Dear Grandparenting: Michael is the only grandchild I will ever have. He is often in my thoughts. He is a little spoiled. Robbie has never wanted for much and doesn’t think about how much things cost or how he’s going to make a decent living. He talks like he wants to own lots and lots of stuff.
So I told my daughter to sit him down and tell him how much the family earns and how much they spend. Show him the numbers it takes to maintain their standard of living. I figure that will give him a dose of the real world, maybe help wake the boy up.
Here’s what my daughter told me. There’s no way that’s ever happening, because what they make is their business only. I happen to know they break even each month. They make a decent living. What is there to hide really? I figure the more my grandson learns, the smarter he’ll get about money. Like I told my daughter, it’s dollars and SENSE. Agree or disagree? Double A, Reading, Pennsylvania
Dear Double A: A good many Americans would rather walk naked down Main Street at high noon before opening the book on their finances — what they earn, and what they’re worth. The topic is taboo, never open for discussion — an untouchable. It’s top secret because so many regard financial success as the dividing line separating life’s winners and losers. So and so should have done better or doesn’t deserve that much. Money talk can cause a whole host of hard feelings.
But we think it’s a general conversation that makes sense for many families, especially in today’s harsh financial climate. Clueless grandchildren engage in magical financial thinking, but the more informed ones begin to distinguish wants from needs and become less likely to have unrealistic financial expectations.
We understand why wage earners resist disclosing personal financial information. Money conveys status and income equates with self-worth. But an age appropriate financial dialogue — without getting overly specific — can lay a foundation for your grandson to make better financial decisions and buy less “stuff” on credit, which puts so many young grandchildren on the road to ruin. It sure beats preaching about it.
GRAND REMARK OF THE WEEK
Dolly Marshall from Marysville, Washington, was trying to calm down grandson Leo, 6, who was “bent out of shape about his new baby brother, barely two months old. Leo was used to being the star of the show. Now he has to share the limelight.”
“Won’t you have fun playing catch together?” said Dolly.
“That’s a long way off,” said Leo. “He’s not even walking. Probably just too lazy.”
