“Parental financial socialization” is an ominous-sounding term that basically describes parents who freely and openly discuss money matters with their children. Parents can have a tremendous influence on how children value and manage money, and those values are often carried over into adulthood.
Parents who assist an adult child financially can cause dependency issues, while parents with fewer financial resources to help often find that their children learn more quickly to become financially independent.
Knowing when to start and stop giving children monetary pointers can be tricky. When parents share too much financial information with children who are too young to process the information, it’s called “financial enmeshment.” This can cause children to feel anxiety.
The important takeaway is that how we conduct our financial lives and the way we talk about them in front of our children can impact their lives, even through adulthood.
