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Clifton Corbin - Helping Your Raise Financially Literate Children · REL Freedom Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Then, when I was out on my own, I ended up making a mess of my finances.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: So I realized one of the things that I needed to do is help other parents, help their kids, avoid some of those financial traps that we sometimes find ourselves into.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: This is the reason why I've written the books and I'm creating more resources, and why I'm really trying to advocate for more financial literacy conversations between parents and kids.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Real Freedom Show, where we inspire you to pursue your passion to gain time and financial freedom through opportunities in real estate.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, mike Swenson.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Let's get some real freedom together.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of Real Freedom Real Estate Leverage Freedom, talking about building time and financial freedom through opportunities in real estate.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: And one of the most important pieces of building financial freedom is having a great understanding of money, both for yourself and for kids.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: If you have your own kids, or maybe you have nieces and nephews or friends or relatives who have kids, how do we talk about money?
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: What are some of the principles that we want to focus on ourselves, but then how do we have those conversations with kids?
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: And so a little bit of a different episode today, but I'm so focused on having good foundational principles as a part of the podcast and what we're talking about, and so today we've got.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Clifton Corbin was a business consultant and now is the author of the book your Kids, their Money, a Parents' Guide to Raising Financially Literate Children, which came out a couple of years ago, and then another really cool one, the Richest Person in Babylon, kind of an updated take on the Richest man in Babylon, which I know is a very, very popular book.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: A lot of people love it, very foundational type book, and so you revise that for the modern times, and so we're going to talk about money, we're going to talk about kids, how to merge that together and everything and anything in between.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And so, clifton, we're so excited to have you on the show.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Mike.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to this.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: So talk a little bit about your background, what you did before.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: You took this on full time and we'll dig in after that.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Sure.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: So I, like you mentioned, I, was a business consultant.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: You know the corporate world.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: And then when my son my oldest he was now 12, was about to start elementary school, I took a pause.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: I basically left my job and decided to be a state of home parent.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: We joke, my wife and I, we always knew we wanted one parent to be home.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: So we joked about how it was kind of a race to the bottom or whoever's making the least is the one who gets to stay home.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: But we kind of always knew it was going to be me.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I'm more the entrepreneur in the family, so we knew I was probably going to be the one to stay home.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: So been home for the last 10 years, give or take.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: But in my, you know, in the back of my mind, I always knew, once the kids started to be a little bit more self-sufficient, advocating for more financial literacy was going to be something that I wanted to do and wanted to take on.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: So that's part of the reason for the book.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: The other part is just my, my, my history.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: So when I was younger I had, I had parents who talked about money.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: We got into earning.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: You know, go to school, make a good make, get a good job, but then, when I was out on my own, I ended up making a mess of my finances.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: So I realized one of the things that I needed to do is help other parents, help their kids, avoid some of those financial traps that we sometimes find ourselves into.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: This is the reason why I've written the books and I'm creating more resources, and why I'm really trying to advocate for more financial literacy conversations between parents and kids.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: My quick backstory is I majored in business and entrepreneurship and I didn't realize at the time the importance of my upbringing and how really it probably took 10 or 15 years to kind of change my wiring.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Because I was raised get a good job, contribute to your 401k, get your health insurance benefits, do that all the way to retirement and you should be fine.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: And so that was everything that I was taught.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: And then when I went to school I majored in entrepreneurship more because I wanted to learn about kind of business.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: I thought it would give me a good, well rounded aspect of business.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I had zero desire to start my own company or to do something entrepreneurial right out of college and for me that didn't happen until 15, 17 years after college.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: But I realized it's taken so much to rewire my brain and think differently about how I approach finances because of how I was raised.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: And the interesting thing is my parents taught me you know, safe, stable, good job.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: And for both of them what ended up happening is they kind of were forced into an early retirement by their employers because they could hire somebody for cheaper that knew what to do earlier on and save some money.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: And so for them, fortunate enough.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: They were at the spot where they were able to retire, but it wasn't on their own terms, and so trying to change those habits.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: And then, as we think about our kids, yeah, what are the lessons we want to teach them?
