I've Spent 30 years of my life obsessing over money, I don't want the same for my kids

I’ve Spent 30 years of my life obsessing over money, I don’t want the same for my kids.

I am 36 years old, and I have spent the majority of my life caring about, worrying about, obsessing about, and trying to make more MONEY. Part of me loves this about myself because I am extremely motivated. Part of me hates this about myself because it truly consumes me sometimes and has for years. Growing up, there was never enough money. Money was tight and we could never ’afford’ anything. This scarcity mindset can really create limiting beliefs about yourself and it certainly did for me. If I’m being honest, it is still something I have to consciously fight in my mind EVERYDAY. I catch myself hearing other people talk about their investments or a trip they’ve taken or some other small luxury and I think, “That must be nice. I could never afford that.” And that is just NOT TRUE. I make conscious choices as to what to spend my money on. I have some of my own little luxuries that I am willing to splurge on and I have my own trips to take, just like everyone else. But somehow, I’ve never felt like there was ‘enough’ to fulfill my desires, dreams, and goals. There have been times when I actually had more than enough and there have been times when there wasn’t even enough to pay the power bill but I never really NEEDED anything. I was always provided for by God first and my family second. So why the obsession? The mindset and lack of knowledge I suppose.

I didn’t begin a financial journey until I was almost 30 years old. I was so tired of pinching pennies and scraping by. At that age, I had two little kids and a mortgage. I had worked every day since I was 14 but still didn’t have a true grasp of money. And with two kiddos at home, I was unemployed. My husband was working and making a steady income but things were tight. I was always pursuing the next best thing so I could contribute something to our family. Nothing ever brought me success though. And I started realizing that millionaires weren’t made by baking cookies for local restaurants from your kitchen or selling makeup products in a pyramid scheme. There was another secret out there and I wanted to know what it was. How were millionaires made? What was their secret? What did they know that I didn’t? How could I find out?

Research became my best friend and I started LEARNING. I started learning about the stock market, small businesses, real estate, investing, and ANYTHING I could consume about money. Tim Ferris’ book “The Four Hour Work Week” was my first real financial read and it changed my life. It opened the door of knowledge for me. Then came “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. From there, I was off to the races. I got a real estate license so I could begin investing in properties and thought, “I’ll be a millionaire in no time”. Well, 3 years passed being a real estate agent and I just wasn’t succeeding. And I can tell you why. I wasn’t doing what it took to succeed in that business. I knew that, but I just wasn’t willing to make some of the sacrifices I needed to make in order to make it big. I REFUSED to get a nanny or work super late or spend my weekends at open houses or spend evenings at networking events. I had little kids and an amazing husband that I actually wanted to be with! So, I spent my time with them, not building a real estate empire.

However, the desire to build a real estate empire did not go away. My husband and I actually did do a few investment deals and flipped a couple of houses. We had a couple of rentals, but I’ll tell you one of the hardest things to do is invest in something when you don’t have any money. Yes, I’m well aware that you can wholesale things and partner with people and the list goes on and on but what I really wanted to do was have the money to do it myself. I didn’t want to HAVE to have partners or use someone else’s money. It felt risky and scary to me and I really don’t like being told what to do! And when you’re in a partnership and you’re the one without the money, you get told what to do. While I toiled and fretted over how I was going to change this, it hit me that I did not want this same predicament for my kids. I did not want them to have no power. However, I didn’t want to hand them anything on a silver platter. I wanted them to simply know and understand things that I didn’t. I wanted them to know that money was abundant. I wanted them to have a positive outlook on money. I wanted them to know how to earn money and more than that, how to keep and GROW money. I wanted them to have a foundation. I wanted their worries to be about WHAT to invest in, not where to find money to invest with. I wanted to give them knowledge and a ‘money seed’ to plant.

This desire was 10Xed when I did a career day at my kids’ school and I had a couple of kids ask me about real estate. They wanted to know if they could own their own house. When I told them yes, their minds were blown! The look on their faces really motivated me. It was this look of desire. They wanted to know more. They wanted to know HOW!!! I thought to myself, THIS is the time to have these conversations with kids. NOW!! When they are young and we can teach them good habits and they have NO expenses!! Now is the time to teach them about budgeting and investments and saving and giving…not when they have a plate full of debt, a low-income job, and a need for money.

Wealthy Kid Academy was born that very day. I started talking about it right away. I started sharing with people and talking with friends and colleagues. I started writing about it and researching it. I just knew I HAD to talk about this subject. I knew I could make a difference for kids and their families. And THAT is the mission of Wealthy Kids Academy - to teach kids and their families how to build a good financial foundation for themselves and the generations to come.

As we continue on with Wealthy Kid Academy we will dig in as parents and learn how to save for our kids even if we don’t have our own money to set aside for them. We will explore and learn about different accounts and investment vehicles that could work for growing our kid's money. We will learn how to have good conversations about money with our kids and we’ll learn how to teach them to STOP and THINK when they have money in hand. We’ll talk about needs and wants and we’ll talk about how to allocate money so that they can save, give and spend whenever money comes their way. We will explore how kids can make money and what to do once they earn it. The goal is to develop a healthy mindset, learn good habits and create a firm financial foundation for our kids.

If we can create a healthy money mindset, and teach them how to budget and the basics of investing, my prayer for our upcoming generation is that they can focus their obsessions on better things. They can have choices in life. They can claim ownership, they can help create healthy communities and give generously. The obsession over money can indeed be a very bad thing but if our kids already have money and learn to manage it well, they won’t have to obsess over it.

The journey continues!

Amanda