Each time I earned some money as a little boy, my mother used to say to me…”that money is burning a hole in my pocket.” She was referring to my insatiable urge to spend my new found wealth on the first thing that offered itself for sale to me. I had no reason for earning the money other than to buy the items that were most appealing to me…such as candy and toys. However, as I became educated (and older) I realized there was much more to which my hard earned money could be applied. The same is the case with your kids. Point out the financial and economical aspects of educational lessons, such as history, everyday life and as well as the finances tied to their dreams and desires. Helping your kids to understand the cost (in a relation to money and time) will assist your children to begin setting goals that will make dreams more of a plan at an early age. Please DO NOT discourage any goals because dollar amounts are seemingly high, based on present financial conditions and experiences. We want our kids to think realistically about money, however, with a well structured and grounded financial sense , today’s kids will be able to go further than we ever thought because of an understanding of money of which we could only have imagined. A good place to start exploring the effects of money is a downtown shopping area or library…although there’s probably more on the internet…these physical areas provide tangible items to compare to real costs. Either way, try to interest your child in something other than candy and toys or at least exposed to the manufacturing or transportation aspects of their interests. You can even watch television and explain marketing and costs of a show’s production i.e. – actor’s pay, studio/real estate, electricity, satellites, etc. Try not to make every conversation about money, but do point out the financial basics, no different than you would make passing references to good and bad food choices.