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: You know they ask the questions how much money do you make?
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: They know that I sell houses, and so how does that work?
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: And so being able to do that in a good way.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: So curious to know your thoughts.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: What shaped your thoughts about money, either for good or for bad, and maybe things that you had to rewire as you're continuing on this journey, thinking about teaching your kids and other kids?
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: That's a great question.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: So one of the things that I mentioned briefly is I had that mindset of, you know, go to school, get a good job and you're all set.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: But and I was very money curious as a youngster.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So even when I was, you know, living at home as a teenager and even younger, I had those early jobs, I was making my own money and I was fairly good at saving it as well.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: The challenge came in that no one ever spoke to me about wealth and wealth creation and the value of wealth creation and what could come from having more wealth that you've secured financial independence specifically.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: So no one.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: We never got into those conversations and we didn't talk about the other parts of financial literacy, whether that be debt, managing debt, leveraging debt.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: We didn't talk about insurance.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: We didn't talk about anything.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: It was really just get a job, go to school, or go to school, get a job, save some money, and that was it.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: But that's not enough.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: There's just not enough content there for you to actually launch successfully into adulthood and be able to budget, be able to invest, be able to start down that wealth journey to make sure that you know when you're in your senior year is you're not being forced into early retirement or that you're financially set.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: If that is the case, right Like we need to make sure that these conversations are happening a lot earlier than they currently are.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: A lot of times they're not happening at all.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: So what I've been trying to encourage more parents to do is have some of these conversations, like you said.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: You know you're you're an entrepreneur, you're an investor, you've got opportunities there that you can bring your, your, your three boys into and say hey look, this is what I'm doing.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You don't have to do it this way, but this is what I'm doing, and this is why I'm doing it this way, because I want to grow a nice nest egg here so that we can be financially set during this time, so I can make sure all your needs are met.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: And I'm also doing it so that I can be financially set later in life.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: So I don't have to keep doing this if I don't want to.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: So that's the idea is that we want to make sure that we are moving financially forward, so that we are always getting our kids prepared.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: So we want to bring them into those conversations so that they understand well what is wealth and why do I need to focus on wealth.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: And why should I be saving?
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Because, again, savings great like.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not trying to put down saving, but we want to make sure they understand that the idea is that you're not just saving to, you know, have a little extra.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: You're saving with the intent of growing that savings, growing that wealth and then eventually finding that place of financial security, financial independence and feeling financially well.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple of thoughts.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: You know one, you were talking about insurance, health insurance, having kids.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: That was a big surprise for me.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: I remember when we went to have our first child and at that point I was working a job and the insurance a lot of it was covered by the employer.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: But I remember thinking like holy cow, that was not what I was ready for.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, when I chose to go off on my own and had to find my own health insurance, that's another struggle.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: And so to your point.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we never talked about that growing up.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: I wasn't prepared for that.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I will say I probably had a little bit more formal education than most in school, because I know a lot of people say they don't talk about it at all.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: I did take one trimester.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: We had a money management class.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: So we talked a little bit about money.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: We talked a little bit about investing, the rule of 72 and interest rates and how that works.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: But I also thought if we save up our money, what we should do is probably do like a CD, because then it's safe, right, and I can earn some interest on that, not even realizing, holy cow, that's not even going to keep pace with inflation.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: So it was a little bit of a flawed class that I took, but at least I had something.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: But to most people's point, that's stuff's not even covered.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: The stuff's going to really matter in people's lives and really prepare them for the future it's not talked about.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: No, and you're right, and that's where I'm going with this Like.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: If, like your audience, obviously they're very focused on investing specifically with real estate.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: This is an opportunity to bring your kids into what it is to invest right, like.