If you want to be told you’re a great parent instead of a mean parent because you have high expectations of your kids and disciplined rules in place, THIS is your chance!
My guest today is a million-dollar business builder…and loser…and “learn from the burn” kind of guy. Let’s all learn from his own failures with money so that we can set up an environment in which our kids can build financial literacy.
We talk a lot here at Kids Cook Real Food™ about kids having a great relationship with food and how important that is – today we get to talk about our relationship with money, such as:
- why kids should start young managing their own money
- how to teach kids to save and KNOW money’s intended use before spending it
- why Mike recommends that the largest percentage of our money goes to contributing, not to ourselves
- a wild “upward spiral” that we can get our kids (and ourselves) into that helps us do ALL these things: feel great, want to earn more money, feel good about how we spend money
- why parents should give kids hard things to do (and the risk when we don’t!)
- the gift vs. the gain – how we give our kids the greatest gift by avoiding giving them gifts
- a simple strategy for making a new habit withOUT fighting against your own tendencies
- why we want to generate joy from saving money
- the million-dollar parenting question that we all really need to apply to every decision we make, especially for which one temptation is “quicker and easier”
I feel like I typed “money” way too many times in the last 5 minutes, but that’s what this interview is about! Or at least…that’s how it started. Mike has a knack for behavioral psychology, and he ends up digging deep into the mechanics and philosophy of parenting.
I’m changed by his presence, and I know you will be too!
Can’t see the video? Watch Teaching Kids About Money here on YouTube!
No time for the video? Here are the notes!
Teaching Kids About Money
- 0:20: Today I’m talking with Mike Michalowicz, entrepreneur and author of My Money Bunnies, a money book for kids.
- 1:40: Normally I’m a proponent of learning through failure, but man, Mike had to learn from some major financial and business failures. He shares more about how he recovered from financial ruin.
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- Raw Elements for so many reasons, including their tinted stick for adult faces (all styles, use KS10 for 10% off!)
- Maelove, which I call the best “transition” sunscreen when moving away from chemical ‘screens
- Others that make the top-recommended cut: Badger, ThinkBaby, Kabana
If you’re worried about the white cast on your skin from zinc oxide sunscreen, check out my video on how to apply mineral sunscreen correctly to minimize it.
- 3:35: There’s a pretty popular system where you teach your kids to spend, save and give, but Mike’s system is more nuanced. He explains the three “money bunnies” from his book.
The biggest gift we can give to ourselves is to give to others. -Mike Michalowicz
- 7:02: Mike wrote his book to be funny and appealing to kids because he hopes they will share the money management system with their friends.
- 8:06: It surprised me that the biggest jar is the giveaway jar. I know this is how Mike runs his business as well. He talks more about why he contributes the majority of what he makes to his community.
- 9:20: Mike shares an example of giving bringing him joy and starting a cycle of inspiration and a “pay it forward” mentality.
- 11:10: We talk about this same cycle when we talk about cooking. When we cook for others and see them enjoying our food, we are inspired to cook for others more! Giving doesn’t need to be financial, it can be time and service as well.
- 11:43: In the book, Sophie works very hard to earn money. Is that a realistic expectation for kids?
Paleovalley Meat Sticks
It can be hard to find healthy snacks that you can take with you on the go. When I want the convenience of a jerky stick, but want a healthy, protein-packed snack option, I grab Paleovalley meat sticks. Paleovalley ingredients have these high standards that you can feel good about:
- 100% Grass-Fed Beef & 100% Pasture-Raised Turkey
- Never given antibiotics or hormones
- Gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free
- 0 grams of sugar*
- Contains no artificial nitrates or nitrites
- Non-GMO
- Naturally fermented and contain gut-friendly probiotics!
*With the exception of Teriyaki, which contains 2 grams of sugar from Organic Honey.
These beef sticks and turkey sticks taste delicious! My favorite is the Jalapeรฑo but my kids love Summer Sausage.
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- 13:20: Mike shares about his son’s experience buying his first car and how that shaped him.
- 15:22: It’s very easy in the moment to gift things to our kids, but in the long term, we need to teach them to do things for themselves and have pride in their efforts. Sometimes we need to step back and consider the greater good for that child in the long term. More on why we need to let our kids fail.
As a parent, I need to safely allow my child to get burned, explore things, have failures, and see that they can pull themselves up and push forward. -Mike Michalowicz
- 18:06: The money bunny system requires habit building. Habits are hard enough for adults! We talk about ways to cultivate good money habits in your kids.
- 20:30: My kids rarely spend anything. Mike thinks this isn’t always a good thing as some people will find their value in how much money they have and hold onto it too tightly. We want to look at where the joy is. Cultivate joy in saving to avoid a miserly, hoarding.
- 23:27: We leave you with a practical step you can take today to start teaching your kids about money.
Resources We Mention for Teaching Kids About Money
- Mike’s book, My Money Bunnies, and the book’s website with more resources
- More on why we need to let our kids fail
- Find Mike online here
- Follow Mike on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
- If you have a business-related question for Mike you can send it in here
By his 35th birthday MIKE MICHALOWICZ (pronounced mi-โkal-o-wits) had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies.
Confident that he had the formula to success, he became a small business angel investorโฆ and proceeded to lose his entire fortune. Then he started all over again, driven to find better ways to grow healthy, strong companies. Mike has devoted his life to the research and delivery of innovative, impactful entrepreneurial strategies to you.
Today, Mike leads two new multi-million-dollar ventures, as he tests his latest business research for his books. Mike is the creator of Profit First, which is used by hundreds of thousands of companies across the globe to drive profit. and the creator of Clockwork, a powerful method to make any business run on automatic.
Mike is a popular main stage keynote speaker on innovative entrepreneurial topics and is the author of Get Different, Fix This Next, Clockwork, Profit First, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and now the kid’s version of Profit First: The My Money Bunnies book, all about the money-saving system just for kids!
What You Should Do Next:
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About Katie Kimball
Katie Kimball, CSME, creator of Kids Cook Real Food™ and CEO of Kitchen Stewardshipยฎ, LLC, is passionate about connecting families around healthy food. As a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks, sheโs been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine and contributes periodically on the FOX Network.
Since 2009, busy moms have looked to Katie as a trusted authority and advocate for childrenโs health, and she often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to stay on the cutting edge. In 2016 she created the Wall Street Journal recommended best online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food™, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook. She is actively masterminding the Kids’ Meal Revolution, with a goal of every child learning to cook.
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is also a Certified Stress Mastery Educator, member of the American Institute of Stress and trained speaker through Bo Easonโs Personal Story Power.