Hillsborough Parenting Workshop Focuses on Teaching Money Skills to Kids

Hillsborough, NJ (PRWEB) January 3, 2011

James Kinney, a Certified Financial Planner and owner of Bridgewater, NJ based Financial Pathways LLC will be sponsoring a seminar and workshop for parents entitled “Raising Financially Literate Children”. The two hour seminar will be held on Saturday, February 5 at 7:30 at the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, located at the corner of Homestead Road and Route 206 in Hillsborough New Jersey.

The seminar is intended to help teach parents strategies designed to increase their children’s financial skills and awareness. The material is suitable for parents of young children, as well as parents of teens and young adults. Mr. Kinney explains that the workshop is about combining two passions. “In addition to my professional interest in personal financial planning, I am a father of four children and have long been an active youth volunteer through church and scouts. It is through that exposure to youth and parents of youth that I became aware of the need for this kind of seminar.”

“The need for financial skills in a world where 17 year old children are tasked with making decisions about careers, colleges, and taking on huge levels of student loan debt should be clear,” explains Mr. Kinney. “What might be less obvious is how learning about money skills helps children make better decisions in other areas of their life. Learning to effectively managing money teaches children to consider consequences of their actions,to reflect before making decisions. This ability to reflect on consequences of ones choices is crucial not only for financial survival in a spend-now-worry-about-it-later society, but is also important in the development of healthy relationships and career success.”

The state of New Jersey has recognized the importance of financial education and has recently mandated a financial and economic literacy curriculum for high school students. However, according to Mr. Kinney, classroom instruction alone is not sufficient for developing real world money skills. Parental guidance is essential.

“You can’t learn to drive a golf ball 200 yards by sitting behind a desk,” explains Mr. Kinney. “It takes a combination of instruction and practice. Likewise, teaching kids about economics and financial skills in school is important, but it is only half the battle. Parents need to learn how to create a family environment where kids can learn about and practice money skills as part of their daily lives.”

Many parents report they would feel more comfortable teaching about the birds and the bees than talking about money. Some may feel they are lacking skills themselves, others may have the skills, but are unsure how to best pass those skills along to their kids.

“This course isn’t intended to teach financial skills to parents. It is about how to best take skills you already have and effectively teach those skills to your kids. If you feel your own financial knowledge is inadequate, don’t worry. You don’t need to be a financial whiz to teach your kids the basic money skills they need,” says Mr. Kinney. “In fact, if you own financial knowledge could use a refresher, there’s nothing wrong with learning together with your kids!”

Attendance will be limited to the first 30 registrants. To register for the free course, or for more information, email James Kinney at jkinney(at)financialpathways(dot)net, or call Financial Pathways at 908-203-4664.

###