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: We want our kids to understand that investing is something that they need to be focused on, because we do need to, especially these days.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We need to not just keep up with inflation, we need to outpace inflation to make sure that the money that we have is growing to meet our needs and future needs.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: We have these opportunities when they're home, when they're young, when they still listen to us.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Those opportunities dwindle as they get older and they become more financially responsible for their own money.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: So one of the things I try to encourage parents to do whenever possible is to try to not just bring them into the conversation, but also give them opportunities right.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: So, if you can give them access to an allowance, if you can help them have their first job, if you can help them buy their first stock, their first bond, if you can help them, help you manage your first door right, if they're actually there seeing what it takes, what are the expenses to actually manage a rental unit, whether that be short-term, long-term or what have you if they actually see what this means and they can see okay.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: So I've got cash flow here, I've got appreciation here, I've got leverage here and in addition to that, I'm dealing with all of these different risks, I'm dealing with these different expenses.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: If they can actually start to see how it all works, then when it's time for them to manage their own money, there, leaps and bounds ahead of most folks who don't even get those courses, whether they're, you know, flawed or not.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: But they're just like I said, they're more ready to set.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: You're setting them up for success.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: You're setting them up to actually be financially secure, which is what we all want, right?
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: We want our kids to be better off than we were, and if we're on a path of, you know, on a journey of wealth creation, then how can we help our kids start that journey even earlier?
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: We all know that the one thing we only have is that we only think that's really valuable as our time.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: And how much more can our kids get if they actually maximize that time by understanding, you know, the value of wealth, the importance of investing, how to save and budget it and all these other pieces of financial literacy.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: So by focusing on your kids and bringing them into the conversation and bringing them into your investment journey and bring them into your budgeting discussions, by doing all of that you're really helping your kids.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Like I said, set them up, helping your kids to be set up for success.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: What do you think in terms of some of those concepts as it relates to their age?
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I have a six year old.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: You know it sounds like we both have nine and 12 year olds thinking through.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: At what stage does it make sense to kind of go a little bit deeper.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: You know we've had the conversations with our kids about just because we don't buy something doesn't mean we don't have the money.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I remember that was a thing that I learned growing up when my parents would say, well, we don't have the money for that.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: What I learned was that they they're choosing not to spend the money on that.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Because I remember thinking like, oh my gosh, if I want this toy, does that mean like we're not going to be able to eat?
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: And fortunately I lived in a household is very middle class, you know we we didn't have a lot of things but fortunately we had shelter, we had food and while we didn't have a lot above that, we at least were able to meet those needs.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: But I remember asking them it was my dad that would say we're not going to buy that and remember asking my mom are we okay financially?
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: And then I just came home this last weekend to my parents, and they were very diligent about they had a budget book and they would write down all their expenses.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I was surprised I came home.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: It was my mom's birthday, and so we celebrate with the family.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: We went to go eat, and my dad my dad is now 75 years old pulls out his budget book and writes down his food expense.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: We were going to go out to dinner.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: There was a church fundraiser, pulls out his budget book, writes down $30 and his book, and that is what they did.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Teach me, though, is being diligent about tracking it, but didn't have this concept of I choose not to afford something versus.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Does that not mean we don't have enough money?
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: No, it's something I bring up in my book as well.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: It's being very intentional with what we say to our kids, right, like, like I, like you said, I have a 12 and a nine year old.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: They're a little bit older now, but I remember those early days.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: You know, you're in the store, you're frantic, you're trying to, you're trying to check out, they're asking for a candy or they're asking for a toy, and our natural tendency is just to try to to kind of get away from that that moment as quickly as possible.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: So we'll say things like oh, we don't have money for that, or we can't afford that, or whatever the quick out is.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: But, like you said and you rightfully identified it, like the messaging that you're receiving or the message the child is receiving is you know, either I'm not valuable because I can see that there's money for all these other things, but there's no money for me.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Like, what is, what is the messaging you're giving when you, when you say these things?
