Stocks for Christmas? Gee Thanks Mom!
Have you read any of the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" books? They are
excellent books for people who want to increase their financial
savvy. I have been investing in mutual funds and stocks for over
10 years and it has helped increased our family's financial
worth. Now I want my kids to learn the different ways that they
can get their money to work for them.
For Christmas, I got my 12 year old daughter stock in AFLAC and
MDU. My 14 year old son got Emerson Electric and ITT Industries.
As you can imagine, neither of them were thrilled with their
presents. However, I also got them the game "Cash Flow 101" (you
can find this on the Rich Dad, Poor Dad website or sometimes on
Ebay). This game is great to teach kids (and adults) how to make
their money work for them. I recommend it highly.
Over Christmas, we spent almost one whole day playing the Cash
Flow game. You are randomly given an occupation. My son was not
excited when he got to be a janitor with minimal income and my
daughter got to be a doctor. However, it soon became apparent
that the doctor had much higher expenses and he learned that a
janitor can still invest and make money.
I hope the next time I can tell you that the kids are going to
NASDAQ everyday to check how their stocks are doing. Slowly but
surely I think they are learning what it takes to make passive
income (have their money work for them).