As a parent, it is an instinct to provide for your children and to give them any opportunity possible. The financial advisors at Spinnaker Investment Group are equipped to help you make investments that create financial security for you and your family. A famous saying is that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for the rest of his life. The same can be said for investing. Parents often share the fruits of their investments with their children but sometimes neglect to share the inner workings of how those funds are obtained. Here are two activities parents can use to teach their kids the importance of investing. 

Explain the basics

Explaining the basics of investing is a simple yet effective way to get your kids interested in playing an active role in their financial futures. In most cases, schools don’t teach children basic economics or how investing works until they are seniors in high school or college. Explaining the basics of investing at an earlier phase of life allows children to have a head start over their peers and to ensure they know how to create financial security. When explaining the basics of investing, begin with simple concepts such as what a stock is and then go into more complex topics such as retirement planning, estate planning, real estate, and risk management. 

Create a mock portfolio

 Sitting down with your kids and having them create a mock portfolio is a fun and engaging way to teach them the importance of investing. First, have your kids select a few companies that they are interested in or that they think would be profitable. Next, create an Excel spreadsheet or a Google Sheets spreadsheet with the names of each company in one column. In the next column, add a dollar amount. This will be the “initial investment,” and the amount can be as low or as high as you want. Every day after that, have your kids log onto the spreadsheet and update each chosen stock. With this activity, your kids may not be working with a professional financial advisor to make secure investments. However, it is still a cost-effective way to communicate the opportunities that investing holds.

Investing is essential in creating financial security for individuals and families. Teaching your children the importance of investing and its opportunities allows them to work actively to create a secure financial future for themselves and their children. The professionals at Spinnaker Investment Group are readily available to work with you to build financial security for your family and the generations to come.

Disclosure

The information contained herein is based on internal research derived from various sources and does not purport to be statements of all material facts relating to the securities mentioned. The information contained herein, while not guaranteed as to the accuracy or completeness, has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.