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: So it's necessary that we be very intentional.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Now, your original question was asking about, like, what's the right age for all of these different discussions, and there's no right or wrong age.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: It really does depend on your child.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: So I'll give an example in my life my son.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: He's very similar to me.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: He's very money curious at a very early age.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: So we started these discussions when he was, let's say, four and I tried to give him the allowance at four years old.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: He just wasn't able to keep up with the math.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: It didn't make sense.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: So instead of doing an allowance, we just had more conversations.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: You know, I'd bring him to the grocery store.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: We talk about budgeting.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Instead of saying we can't afford it, I would try to explain like we have money set aside for these things in our lives.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: In other words, we budgeted for these things.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: That isn't in our budget right now, we haven't prioritized that right now, but for your birthday or for Christmas or for these other times, we will set aside money for that.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Now again, in the moment you're not able to say that to a child who's throwing a fit trying to get a piece of candy.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: But if you have these conversations early and often, your child will understand.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: So we did eventually get to the allowance.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: And now my son's?
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: You know he's investing on his own.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Well, not on his own, he's doing it via me.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: But he's now at a point, at 12, where we're having conversations about investing.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: My hope is that in the next couple of years from now, rather than me setting aside money for, you know, back to school, his toiletries, his clothing, I'm going to give that money to him.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: He is going to manage that just like you'd manage a budget if he was out on his own, because in a couple of years from then he will be out on his own and I don't want the first time he's managing a budget to be when he's on his own.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: So you really have to gauge where your child is and their abilities.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: But the idea is that you're giving it to them while they're home with you and you could be there to coach them, because at some point they're going to be, you know, hopefully moving out, moving on, doing their own thing, and at that point they just don't have you as a resource the way they would at these early stages and remember, at 17, 18,.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: There's not much difference there in ability from 1920, right, access to capital is probably very different, but actual ability to manage the money is not very different.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: So if we can give them access to what?
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: The money again, it's not new money, we don't have to go out and find money for these things.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: We were going to buy them clothes, we were going to pay for their food.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: So let's give it to them and let them manage it so that when they do hit 19, 2021, it's not the first time they're not like I don't know how to make this work, because they've been doing it.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: They've been figuring out how, they've had opportunities to figure out how to manage with limited resources, and all the while, you're also explaining what to do with any surpluses they may have.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: That was going to be kind of my next question, talking about, or just mindset around money an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Because I remember thinking my first job I made $5.35 an hour and it's like, okay, I worked 10 hours, I make $50.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: And then it's like you had to work with okay, how do I plan for what the $50 is?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Versus having a mindset of thinking like, oh, I could actually multiply this if I do invest it, not in CDs.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: CDs, I make a little money but I'm thinking teaching them about that multiplication of money, building and growing businesses and focusing on assets that are really going to move the needle versus just working and making money and that's it.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: But finding different ways to kind of create money and multiply that.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Well, right, and it's a tricky.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: It's a bit of a balancing act, right, because we don't want them to have a scarcity mindset, but at the same time, we do need them to operate, understanding that money is a scarce resource.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: We only have so much access to money and if we max out the amount we use by buying everything and not saving anything and not having an opportunity to even invest any of it, then we are losing an opportunity.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Right, there's an opportunity cost to that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: So, on the other side of it, we do want them to see that, hey, if you're doing these things, if you're investing, if you're buying real estate, if you're going to the stock market or what have you, you're studying your own business.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: There is that multiplier effect.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: So this is why I want you to bring your kids into any of your investment discussions, if you can, especially once it's age appropriate, because they need to see what's happened.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: So if I were to show my kids my portfolio, I'm able to say, hey, look, this is how much I put in, but this is how much it's worth.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: This is very different.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: So, for my kids, what I will do is periodically not all the time I'll show them how much I've saved for their college education, right?
