Passing on your Lessons
Think back to a point in your childhood that makes you smile. It could be a family holiday. A sport event you participated in with friends. A moment at school when you achieved a major award.
Whatever it is, the memory has stayed with you. It has shaped you in a small way. It had an impact.
Childhood is an amazing time. It can also be a tough time. After all you have learned and the ideas you have begun to implement throughout these articles, imagine if you could begin to pass on these lessons to your younger self. I hear it all the time with clients: if only I knew these strategies years ago, imagine where we would be now financially.
The issue I see is we pass on lessons to our kids about what we know. If you don’t know how to create financial freedom, how can you be expected to teach your children how to be financially free?
Our first lessons come from our parents. And we learn from our peers and from our education. Problem is, often our education doesn’t even teach us basic financial skills. If we didn’t have the benefit of learning these lessons from our parents and our education system doesn’t teach this, how can we teach our kids?
Wouldn’t it be great if you could reverse that and provide a financial education to your children, to provide them with a head start financially in life? Providing children with an education about money is one of the most valuable gifts you can give. (You may not have children. If not, you may want to pass these lessons onto the kids you come in contact with on a regular basis, such as nieces or nephews.)
The same goes for your team. What a great way to build a team and attract top talent.
PROVIDING A HEAD START
That’s exactly what my clients Jenny and Richard did. They were owners of two successful businesses. After implementing the strategies in these articles they were well on their way to creating financial freedom for themselves.
They had two young children, Eva and Charlie. In one of our conversations we spoke about providing their two children with the financial opportunities that they hadn’t been fortunate enough to receive.
Their businesses were successful, so they knew the date they would be financially free. However, they also wanted to provide a head start for their children. They wanted to show them the value of long-term investing, of putting a regular amount of money away each month, even if it’s only small, and the value of investing this money into assets that provide them with growth and income. And most importantly, they wanted to demonstrate to them the rewards that come with a long-term approach.
So, they decided to start an investment plan for their kids, Eva and Charlie. Jenny and Richard were able to put aside $1,000 of their own money to start with. They also had a chat to their parents about what they wanted to do and the lessons they wanted to pass on to Eva and Charlie. The grandparents wanted to help, and added a combined $1,000, taking the initial investment to $2,000.
As they knew their cash flow and were paying themselves first, they knew they could afford to invest on a monthly basis. They were comfortable with $200 per month, and were able to have this money in growth investments as well as the initial lump sum, so it had the potential to grow and provide income that they could use to make further investments.
As Eva and Charlie grew older, Jenny and Richard planned to talk to them about this investment. In fact, each year on their birthday, as well as some other nice presents, they agreed to put an additional contribution into this investment. They also put together a certificate they would include in their birthday card showing the current value in their investment. Over the years, they hoped Eva and Charlie would begin to see the value of the investment grow and begin to understand the lessons they wanted to pass on.
Jenny and Richard have given Eva and Charlie the option to ‘cash in’ their investment when they turn 18 years of age. While not wanting to put any restrictions on how they spend this money, Jenny and Richard hope that the lessons they have passed on would mean Eva and Charlie didn’t waste this money. Richard secretly hopes they would use it to consider starting a small business. Jenny, on the other hand, wants them to use half to travel to continue with their life education, while beginning their own investment fund with the rest.
Whatever Eva and Charlie decide to do, Jenny and Richard are confident it will be the lessons they have given them that will be the most valuable. Having worked hard to create successful businesses and closing in on achieving financial freedom, it’s these lessons they hope to pass onto their children.
What a fantastic gift to give.

THE BOOK
Check out my new book, Freedom Assets: The Entrepreneurs Roadmap to Financial Freedom. It outlines the 3 Step process to creating your ideal life, freedom and time that allow you to have an impact on your community and creating a lasting legacy.
You can pre-order your copy now here
