Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/01/bill-sardi/teach-your-kids-to-be-rich/ By Bill Sardi “In case no one told you, social media is a lure where the masses contribute their content (photos, articles, books) for free to websites that the websites then use to drive web traffic that produces click fees and advertising fees. Those who participate are just pawns in the online game. I know no one whose fortunes have risen by participation in Facebook or LinkedIn.” I don’t really like the above title (“Teach Your Kids To Be Rich”) because it speaks of materialism over finding a purpose in life. There will be those young people who set out, for example, to serve God as a missionary and don’t ever think of becoming rich except with “God’s riches.” (For those who are confused on this issue, the Bible teaches the love of money, not money itself, is the root of all evil.) Young people will handle money and it will flitter through their hands if they don’t manage it well. And their dreams of serving God will be very limited if they don’t learn lessons about how to build and retain wealth. An article in the Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303754404579310540024048118] asks how you will teach your kids to be rich, to retain wealth if your family already has it? Wealthy parents fear their fortunes may be squandered by their children who aren’t money savvy yet. A kid who inherits wealth is obviously far different than a selfmade man. The WSJ article cites surveys that say 51-57% of parents don’t think their kids will be ready to handle being rich till they are 25-34 years of age. The author of the WSJ report recognizes kids have to mature emotionally and brainwise because handling money involves abstract concepts such as inflation, purchasing power, yield, profit margin. Those concepts are not taught in school. But the WSJ article makes no mention of those terms. Its author suggests kids learn about money by playing board games (Game of Life, Pay Day by Hasbro). But the problem here is that kids are going to get the childish idea that the financial world plays by the rules. In the real world, that is far from the truth. I think if you are trying to teach your kids anything about money it is that there is a lot of sleight of hand going on. Work ethic versus lifestyle by credit card The WSJ article mentions a work ethic in passing, but then suggests kids need to learn social media too. (Huh?) In case no one told you, social media is a lure where the masses contribute their content (photos, articles, books) for free to websites that the websites then use to drive web traffic that produces click fees and advertising fees. Those who participate are just pawns in the online game. I know no one whose fortunes have risen by participation in Facebook or LinkedIn. Online schemes versus real businesses I think the lure of the internet and the getrich schemes online are as deceiving as 1lb box of chocolates which a naïve child believes can only add a pound to your weight. I just heard of a young man who pays others in India (~$200) to write a short book on a topic. The book is just a compilation of gibberish that adds nothing new to knowledge. He has done this a couple hundred times and offers these books under his own pen name at Amazon.com. He makes $50150 a month off each title. That is how kids are learning how to make money today. Daytrading stocks is another example. These are schemes, not businesses. Day trading is gambling, not …
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