How To Raise Financially Responsible Children

The best predictor of how financially successful your children will be in life may not be an IQ test or SAT score, but how long they can resist popping marshmallows into their mouths.


Stanford researcher Walter Mischel began his research on the long-term effects of delayed gratification in the 1960s. He studied the behavior of 4 year olds tempted by plates of marshmallows. Mischel's team asked kids not to eat marshmallows left on a table until an adult returned to the room 15 minutes later, at which time they were told they'd each be allowed to eat two. As expected, some children ate a marshmallow right away. Some waited a while before giving in. Some were able to wait the full 15 minutes.


Mischel followed the children until after they graduated from high school. He discovered that delayed gratification at an early age ended up with higher incomes, more successful marriages, greater career satisfaction, better health and more fulfilling lives. The quick marshmallow grabbers continued to struggle to subordinate impulses and exhibited behavioral problems. The study found that the children who waited 15 minutes for marshmallows scored 210 points higher on SAT tests than the children who could wait only 30 seconds.


As parents (my own son is still a toddler) we obviously want to nail the important lessons, like this one about the value of delayed gratification. Experience, rather than lectures, is the way to drive the point home. Here are two simple ideas to help your children learn this important lesson:


http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/03/financially-responsible-children-personal-finance-saving-spending.html?boxes=Homepagetoprated

thanks ed. my parents raised me by depriving me of many things. i was a bit bitter, but now i see the wisdom in what they did, and the effects are definitely not just subconcious.

i think that delayed gratification will really help a child grow up to be different and to be patient.

Great article with some great tips.