I Asked My 10 Yr Old About Money His Answer Floored Me!

SPEAKER_03 0:00

My son Carter just turned 10, officially out of the single-digit life. So before the next decade starts to shape him, me and him sat down and had a talk about money. His answers floored me. Some of them made me proud, and some of them just made me think. Some of what you're about to hear might hit you unexpected. Be honest with yourself. If your kid had to describe how you handle money, what would he say? Not what you want him to say, what would he actually say? And that sentence right there is the playbook he's gonna run for the rest of his life. And today I'm sharing what my son said and what every working dad needs to hear after it. Your kids are watching you whatever age they are. I did a video before where I said that by age seven, your kids' money mentality has already been set based upon what you do. Now my son is 10. If your son is 10 and older, they've already learned from you. They've already seen you swiping and buying stuff that you might can't afford or you don't need and then stressing out about bills. They've seen it all. The next 10 years, they're just rehearsing what you've already taught them. See, a lot of us think that they don't need to talk about money until they get into high school, 15, 16, 17. No. You need to be talking to them about money in kindergarten. By the time they're in high school, they've already seen how money is handled right in front right in front of their faces. And if you don't let them see how you handle money, if you just see them if they just see you shopping and buying stuff, and you never talk to them about money, saving, budgeting, investing, what kind of financial life are they gonna have?

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Fresh out of high school, working hard, hitting trade school, but my bank account empty. My dad lived paycheck to paycheck, so I never learned how to budget. Now I'm trapped in the exact same cycle.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

We assume that we're teaching our kids about money, but we never check. This Father Day weekend, I sat down with my 10-year-old, who's officially hit double digits, and talked to him about money. And some of the things that he said, I know were honest because I know my son, but I told him, look, say what you believe. Say what you believe, say what you've seen me do, and give your opinion on it. So now we're gonna watch me ask my son, my 10-year-old son Carter, about money. I hope your son is around. If not, when you get done watching this, watch it again with him. Check out these questions. You know, I make these videos for working dads, and I like to talk about, we like to focus on money, fatherhood, manhood. But I want to ask you some questions today about money. Whatever you say, whatever you say is fine. I'm I'm putting myself on the hot seat as a father. What you know about money? First question I want to ask you is what does money mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Hold on. When you say what does money mean, like what is it, or like what is it?

SPEAKER_03 3:03

What no, what does it mean to you? What does it mean to you? Not what is it, but what does it mean? We when you think of money, what do you mean? What do you think of? You think of spending it, you think of what? Buying, being rich. What do you think of? What does it mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Making it, like investing it, how to get it, what to do with it.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Okay, that's good. That's okay. I can dig it. Now these say whatever you think. Just don't say what you think I want you to say. If I gave you a hundred dollars right now, what would you do with it?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

So I'm not gonna lie and say that I would save it, because I'm not like exactly when I say I don't save it, I don't mean like I spend as soon as I get it. Like I don't save it that much.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

That's I mean, that's something you gotta work on. That's something everybody has to work on.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

But I would also like browse for things that I like, or like right now I'm trying to buy something. So, well, if you gave me a hundred dollars right now, I would be able to add it to my collection, and I think then I would have enough to get that thing.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Okay. Do you think our family has enough money right now? Why or why not? Do you think we have enough money?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

I mean, like, when you say enough money.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Do you think we're we poor or do you think we're like okay, or do you think we're rich? What do you think? That's a good question. A lot of you dad should ask your kids that we're like not poor.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Okay, like maybe like a little bit, kind of. Based off of the things that I get a lot of the times and like what my parents buy for me and get from me, I would think a little bit, like a little bit okay, a little bit, maybe over okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

So you think we're oh we're okay, maybe a little over okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