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: And it's a great example of this.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: It's like this is how much money I put in.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I only put this much in, but this is how much it's worth, and there's a big gap between the two.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: And the reason there's a big gap is because we're getting dividends, things are appreciating.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: I'm not taking any of it out, I'm reinvesting everything and it keeps growing and in a couple of years from now it will probably be here and I can show them.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Okay, last time we looked at it, where was it?
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: And I'm still contributing, so it's a tangible and it's also theirs.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: So it's a tangible example of how money can grow if you just set it aside, leave it, or you put it into something and you contribute to it regularly, right?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So there's, as you know, there's multiple different investing strategies.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: This is just one, but I could show them this one because, again, the money that's there is theirs.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: So they're even more invested, if I can use that word.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: They're even more invested in the outcome of that money because, again, it's set aside for their college education.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: So they're like well, how much do I have now?
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: And I've done this.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: It's not only with my kids that I've done this for.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I've done this for my nieces and nephews as well.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Right, I've started up 529s for all my nieces and nephews.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Same idea I didn't like.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: So this started years ago.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: You know, christmas day would come and there'd be a melee of toys and things and no one knows who got what or who gave what, and it was like I was like this this doesn't make sense.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: This isn't adding true value to what I think we could be contributing to, these, these children.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: So we started out for 529s.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: I was like, instead of birthday gifts, instead of Christmas gifts, let's contribute to the 529.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: And then on those special days, maybe once or twice a year, let's give them a statement and then, when they hit 18, 19 and they're ready to go off to college, then you get this windfall, which I think is just a better way.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Again, I only have so much access to my nieces and nephews.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: They don't live with me like my own kids, but this was the way that I was able to influence them, or try to influence them to say, okay, this is how, again, you can make wealth grow by having an investment strategy and actually showing them again this is your money, not mine, and this is how you can see how wealth can grow.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: And again it's a balance because again you need to be able to operate under that, that idea that you know our resources are scarce but it has the opportunity to grow.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: You're going to start the viral trend of Christmas morning.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: We all run downstairs and check our 529s.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Oh man, that would make me so happy.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: If that was the movement I started, Mike, I can't tell you how happy I'd be.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Here we go, clifton Corbin today we're naming it the 529s rundown under the tree.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: That's what's going to happen.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, checking portfolios, that's all I want.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Well, and for me, I remember talking about multiplying money.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: I remember when I first started contributing to our 401k plan for work I'm a spreadsheet guy and so I was like, okay, well, if I contribute this much every paycheck, and I look and I fast forward to 40, 50, 60 years old and if I increase my contribution, I just had like a little set of assumptions where it's like, okay, well, if it earned this amount or if I increased my contributions by this amount, I would fast forward and I had it set up where each year was each age and I would kind of see how it would grow.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: And it was cool to see, like I my mind hadn't been opened up to see those things because, like I said, I just had this here's what you make and you have your budget, but to see how it could actually grow was very eye opening.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: That's great and I'm a spreadsheet guy too, so I can definitely relate to that Like I love, and I think that there's something to that as well.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: So a good friend of mine, Maya Corbett, she just released a book I think it's called Piggy Banks to Stocks and it's basically it's an investment book for kids, Like it's meant for, you know, adolescent, young teens.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: And when I, you know, I gave my copy to my son, I was like, hey, take a look at this.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: And one of the things he really identified with, like really quickly resonated with him really quickly, was the visuals Like he was able to see okay, here, if I do this, like you know, go out and buy, you know, an iPod or an iPhone or what have you, At the end of the day I have nothing.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: But if I go out and I buy some stocks of Apple, at the end of the day I have this much money.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: So having the visuals there, I think, especially for kids, it really does help so they can see hey, this is what this is what I'm talking about.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: It's not just, it's not just theoretical, like there's actual, tangible results that can come from you being focused on your wealth at a very early age.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I know some folks who are like there's kids who are, when I say kids, like early twenties that are already trying to reach five, like financial independence and retiring early and that's in their twenties, right, Like it's possible.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: But you do need to focus on this.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: You do need to be somewhat educated on what does it mean to manage your money in a responsible way?
