One of the greatest spiritual gifts that you can give to your children is teaching them how to be financially independent. Many parents seem to believe that they are doing their children a favor by giving them everything that they can provide them and by paying for all their expenses. Even if parents have an abundance of wealth, it is still wiser to teach their children how to earn their own money and not to consistently receive financial handouts. In the long run, when children are given free stuff all the time without having to work for it, this creates entitled, spoiled, helpless, and lazy adult children. In order to break this cycle and to prevent this from happening, as a parent, it is important to teach financial independence from the start. This might require some tough love on your part but it will ultimately ensure that you raise children who become self sufficient and financially secure adults who are not dependent on mommy and daddy’s bank account. This is a positive thing and should not be seen as a selfish act as you are forcing your children to grow up, preparing them for the realities of the real world, and building their self worth that they are fully capable of doing this themselves. So where do you begin? The short answer is–as early as possible! There are also some other tips that I would recommend.

Encourage Your Children to Work and Earn Their Own Money – As soon as they can get their working papers, encourage your children to go out in the real world and get a job. Even if the job is not glamorous or high paying, it is still better to push your kids to work and make their own money as opposed to just supplying them with your credit card or money whenever they want something. They are going to eventually need to find a career path but in the meantime, it is smart to have them gain some work experience which will build their work ethic.

Make Them Pay for Everything – I know this might be tough to enforce if your children do not have a steady job or source of income yet but it is essential to make your children pay for everything from the start. Then they will not rely on you for every little thing and expect free handouts. Is your child at an age to drive a car? Do not give them a free car–have them work for it! In addition, they should pay for their car insurance, gas, and the maintenance costs. If you tell them that they need to pay for these things, they will figure it out. This might mean working a job after school or saving strategically but these are great skills to possess. You want your children to be doing these things. It might take them more time to buy the things that they desire but that’s okay. You want to teach your children to know how to pay for things and put in the work that is necessary to earn everything.

Be Okay Saying No When Your Children Ask for Material Objects – It is understandable that your children are going to constantly be asking you for new stuff. It is important to establish what are actual needs versus wants. Oftentimes, the items are not necessities in which it is okay to say no. If the child wants something badly enough, it is a good idea to teach them the benefits of saving any money that they receive or earn to eventually buy the item themselves because it will always be more valuable when it is earned as opposed to being given things for free. It is also good to say no so that the child learns to appreciate what they have as opposed to becoming materialistic and acquiring too many unnecessary possessions.

Teach Them the Benefits of Both Saving and Investing Their Money – Most children are not wise enough to think about the long term effects of their everyday habits. That is why it is natural that they want to spend money to satisfy their need for instant gratification. However, if they were aware of the benefits of compound interest over time and/or the value of saving money for an emergency fund, they would be be more inclined to start saving and investing at a young age. It is up to you as a parent to teach your children financial literacy, especially considering that this is not a subject that is taught in most schools. The best way to teach this is through example and during their younger years so that they can start making the right financial decisions from the start.

Don’t Let Your Adult Children Live at Home for Free – I know this sounds harsh but adults should learn to become adults. That means taking on responsibilities such as moving out of their parents’ house, paying their own bills, managing their personal finances, etc. When you let your adult children live at home for free, they tend to become freeloaders who have no motivation to work or do anything. Do you blame them? Why work when they don’t need to?! It is for this reason that you should encourage your children to move out and learn how to navigate adulthood on their own. Aside from financial lessons, there are so many other life lessons that are gained from living independently such as becoming more responsible and self sufficient. If you allow them to live at home still, maybe consider having them buy their own groceries, contribute towards utilities, pay rent, and/or do extra chores around the house. This might encourage them to want to move out or at the very least teach them that living at home comes with a cost.