It's fair, it's fair.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Hold up. When I look, we're doing this in our basement, and we keep all of like the equipment, like our well, right now I'm looking at two popcorn machines, a slushy maker, and like a whole bunch of like baking stuff. So, and a whole pile of like stuff.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Here's something that dads need to think about. Most of the time, kids don't do as well as you financially. So, whatever you do financially, your kids probably will do the same or worse. So, if you don't do well financially, you're really indicting and giving your kids the excuse to do the same. Not even the excuse, you're giving them the resources to do the same. So, how you do with money and how you do with wealth and assets is important. What's something that you seen me do with money that you would do and want to do when you grow up?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Well, something I've seen you do with money is like it's basically I've seen you like you have like this stack of like cash in like your closet and like mom has this jar of like coins and like money and stuff in the cabinet. So when like it comes to saving money, it's kind of like a big example. And then sometimes like when you act if I ask for like money for something at school, you're act you'll ask like why and how much it is, and like give you a reason why you should do that or like why you should give me the money.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Cool, cool. That's hey, that's hey, good answer. So hopefully you'll do that with your kids when you grow up, when you have children and you pass that on. What's something that you see me do with money that you would do differently when you grow up? That's your honest answer, whatever you think.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Well, my honest answer would be like buying this like press thing, the heat press, because uh you don't really use it a lot. Hey, that's hey, that's a good and we have two of them.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

That's hey, that's a good answer. Buying something that you don't use, saying you're gonna start doing something and then so that's that's hey, that's a good answer. Here's a question Have you ever heard me or your mom talk about like being short on money?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Not really, but like mom has talked to me, like had a big conversation to me about money, and so have you. I've seen you guys talk about like once you guys were talking about something like extra money or something like that that you had, or like today, mom was ta you guys were talking about like how mom is a shopping as a professional shopper, and like if you gave her this amount of money, she would have no problem spending it.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Okay. Here's the question Do you think rich people are happier than people who aren't rich?

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Of course, yeah. You see, I'm when I mean like people who aren't rich, most of the time they have to think about like, well, I'm not gonna be able to get this, or like we're gonna have to cut some money back. But like, it's would you feel better not having to hustle for money? Would you feel better having not having to like worry about money all the time? Or like not worrying about having money or having to worry about money all the time? Which one would you be happier as? I'm not saying like necessarily having a lot of money means like a great life, but I do mean like come on, like you don't have yeah, you don't have to worry about money.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

I heard a people say money isn't everything. But a lot of people say money isn't everything, but money is some everything that means something, you need money to have it. So if people say all health is you know more important, well, you need money to have insurance. Yeah, and like you know, so love and relationship, or all those things need you need money. You need if you have children, you need money to take care of them. If you have a wife, you gotta need money to to support a family. So that I'm of the belief that the two most important things in this in this life is God and money. You might not believe that, but that's what I believe. Here, two more questions. What's a smart thing that I've taught you about money?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Investing.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

I think, man, investing is the best thing to do with your money.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Investing in stocks.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Yep, is the best is the best thing and do it as early as as you can, and you already are doing it. Even you don't you don't even know about it, but I'm doing it for you. But I'm but we're gonna keep pounding that in so one day you can be doing it for yourself. The last and final question is if you could give one piece of advice to a kid your age about money, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Well, like I haven't really had that experience for like being low on money or making mistakes with money yet. Because I'm kind of young, but like don't get your mind completely s well how do I say this? You're gonna have you're gonna want a million different things, and a million different things are gonna come out soon. So I would say save your money now so that you won't have to see so that you won't have to wait a long time for like or you buying something, and then like let's say you buy a Nintendo Switch OLED and now the Switch 2 is out, so now you have to make more money. Just always keep money on hand so that you'll have money for the new things to come out or like new things that you want.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

Great answer. And here's one thing I want people to remember a lot of people say, I heard this somewhere, people say, I want a million dollars. But most people, you don't want a million dollars, you want to spend a million dollars. You don't you don't want to make a million dollars. You're not thinking how to how to make a million dollars. You you want somebody to you wanna magically come into a million dollars and you want to spend it. Don't be that person. Be the person, be the father that helps your children learn how to make a million dollars. So that's that's the thing. When you hear people say, I want a million dollars, they say, Yeah, no, you don't want a million dollars, you want to spend it. No, be the person who makes a million dollars, who earns a million dollars, who invests his investments reach a million dollars plus. So those are the 10 questions for my son.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

