Including Others In Your Money Teaching Routine

By Alec Lindenauer, COR Chief Allowance Officer

Nothing can derail your parental money teaching mojo like a loving grandparent. Or an aunt, uncle, ex-spouse, cousin, or any other wonderful outsider. 

They love your kids, sure … but those people outside of your daily dinner table can seriously impact your efforts. On the flip side, they can also help. 

A few years ago, my youngest daughter was really into gymnastics. She loved the sport, and was tickled if she was fortunate enough to take home a ribbon or some trophy hardware. 

Before one season, her grandma made her an incredibly generous offer. Truly from the heart, and with only the best intentions. 

She promised Eve that for the entire season, she’d give her $50 anytime she took first place in an event, and $25 if she took home second. 

With four events, plus a combined score at each meet, that meant $250 was up for grabs every month. Again … VERY generous. And at the same time, it turned out to be very motivating. 

I’m not sure if that’s what impacted Eve’s scores, but she started killing it. At her first meet of the season, Eve scored $100. And at the second, she earned even more. 

I was happy for her, but the idea that money is not an unlimited resource is harder to teach your kid if they have more than enough money to buy everything they want!

What to do?

The answer: Engage. I engaged her grandmother.

I invited all of Eve’s grandparents over to our house to be part of our next allowance day. Those strategic COR Days on the first Sunday of each month take about 45 minutes, and they’re dedicated to discussions about saving, spending, investing, and donating. 

Sure, I could have just explained allowance day to her grandmother, but when she witnessed our strategy, she jumped on board quickly. She immediately wanted to know how to help. 

Together, with Eve in the conversation, we agreed that any gymnastics winnings would have to be split amongst those same categories: Save, Spend, Invest and Donate. And furthermore, no more than 10% could go into the spend category.

Together, we came up with this plan because we all agreed it wouldn’t derail my money lessons, Eve would still feel her reward was valuable, and Grandma felt she was providing a reward while also helping teach Eve about money. 

Truly a win-win-win. 

If an outsider is messing with your money teaching mojo … try engaging. The more people on your mission, the merrier.

Have a story about how you've included someone in your money teaching efforts? I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to send me an email or DM us on Instagram.

Teach cents-ibly,
Alec