While having frequent money talks with children can help raise more financially savvy kids, 29 per cent of Australian parents admit to lying to their children about money, according to the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA’s) Share the Dream report.
The report, which studied the parents of children born after 2000 into a world of online transactions, also found that 38 per cent of parents have borrowed money from their child’s piggy bank or bank account for urgent expenses.
The report found that there are four distinct “money-parent personalities”, based on the frequency and comfort level parents had in talking to their children about money. These were:
- Engagers: Accounting for 30 per cent of parents, they find it easy to talk about money and have frequent conversations with their children about money. Sixty per cent of engagers’ children are “notably curious” about invisible money matters such as in-game purchases;
- Troopers: Represent 19 per cent of parents, and frequently talk about money to their children but are anxious about it. Troopers’ children were more likely to have a job than the average child and had more experience in making online transactions;
- Relaxed: Twenty-two per cent of parents are relaxed, meaning that they are comfortable with money talk but don’t have if often. They typically have the lowest levels of financial stress and regret; and
- Avoiders: These are the 29 per cent of parents who put off talking about money all together.
FPA chief executive, Dante De Gori, said that the engagers and troopers showed that the earlier parents started talking about money with their kids the better for their engagement. He also pointed out that engagers were the most likely to seek the advice of a financial planner of any of the parent personalities, saying that it was “a satisfying testament to our profession”.