I have something to say.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

What what is that?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

There was this one really rich man, and he said, making a million dollars takes a million seconds of your life. So if you think making making money is that easy, it might be easy, but it's not that short.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

Becoming wealthy takes time. It takes investing money, letting it grow. Whether the market is up and down, you keep investing, and one day you will be. So those are the 10 questions I asked my son. Now you go out and ask your son the same. Your kid is recording you right now. Just like I'm recording this video, your kid is recording you. Your children are recording you. So the things that Carter said about money, he got from me. He got from his mom. So the things that he said about money that I agree with came from me. The things he said about money that I didn't agree with came from me. If your son or daughter says something about money that scares you, it didn't come from school, it came from you. So it's up to you to try and correct it, to try to fix it. Not by just telling them to do something, it's by showing them because kids learn from observation, imitation, and repetition. What you don't say out loud, you say with your behavior. So even if you think that you're doing the right thing by, you know, you sit them down, you talk about money and all this and do the right thing to do and everything, it doesn't matter. If you're doing something different, that's what they're recording. My son told me this. He told me that he made a $20 bet with a kid at school. And he said that I I don't agree. I don't I don't I don't agree with what he did, but what I said, your kids are watching, they they record me. So he made a $20 bet with his friend at school and he lost. I don't know what it is. He's probably running his mouth, thought the Spurs were gonna win or something, or something. And he was like, Dad, can you get me change for this $50 bill that I got for my birthday? I want to pay my friend back the $20 that we bet. We made a bet. I'm like, $20? I'm like, you you gonna actually pay him back? He's like, yeah, because he said if I don't pay him back, then uh it's gonna go up. I was like, man, why are you paying him back? It's like one day to school's end. Like, what's he gonna do to you? Like, he's like, no, that remember you said that, you know, be you gotta be a man of your word, this and that. I'm like, man, I did say that. So your kids are recording you. But I also told him, hey, look, tell your friend I'm gonna give you your money that I owe you because I'm a because I'm a stand-up guy and I you're my friend, but you're not being my friend telling me you're gonna charge me interest on $20. I told him he's not being your friend. I don't know where he's heard that before, but that's some BS. So go tell your friend that. It's not too late to change the playbook that your son is inheriting, but you've got to do it on purpose. You've got to know, look, I probably made some mistakes. He's seen stuff that I I've done that I don't want him to do. Like, I don't want my son to either any of my sons or any of my kids to go $118,000 in debt. That's a lot of the reason why I'm doing these videos. I had to change the way I don't want them to go through what I had to go through because I don't know if they could go through it. Just because you could do something, just because you could take on something, that don't mean your kids have what it takes to do that. So being a dad, being your family CEO, you gotta know that. Like, look, this is bad behavior that I've displayed and that I've done. It's up to me to change. And that's so, yeah, you modeled some bad behavior. Now you've got to go about changing it on purpose. You're not raising a kid, you're raising a man, you're raising a father for the next generation, for your grandkids. And he's learning it all from you. Not from what you say, but from what you do. Here's the Father Day challenge. I don't care if they're five or 15. Sit down with them, watch the video. Or you watch the video, you're watching the video. Take three of the 10 questions that I asked, my 10-year-old, and ask them to your son or daughter. Don't correct, don't teach, don't defend, just listen. What you hear will let you know what type of dad you've been when it comes down to money. And then that'll let you know what you need to do. I'm doing the work with my son and my daughter, so it's time for you to do the same. This Father's Day don't just be celebrated, be intentional. The playbook that he inherits is still being written, and you hold the pen. If this hits you, drop a comment. Tell me what your kid has said about money that made you just stop and think. Or tell me which of the 10 questions you're gonna ask your son or daughter this week. I read every comment and reply back to everybody because we're all in this together. Subscribe. I drop a new video every Sunday and Wednesday in shorts throughout the week. Happy Father's Day, brothers, and I will see you on the next one. Peace.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Fresh out of high school, working hard, hitting trade school, but my bank account, empty. My dad lived paycheck to paycheck, so I never learned how to budget. Now I'm trapped in the exact same cycle.