How To Prevent The Double Whammy Of Your Kid’s Money Failures And Your Retirement Fail | Lucas Casarez | Episode 45

We all want our kids to be financially stable and avoid money failures. We also want to avoid our own retirement fail, but as we spend more and more to support our kids and finance opportunities for them we risk our own financial stability in our golden years. The result? Retirement Fail. So where’s the line? When should we help our kids and where do we draw the lines? What do we need to teach our teens about their own future and how do we help them understand when we say no? Financial expert Lucas Casarez shares insights he’s learned as he consults with young adults. On this week’s Mighty Parenting podcast, Judy Davis and Sandy Fowler find out the biggest mistakes parents are making and the most important lessons for us to teach our kids.

A Favorite Quote from the Show:

We need to teach kids the difference between a want and a need—a need is something that will harm us if we don’t have it.

High Points of the Discussion About Avoiding Your Kid’s Money Failures And Your Retirement Fail:

Parents feel a burning desire to provide assistance any way possible.

Parents need to set boundaries and teach our kids how to understand the difference between a want and a need,

We need to prevent the cycle of thinking “I’ll make it up later”.

When parents over fund kids’ lives, kids never learn that money isn’t easy to come by so we need to make the best use of our money throughout our lives. Not only do we win by teaching our kids financial skills, but we avoid our own retirement fail.

By letting our kids make their money mistakes while they’re younger they’ll have more time to recover.

Don’t just help your child open a savings account, help them develop a plan for the account.

Encourage curiosity.

Encourage conversations about why we work for a living.

Lead by example.

Teach your kids the difference between a want and a need—a need is something that will harm us if we don’t have it.

Parents feel guilt when we don’t subsidize our kids’ activities or things they want. It’s not our responsibility to get our children things they want.

We can use the value exercise to teach kids about economic constraints—how to efficiently use resources.

Give your child some financial responsibility.

Talk to them about investments, including IRAs.

People think they’re doing well by not going into debt but that’s only part of what we need to do. Spending everything and not meeting goals is not going to get us what we want. Hone in on what’s most important to you and set financial goals around that.

Help your kids understand the importance of saving for retirement. Start conversations about planning for the future.

Let your kids know you’ll be there as a resource but that you need to protect them by planning for your own future so you don’t end up living with them.

Teach your child the power of compound interest and the power of habits.

Help your child experience the power of early successes—it builds financial confidence.

Our Guest: Lucas Casarez

Lucas’ foundation of financial interest was rooted in his first few years of employment at a local community bank in Illinois. After discovering the impact financial planning has on peoples’ lives he moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University, which he graduated from in 2014 with a focus on Financial Planning. Following graduation, Lucas worked for a top independent financial advisor in Northern Colorado where he served pre-retirees and retirees in building financial plans that aligned with their goals. Wanting to make a greater impact on his clients’ financial lives, Lucas started Level Up Financial Planning, LLC to bring financial planning to young professionals and growing families.

To learn more or connect with our guest visit http://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com