parents, is how are we preparing our daughters to be financially savvy adults? For us, it’s an important question - eventually, our two children are going to inherit the wealth that Amon and I have amassed over the years. And when that happens, they’ll need enough financial literacy to know how to handle that money and continue to grow it over the years.

And one of the biggest perks of gaining financial independence is that our girls got to learn about money in the process! When we were having conversations about making, saving, and investing money, they were right by our side absorbing everything.

So I’m going to share what we’ve done to ensure that our kids are as financially savvy as possible, so you can do the same for yours!

Don’t Underestimate What They Can Absorb

Even the youngest children are like sponges, and they will soak up more information than you realize. Whether we talked to them about credit scores, debt, or stock market investing, we found that our daughters were always inquisitive and always asked the right questions. They exercised their critical thinking, which we loved.

Something we often forget about our kids is that they love to be brought into what might be considered important “adult” conversations - it makes them feel grown-up and included. And yes, this includes money talk. You’ll be surprised by how willing they are to absorb the information you share with them, especially when they know that kids aren’t normally included in these conversations.

Talk About Money Casually

Amon and I love when our family sits down for dinner and talks casually about everything over our food, including money. We both do this in sneaky ways. For example, Amon will tell the girls “I made this dinner for only $10,” and challenge them to do the same the next night. It may seem silly, but it’s a very practical way to get them thinking about how much things cost, and looking for ways to spend more carefully.

I love the casual approach as opposed to the “sit-down-and-lecture” style because it’s important to make your kids realize that money affects every aspect of their lives, and it’s not just reserved for one-off lectures. It’s also going to make it much more digestible for them to have open, relaxed conversations about it.

Encourage Entrepreneurship

We give our kids an allowance, but only enough for them to buy themselves the basics. If they want anything else, they have to figure out how to get it on their own, just like an adult does when they want to buy things beyond the bare necessities. So when our kids say they want to buy something outside of their budget, we sit them down and ask “Well, how are you going to make extra money to do that?”

This gets the cogs turning in their heads, and encourages them to think of creative ways to make money, whether that’s through lemonade stands, selling stickers, or making baked goods to sell as our daughters have in the past. Encouraging that entrepreneurial spirit is going to set your kids up for financial success in the future, and ensure that they won’t just settle for a job that nets them the bare minimum.

Encourage Them to Pitch Ideas and Make Presentations

If your kids have any ideas about making or saving money, about starting a business, or anything related to finances, encourage them to present their ideas to you! Recently our youngest daughter decided she wanted to sell candy at her school. In particular, candy that had to be bought in Lisbon.

This meant she had to pitch her idea to us, to try and convince us that it was worth driving to Lisbon to make it happen. That also meant presenting us with her sales idea and profit margins, which was not only fun but an excellent experience in pitching business ideas, which is something she’s unlikely to ever learn at school.

Kids have tons of ideas like this, but it’s essential that you give them a space to explore and share their creativity with you. It’s only going to make them more confident in their own money-making potential in the future.

Show Them The Power of Investing

One of the best financial decisions we made on our kid's behalf was opening a custodial account for them. Money from their side hustles, allowances, and birthday gifts was put into the custodial account, and the girls were able to learn about how investing works and see their money grow in real-time. Starting your kids off with a custodial investing account young will teach them the power of long-term investing as well as a better sense of patience, and other important life lessons.

Teach Them About Generational Wealth

Growing up, Amon’s father always told him that he wanted Amon and his brothers to be better off than he was, and that’s something we try to instill into our daughters. We tell our girls that every generation in a family is supposed to improve upon the generation before them, building a better future for their children, grandchildren, and so on.

No matter how successful Amon and I have been, we always remind them that they are going to go even further and do even better than we have, and I truly believe this is something that every parent should teach their children. They should all be striving to do better than we did, and that’s something to be encouraged.

Teaching your children about the mistakes you’ve made and the lessons you’ve learned, and providing them with the building blocks to make even better decisions, is going to put them on the path to financial independence. Not every child is the same, so some of these tips may not work for you. But I hope that seeing how we teach our children about money has given you some productive ideas about how to start teaching your children, setting them up for wealth and success later in life.