As a child growing up in the 80’s I fully embraced the ‘Spielberg’ of it all – adventuring throughout the town with my friends and our bikes with no particular destination in mind.  Until Nintendo came out, we didn’t have much to distract us, and even then it wasn’t like you could take the system with you anywhere.  Free from devices we would explore whatever we could and for as late into the night as we were allowed.  In hindsight, or perhaps better put – by comparison, the things we got into likely wouldn’t be considered safe in today’s society and, frankly, I am grateful I got to experience all the things that I did.  This isn’t to say we weren’t responsible kids by any means, we still respected the boundaries, the curfews, and, for the most part, no trespassing signs, but that’s because I think we had so much more freedom than kids do now.  I will point the finger even myself as a parent; the fist time my kids walked to the library on their own I was terrified, concerned, apprehensive, you name it and I felt it.  But I also recognize that not only do we live in a great community, I have to give my daughters credit for the individuals that they are and the parenting that we’ve done.  Despite the daily complaints I may voice over not picking up clothes or tidying dishes,  they do understand responsibility.

Of all those things I got up to when I was just shy of 10 years, one of my favourite memories stems from trips to the 7-11 or Beckers with my friend Craig.  On the hottest of summer days we would count up our coins, jump on our bikes and make the 30-ish minute trek along the path, weaving through forests, school yards and residential neighbourhoods until we reached the epicentre of five cent candy and frozen slushes.  It was the only way knew or cared to spend our money at that age, and oh how beautiful it was.  Coke bottles were, of course, my go to, but at five cents a pop and a dollar to my name, and a smorgasbord of gummies, treats and sweets in front of me, I didn’t have to limit my selection.  We’d load up our goody bags, mix all of the various slushy flavours into one beautiful mix, and then jump back onto our bikes for the journey back home.  That was it.  That was joy in its purest form.

We didn’t have endless supplies of money coming in, mind you.  We each would have had an allowance, I’m sure, but it came from doing chores and whatnot (which I am sure I always did without question…).  The problem was, at least for me, as I started to learn that money was required for things other than candy, and given that I was absolutely terrible at saving my earnings from week to week, I had to figure out how to earn more of it.  A lemonade stand was certainly an option, but that was seasonal and only brought in small coin – I needed a bigger plan.  I delivered Sears catalogues for a stint, which all I can really recall on that experience is that pulling that wagon in the snow was not worth the pay check.  Then I started to get creative – raking leaves, shovelling snow, and then, jackpot!  I opened my own pet sitting business.  It was my first, but certainly not last, foray into entrepreneurial endeavours, and my first realization that I could earn money doing something I actually enjoy.  I was proud to have repeat customers, and I took my job seriously.  From parrots and dogs, to goldfish and cats, I was paid in cash, and my clients treated me well.  Unfortunately, I still wasn’t grasping the concept of money in my hand, and I figured that I soon as I had it I was expected to spend it.  I had many jobs from there through young adulthood – more than I care to recount – and sadly I still wasn’t learning my lesson(s) about what it could mean to invest.  The victim, I feel, of a generation.

Growing up when I did, the subject of money and finances was incredibly private.  We did not talk about it at home, we did not talk about it at school, and we certainly wouldn’t have known how to have a conversation about it amongst friends.  Money, finances, income and all that surrounds the subject was taboo within society.  To this day I can’t understand why.  My daughters want certain things in life.  They want a certain style of house.  They want an RV.  They want, want, want a completely understandable suite of emotions, desires and goals.  The thing they don’t comprehend, nor did I growing up, is that to purchase an RV costs X amount of $, and to earn X amount of $ would mean X type of education, or career which, in turn, would cost X amount of $.  To talk about such things in absolutes was incredibly faux pas, and borderline rude back in my day.  Well, to that I say pshaw!  Understanding how finance works, what salary one may require to fulfill such desires, or to wrap one’s head around a mortgage, interest or dividends begs for open conversation.

We are incredibly open with our kids about the finances in our home. We engage in a weekly routine of reviewing the bills, our accounts and taking a gander to see if they’ve earned any interest in their savings accounts.  Yes, they receive an allowance – one that is divided between spending (re: candy at the modern equivalent of 7-11 [Circle K]), long-term investments, and donations to other causes.  No, they don’t fully grasp all of the benefits of saving in order to get the thing you really want; that you could hold off buying one gummy bear today in order to buy a whole bag of gummy bears later.  Yes, trying to explain these benefits to an 8 or 9 year old when they have made up their mind is borderline futile, but there are shimmers of hope beaming through, and they are now making lists of their own entrepreneurial endeavours to embark upon.  Raking leaves, shovelling snow, washing cars – they are seriously thinking about what it would take to save for that RV.

It’s not that I’m trying to raise kids who care only about money, and I ‘m certainly not trying to take away the fun, but I do think it’s a part of life that I only started to grasp as an adult; and when I think about all the grown up things like buying a home, paying the bills, putting food on the table and affording retirement, I really have no qualms in opening up to them about the the real costs in life, including how much I just spent on the donut I’m currently eating.