Your Financial IQ

Are you a money-savvy adult? Do you keep your financial house in order? Do you spend reasonably, save, invest, and prepare financially for the future?

Or do you feel you live paycheck to paycheck and carry too much credit-card debt? Are you worried about paying for college or saving enough for a comfortable retirement?

Why it matters to your child

The answers to these questions are important ones for your child’s financial welfare. Research repeatedly reports this fact: children say they learn all they know about money from their parents.

Your role as parent

You have two roles as a parent when teaching your child about money:

• to talk to your child about managing money throughout his or her life
• to model good financial behavior

Both roles are important. But parents often find modeling especially difficult because they do not manage money very well themselves. Children will mimic a parent’s behavior, good or bad. And you cannot say to them: do as I say, not as I do. Use the pages in this section to help you evaluate your role as a financial model for your child.