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: How do you actually make sure that you're not maxing out all your resources?
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: How are you making sure that you're actually using that surplus to build wealth, and how?
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: What are you doing to make sure that you're securing that wealth?
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Now, that's not the whole financial picture.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I'm also you know I'm huge on donating and philanthropy, Like there's more to the puzzle than just earning and saving and investing.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: But we need to be having these discussions with our kids because if we don't, they won't get it or, when they do, it could be after, could be like my situation where I made a mess of my finances in my early twenties.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: So, instead of hitting five when I was in my mid-20s, I was dealing with debt collectors, right.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: So this is what I want to help our next generation avoid.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: I want them to get to that that moment of financial comfort and wellness a lot earlier than you know, our generation did.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Now, you mentioned growing up.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: You were money curious.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Your kids were money curious.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: What would you say to parents out there where they could care less or it's just not registering?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, obviously they still have to learn things, even a kid in school.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Just because they don't like school, they're still going to learn some things.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: So how do you balance finding that right time of when it's age appropriate or when they're ready to hear, versus okay?
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Well, if they're not taking to this, I have to at least hopefully put some wisdom in them, even if it's not something that they're excited about.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: So how do you maybe find that balance?
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: So I'll use an example for my life as well.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: So I mentioned I have two kids, my younger, my nine year old.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: She doesn't care, she just doesn't, she doesn't.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: But we can still have conversations, we can still have discussions and she could still comprehend some of what I'm talking about and she can understand what I'm talking about and she could start using some of that, that content, and start using some of that understanding and relate to what's happening financially with within her life.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: So there's still ways of managing it, even though they're not into it.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Like there's still, there's still a means.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: The other thing is just having conversations, just including them into the conversation so they could hear and understand and be able to apply some of these financial literacy concepts.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: And that's the idea right, even if they're not really into it.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: If we're having those conversations and they're hearing it and they're discussing it, or even if they're not discussing it, but at least they're, they're comprehending their understanding.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: You're having those conversations at dinner time and they're there, they hear it, they're able to take in some of this and that's the idea right.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Like we can't, we can't hope that they'll know and understand and be able to manage everything, like that's the other part of just financial literacy education to young people in general is that they won't.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: They won't all take like it, just won't Like it's.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: If you're a parent and you've tried to teach your child anything, you know that some of it takes, some of it doesn't.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Lots of it takes multiple repetition, like you need to repeat yourself often and that's just that's okay.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: But if we're having the conversations around them, if we're having the conversations at dinner, even if they're not into it, like the other day, you know I was having this conversation, a conversation about my son was trying to figure out how to buy his first real estate property before he was 18.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Like this is how money?
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Curious my son is.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: So he's 12 years old, he's trying to figure out how does he get a down payment just using allowance to buy his first property.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: My daughter is there walking with us and she's like can we stop talking about money?
