Monthly Family Financial Meetings

[amyschiff]

I came across an interesting article over at The Simple Dollar about having financial family meetings every month

I found it fairly interesting... we had nothing like this when I was young

[72Tiger]

we never talked about money in my family when I was growing up.

[Julie Rains]

I won't say that we really did either -- but that was when grown-ups still had pensions and social security, and my parents didn't think they'd live til 80. Things have changed -- not necessarily for good or bad but talking about money is (okay should be) more of a priority because we have to be more responsible for ourselves now, esp. now that we have healthcare that can keep us living so much longer.

[Xin Lu]

lol my parents are obsessed with talking about money. I guess they're both accountants and so it is their profession. They are the ones that told me to open a Roth IRA when I earned a little bit of money in college, and I think it's great for families to talk about money when the kids can learn.

[amyschiff]

Money wasn't really a secret in our house... it just wasn't a regular topic. Unlike a lot of kids I always had a really good idea of what my parents' salaries were.

It always seemed to me like the more their parents made, the less likely the kids were to know what their salaries were, hehe.

I somehow turned out frugal, even though both my siblings aren't necessarily that way.

[hermione]

We used to have family meetings and all us kids hated it (mostly because our stepdad was really annoying). If it had included finances I don't know how we would've gotten through our teenage years, but we kids didn't spend any money. In fact, the only one who had a spending problem was the stepfather ...

[volcom579]

my parents have always talked about money when i was growing up. Right when i was able to, my parents opened me up a savings account then a checking account and tried to get the whole money thing into my head. Importance of saving, balancing a budget. Its funny how many families do not teach their kids about this kind of stuff because school does not.

[spencer]

What people need is not family financial meetings, but financial education. Understanding how debt and financial world work is crucial for financial survival.

[n_vizion]

Great idea! I will definately have these when I have children. My parents only talked about the money they didn't have. Not what they had and what they did with it.

[moneymatters]

My wife and I just started having monthly budget committee meetings to talk about our monthly budget, spending and goals. We will also touch base on a weekly basis to keep track of how we're doing.

it isn't always fun, but it has been keeping us more on track, allowing us to save more and spend less in certain categories.

i would also agree with above commenter who mentioned that we need to have financial education in addition to the family meetings in order for people to be successful.