This weekend, my daughter is getting baptized and my brother, Vince, is the Godfather (I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse ?)
I am a new parent, and I’m learning everyday. My daughter is 10 months old, and I now understand what everyone was talking about with this whole parenting thing. Despite her being so little, and just meeting the little milestones like her first words and crawling, I can’t help but already worry about her future.
Vince and I have great parents. They taught us to go to school, get a good paying job, and save every penny. They thought that was the formula to success. Unfortunately, the world has changed since they were young. Millennials know that jobs are much tougher to come by now a days. And the weight of student debts doesn’t help your mental health when you’re looking for a job.
Financially, my parents did everything they could to ensure I did well in school. They paid for my car, my insurance, my tuition and even my books . I worked part time at Tim Hortons while going through school, but the money was just used for my social life. Being the youngest child, I was extra spoiled!
I can assure you that this was no easy task for my parents. Both my parents worked very average middle class jobs. They made many sacrifices in order to pay for everything. But they truly believed that my degree was the golden ticket. As long as I got that degree, I would be set for life. Heck, I thought the same.
So when I got out of school and didn’t get a job, I was lost. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. That’s not what I was told my whole life. And I had no idea what to do next. I just wanted to crawl up into a ball. I was not financially independent and I didn’t know how to become that.
Fast forward 8 years, I hustled, created a successful business in insurance and employee benefits sales (all commission), and I am now on a fast path to becoming a Cashflownaire. Thanks to Vince giving me a bunch of pep talks and copy of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki.
So it gets me thinking, how to do I prevent my daughter from falling into the financial trap that society teaches us (ie. go to school -> get good grades -> get a job -> save and invest in RRSP). How do I teach her to become financially independent?
I don’t have the answers yet, but our good pal Rob Minton was able to share some insight. When I told Rob about being a new parent, he shared a report he wrote back in 2007 about how he was teaching his daughters, 9 and 4 at the time, to become financially independent. After reading it, I asked him for an update. Instead of telling me, he updated the report and sent it over to me.
You can get the report here. I also put a link at the bottom of this email.
The report discusses things like teaching them about passive income, sales, handling adversity, etc. I can tell you first hand, kids need to learn this stuff early. I love my parents to death, but I was coddled. I was not ready for the real world and it punched me right in the mouth.
But that was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned more lessons in 2 years out of school than I did my entire 21 years before that.
Why not teach our kids these same lessons early on?
If they don’t have a good big brother like I did, they might just crawl into a ball and let the real world get the best of them. Trust me, you don’t want that for them.
Best,
Vince & Mike
Canadian Cashflownaires
P.S. If you find the report useful, forward this email to you friends that are parents. It is great to have someone to talk to as you implement these ideas.
P.P.S. If you don’t have any friends that are parents, feel free to ask us how it’s going. Vince has 3 kids as well and he would love to share his experiences with you, I’m sure.
P.P.P.S. Hopefully you can turn them into Cashflownaires!
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