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: And I was like I hear you, like she's not into it.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: But she said that after blocks and blocks of us talking about money.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: So she heard all of the conversations.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: She's done with it, but she heard it and she understands it.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Like I know it's not necessarily her thing, but she's hearing it.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: I'm bringing her into the conversations.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: There's times where I can at least have her help me with things.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: So it might not be, and the other thing you could do is just try to find the thing that is their thing right, like if, like my son, likes the idea of real estate, he doesn't care as much about stocks and bonds, that's fine.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: My daughter cares about toys, so I could probably find, you know, the creator of one of her dolls or one of her toys and say, hey, this is the company that makes X, y and Z doll, this is a company that makes X, y and Z toy, this is the company that makes X, y and Z cartoon.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Let's invest in them, since it's something you're interested in.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: And maybe that will take, maybe not, but I'm always going to strive to find the thing that will kind of resonate with her so that she will be more interested in the conversations.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: The other thing I'll stop on this afterwards.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Afterwards is at young ages our kids are kind of just curious about what we're doing.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: They just want to know and understand like we are their conduit to the bigger world.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: So they just want to hear what did happen in your day today, what is going on in your world Because they don't like it.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: They're trying to figure it out right and they're always listening.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: So if we can have these conversations, even with our partners, in their presence again, age appropriate way, but we can have these conversations.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: They're listening, they're taking it in.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Whether we know it or not, they are listening, they are sponges and eventually, I think, even for the ones who are not super money curious like I was or like my son is they will eventually it will click, it will start to resonate with them and then hopefully they start asking questions and you can have more of a back and forth.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: But the other thing is, again, just give them opportunities to manage their own money and those conversations will happen organically because they will have to right If they want to take some of their allowance and go buy something, well, you know they need you to drive them.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: So now you're having a discussion about it and then you can start talking about needs versus wants and inflation and all these other things.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: So the conversations can come the more opportunities we give our kids as well.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: So there's lots there, there's lots there.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think too, creating an open line of communication.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: We're down the road when they are ready for that lesson or when they do need that help.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: It's like, hey dad, remember when I rolled my eyes, you know, five years ago, and you're talking about that thing?
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Well, now I actually need to know about that thing.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: And so you know, can you help me in and making them feel like they can always come talk to you about that?
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: You're their resource in the future.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: Maybe you try to teach them a lesson in a didn't land, but they know they can come back to you.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: It's a great point that you make and I say this often it's we want our kids to come to us, regardless of what it is, whether it's sex or bullying, or money or what have you right?
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: But if we really want that, then we need them to know that they can and as soon as we shut down a conversation about a subject, it phrase, those lines of communication should know for them, knowing that they can come to you when it comes to money questions and money issues or just money in general, it really helps to build those relationships.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: So I'm glad you brought that up because I think it's such an important, such an important point to bring up.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Look, if this isn't just about, you know, gaining wealth and growing our wealth, it's a big part of it.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: It's also building relationships with our kids.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: We want to have strong relationships with our kids and by bringing them into our world and showing them how the big, broader world works in an open, transparent way, we really are helping to build those those relationships.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Real estate agents, are you tired of letting the busyness of life get in your way from achieving your real estate investing goals?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: I'm super excited to announce we've created the Real Freedom Investor Agent Tribe.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: It's a place for you to come, get educated and network with others so that you can make sure that you're hitting your real estate investment goals.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: So find out more on our website, realfreedomcom.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Click on the store link.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: We've got a membership.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: We've got a mastermind group and some private coaching as well.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Check it out.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I've priced it super low.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: The goal is to get you and not have price be a determining factor to keep you from your goals.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: So come check it out, Schedule a call with me and we're happy to see where your real estate journey is going to take you.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Well thank you, Clifton, for coming on and sharing so much more we could chat about, but I thought we covered a lot of great things, and that's the reason why you're here to provide future resources for parents and kids.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: So you know, if people want to reach out to you and learn more, get ahold of you, how can they do so?
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Sure, and on that note of resources, if you're looking for a resource for you know kids around, you know grade three, grade four, grade two I have a great free resource.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: You can download it at kidsmoneyworkbookcom and again, it's like money identification and money games and money math and you can download that for free at any time.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: So that's kidsmoneyworkbookcom.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: And then, if you're looking for me, you can find me at Cliftoncorbincom.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: I'm also, you know, have a bit of a presence on LinkedIn, so you can find me at CD Corbin on LinkedIn and I'd be happy to chat and answer questions if anyone had any.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing and I think there's just so many great foundational principles.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: So anybody listening to this episode, hopefully you took something home from it and reach out to Clifton and continue that journey.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for coming on and sharing.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: I really appreciate it.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: My absolute pleasure.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having me.