為什么父母不和他們的孩子談錢呢?

為什么父母不和他們的孩子談錢呢?

There is one question that most parents seem to dread more than any other when it comes to talking to their kids about money. Can you guess what that might be?

有一個問題是大多數(shù)父母在和孩子談?wù)摻疱X時最害怕的。你能猜出那是什么嗎?

If you said "How much money do you make?" you are exactly right, according to Jayne Pearl, author of several books about what she calls financial parenting.

如果你說“你掙多少錢?”詹·珀爾著有幾本書，她稱之為“理財育兒”，她認(rèn)為你完全正確。

Pearl said she was caught off guard when her own son, now grown, asked her that question at the age of 8. "I was initially like, Ahhh. I write a lot about personal finance and I wasn't prepared for this question," she said during an interview.

珀爾說，當(dāng)她8歲的兒子問她這個問題時，她有些措手不及。“我一開始就想，呃呃呃。我寫了很多關(guān)于個人理財?shù)奈恼拢覍@個問題毫無準(zhǔn)備。”她在一次采訪中說。

She eventually answered her son's question, but focused on the expenses of the household to make the case that the amount she made covered most of their costs and that the money left over either went into the bank or could be used to pay for additional things they might want or need.

她最終回答了兒子的問題，但把重點放在了家庭開支上，說明她賺的錢可以支付他們大部分的費(fèi)用，剩下的錢要么存入銀行，要么可以用來支付他們可能想要或需要的額外費(fèi)用。

"I realized that if I told him that I made $1.000 a year, he would think that we were rich. " said Pearl, who also made sure her son understood that this was private information that should not be shared with anyone else.

“我意識到如果我告訴他我一年掙1000美元，他會認(rèn)為我們很富有。”珀爾說，她還確保兒子明白，這是私人信息，不應(yīng)與任何人分享。

There are two main reasons why more parents don't talk to their kids about money and help them develop critical financial literacy skills, said Pearl, a writer, editor and mother of one.

珀爾說，有兩個主要原因?qū)е略絹碓蕉嗟母改覆桓⒆诱勫X，不幫助他們培養(yǎng)關(guān)鍵的理財技能。她是一名作家、編者，也是一個孩子的母親。

For one, they're terrified they're not good role models when it comes to money, she said.

她說，首先，她們害怕在金錢問題上做不好榜樣。

"Many of us make a lot of mistakes ourselves with money, or spend too much, or will say, 'I need a new pair of shoes' when you really don't," she said.

她說:“我們很多人在花錢的時候都會犯很多錯誤，或者花太多錢，或者在你真的不需要的時候說‘我需要一雙新鞋’。”

Second, many parents feel like they don't know a lot about money and then don't have the confidence they can teach their kids about it. "We think we need a Ph.D. in finance to be able to teach our kids when it's not true at all. All you have to do is talk out loud about what you're doing as you're going about your business," said Pearl.

第二，很多父母覺得他們不太懂錢，沒有信心教他們的孩子。“我們認(rèn)為，我們需要一個金融博士學(xué)位，才能在完全不真實的情況下教育我們的孩子。你所要做的就是大聲說出你在做什么，就像你在做你自己的事情一樣。”珀爾說。

For instance, when you are at the ATM with little kids, it's a great opportunity to explain how you put money in the bank to keep it safe and to have money there when you need it, and that you can only take out as much as you put in, she said.

她說，例如，當(dāng)你帶著小孩在自動取款機(jī)旁時，這是一個很好的機(jī)會，可以解釋你是如何把錢放進(jìn)銀行的，以保證錢的安全，并在需要的時候把錢(從銀行)取出來，而且你只能拿出你放進(jìn)去的錢。

Parents can also learn alongside their kids. "You don't have to just say 'I don't know.' You can say, 'I need to learn more about this too, so let's sit down and learn about it,' " said Pearl.

父母也可以和孩子一起學(xué)習(xí)。“你不必只是說‘我不知道’。’你可以說，‘我也需要更多地了解這個問題，所以讓我們坐下來了解一下吧，’” 珀爾說。

Why should you talk to kids about money?

你為什么要跟孩子們談金錢?

If you get past your insecurities about money and eventually talk to your kids, they'll definitely benefit, said Pearl. Kids are ultimately going to need to know how to handle their own money when they get older so better for them to learn when the stakes are low.

“如果你克服了對錢的不安全感，并最終和孩子們談?wù)?，他們肯定會受益?rdquo;珀爾說。孩子們最終將需要知道當(dāng)他們長大后如何處理他們自己的錢，以便在風(fēng)險較低時讓他們學(xué)習(xí)比較好。

"It's better that they should make $20 mistakes than $20.000 mistakes when they're older," she said.

她說:“他們犯20美元的錯誤比他們老了以后犯2萬美元的錯誤要好。”

How to talk to kids about money?

如何與孩子談?wù)摻疱X？

OK, so how can you actually start talking to your kids about money? For some answers, we asked some kids themselves, elementary and middle school students in Caldwell, New Jersey, as part of a new video series called "If I Were a Parent," where we ask kids how they would handle things if they were in charge.

好吧，那你怎么開始和你的孩子談錢呢?為了得到一些答案，我們問了一些孩子自己，新澤西州考德威爾的小學(xué)生和中學(xué)生，這是一個名為“如果我是一個家長”的新系列視頻的一部分，我們問孩子們?nèi)绻麄兪秦?fù)責(zé)人，他們會如何處理事情。

Grace Szostak, who just started middle school this year, said she would start early, as young as age 4. She would get one of those play cash registers and have her kids do a little role play with it, selling stuff to each other to understand the concept of money and learn how to count it.

今年剛開始上初中的格蕾絲·紹斯塔克說，她會早點開始，最早在4歲的時候。她會拿一個玩具收銀機(jī)，讓孩子們用它玩一點角色扮演游戲，互相賣東西，以了解錢的概念，并學(xué)習(xí)如何數(shù)錢。

Pearl says parents know their kids and know when they are ready to talk about finances. "If your kid is ready to have a conversation, you can try to have a conversation. If it bombs, you can try again in a few months or next year but I think it's never too early to try ... and if you miss the boat and your kid is 17 and going off to college next year, don't throw your hands up and say, 'I missed the boat.' Start whenever you can."

珀爾說，父母了解他們的孩子，知道他們什么時候準(zhǔn)備好談?wù)撠攧?wù)問題。“如果你的孩子準(zhǔn)備好要和你交談，你可以試著和他交談。如果它失敗了，你可以在幾個月后或明年再試一次，但我認(rèn)為嘗試永遠(yuǎn)不會太早……如果你失去了機(jī)會，而你的孩子17歲，明年就要上大學(xué)了，不要舉手說:‘我失去了機(jī)會。只要有機(jī)會，就開始吧。”