EPISODE · Jan 22, 2026 · 34 MIN
Should Parents Tell Children How Much Money they Make? What Are the Benefits? Any Drawbacks? Is this the Ultimate Personal Finance Lesson? Or Should No Swipe November Become A Trend for Everyone?
from The Best Paragraph I've Read... · host Zac & Don
The Best Paragraph I've Read:"Money is a source of mystery to children. They sense its power, so they ask questions, lots of them, over many years. Why isn’t our house as big as my cousin’s? Why can’t I have a carnivorous plant terrarium? Why should I respect my teachers if they earn only $60,000 per year? (Real question!) Are we poor? Why didn’t you give money to the man who asked you for some? If my sister can have Hello-Kitty-themed Beats by Dre headphones, why won’t you get me the Bluetooth-enabled Lego Mindstorms set? (It’s only $349, and it’s educational, Mom!) We adults, however, tend to do a miserable job of answering. We push our children’s money questions aside, sometimes telling them that their queries are impolite, or perhaps worrying that they will call out our own financial hypocrisy and errors. Sometimes we respond defensively and viscerally, barking back, “None of your business,” unintentionally teaching our children that thetopic is off limits despite its obvious importance. Others want to protect their children from a topic many of us find stressful or baffling: Can’t we keep them innocent of all of this money stuff for just a little bit longer? But shielding children from the realities of everyday financial life makes little sense anymore, given the responsibilities their generation will face, startingwith the outsize college tuitions they will encounter while still in high school."This paragraph comes from the New York Times. The article is titled: "Why You Should Tell Your Children How Much You Make." The author is Ron Lieber. You can read the full article here.Zac & Don discuss whether it is a good idea to tell your children how much money you make. They wonder what the benefits are and if there are any problems with the issue. They also reference the following Wall Street Journal article about No Swipe November.
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Should Parents Tell Children How Much Money they Make? What Are the Benefits? Any Drawbacks? Is this the Ultimate Personal Finance Lesson? Or Should No Swipe November Become A Trend for Everyone?
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