How can we best support our kids while also encouraging them to build their financial independence? When Bobbi Rebell was struggling to answer this question for herself, she decided to write a book about it: “Launching Financial Grownups.” In this episode, Bobbi and Kimberlee talk about their own parenting experiences and Bobbi’s top tips for helping your kids build their financial skills. Bobbi also offers advice to women about developing financial resilience in a landscape that’s still often stacked against us.
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“Many parents over coddle their children, because they don’t want their kids to grow up, which is really normal! I mean, my iPhone pushes me these adorable pictures of my now 16-year-old when he was a baby, and I want that time back and it’s really hard. So we want to hold onto our kids, and that’s why we as parents often over subsidize them.”
“It is so hard because we’re tempted to pay for everything for our kids, because we still see them as kids, and they’re forever our children. So these are really hard, and that’s why I wrote “Launching Financial Grownups, because I was struggling with this. And I will tell you, so I'm going to give away one thing from the book is that our 26 year old, she was 24 at the time when the book had been written, she was saving for an apartment in New York City, which is a very ambitious goal for a 22, 23-year-old. She lived at home, she switched her major in college which I do talk about in the book, why she switched to cybersecurity versus being in education, and it was with a focus on ‘Where can I earn more money?’ And I will tell you, when she reached her goal of being able to buy her own apartment. And while we had to be in the background, as you say, she paid for everything, the down payment, all the lawyer costs, all the closing costs, every penny she paid for, the pride in that young lady’s eyes, you have never seen. It is a gift to parents. When you let your child succeed on their own and you’re just there cheering them on and you’re just there cheering them on, that is going to be priceless. And so I would implore parents to let their kids shine.”
