The Personal Finance Podcast - How to Teach Kids About Money (And Wealth) With Maya Corbic

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

In this episode of the Personal Finance Podcast, we're going to talk to Maya Corbick about how you can teach your kids about money. How Andrew Can Help You:  Don't let another year pass by without making significant strides toward your dreams. "Master Your Money Goals" is your pathway to a future where your aspirations are not just wishes but realities. Enroll now and make this year count! Join The Master Money Newsletter where you will become smarter with your money in 5 minutes or less per week Here! Learn to invest by joining  Index Fund Pro! This is Andrew’s course teaching you how to invest!  Watch The Master Money Youtube Channel!  Ask Andrew a question on Instagram or TikTok.  Learn how to get out of Debt by joining our Free Course  Leave Feedback or Episode Requests here.  Thanks to Our Amazing Sponsors for supporting The Personal Finance Podcast. Shopify: Shopify makes it so easy to sell. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at  shopify.com/pfp Monarch Money: Get an extended 30 day free trial at monarchmoney/pfp Thanks to Fundrise for Sponsoring the show! Invest in real estate going to fundrise.com/pfp Indeed: Start hiring NOW with a SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/personalfinance Thanks to Policy Genius for Sponsoring the show! Go to policygenius.com to get your free life insurance quote. Chime: Start your credit journey with Chime. Sign-up takes only two minutes and doesn’t affect your credit score. Get started at chime.com/  Links Mentioned in This Episode:  How to Teach Your Kids About Money (By Age!) From Piggy Banks to Stocks: The Ultimate Guide for a Young Investor Paperback Connect with Maya Corbic Instagram Linkedin Website Book From Piggy Banks to Stocks: The Ultimate Guide for a Young Investor Connect With Andrew on Social Media:  Instagram  TikTok Twitter  Master Money Website  Master Money Youtube Channel   Free Guides:   The Stairway to Wealth: The Order of Operations for your Money  How to Negotiate Your Salary  The 75 Day Money Challenge  Get out Of Debt Fast  Take the Money Personality Quiz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon presents Laura versus Fruit Flies. Swarming your fruit and terrorizing your kitchen, these little freaks multiply at a rate that would make a rabbit say, yo. Chill. But Laura shopped on Amazon and saved on cleaning spray, countertop wipes, and fly traps. Hey, fruit flies, your baby boom ends here. Save the Everyday with Amazon. Want to go electric without sacrificing fun?

That's the Volkswagen ID4. All-electric and thoughtfully designed to elevate your modern lifestyle. The Volkswagen ID4 is fun to drive with instant acceleration that makes city streets feel like open roads. Plus a refined interior with innovative technology always at your fingertips. The all-electric ID4. You deserve more fun. Visit vw.ca to learn more. S-U-V-W, German-engineered for all. On this episode of the Personal Finance Podcast,

we're going to talk to Maya Corbick about how you can make your kids wealthy. Good up, everybody, and welcome to the personal finance podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Founder of MasterMoney.com, and today on the Personal Finance Podcast, we're going to be talking to Maya Corbic about how you can teach your kids about money. If you guys have any questions,

make sure to hit us up on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, at Master Money Co and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever podcast player you are listening to this podcast on right now. And if you want to help out the show, consider leaving a five-star rating and review. I cannot thank you guys enough for leaving those five-star ratings and reviews. They truly help us spread this message to people on how to build wealth. Now, today, we are going to be talking to Maya Corbick

about how to teach your kids about money. And she has a fantastic Instagram account called Teach Kids Money, but she also wrote this great book called From Piggy Banks to Stocks, and it's a book for your kids to teach them how money works, how investing works, how business works, and it is a fantastic resource for any parents out there who want to teach their kids about money. Now today in this episode, Maya and I go through how to teach your kids about investing, how to teach your kids about money by age and some of the key lessons that you can teach your kids when it comes to learning about compound interest or learning about business. And we go through a

bunch of different scenarios on how you can do that. And then also we ask Maya a bunch of rapid fire questions at the end of the podcast and of course what wealth means to her. So if you're ready for it, let's welcome Maya to the personal finance podcast. So Maya, welcome to the personal finance podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here, Andrew. I am so excited to have you here because you have one of my favorite Instagram accounts called Teach Kids Money, but you also just wrote this fantastic book that I have gone through, and I think it is an amazing way to teach your kids about money called from piggy banks to stocks. And I've even been going through it with my five-year-old, just kind of talking it out loud and thinking through it. And I think this is a really,

really cool book. And it also has activities and workbook type things in there that you can actually utilize. So I'm really, really excited to have you here. But what got you originally interested in teaching kids about money? Well, originally, it was really just my own past. I'm the first generation immigrant, immigrated from Bosnia. And you know, I had nothing and I had to work my way to get to where I am. I mean, I lived in government shelters and government housing. And I remember once I became a CPA, I had some clients, they were making six figures income and they had nothing to show for. And I remember thinking, how is this even possible? Like I literally, like I lived in government shelters, government housing and my mom was

able to stretch that dollar to make our ends meet, you know? And it was really, really strange to me. And then I had my own children and I started thinking, okay, what are my kids going to learn in school? And I just thought that school was covering financial literacy at the time. Even though I mean, I know I remember that I didn't learn it in high school, but then I was like, I thought maybe in elementary school, this is what they teach, right? Because I actually immigrated when I was in high school. So I started looking into the curriculum and there was nothing. And this is 12 years ago, so quite a while ago. And I think now a lot of schools have introduced financial literacy curriculum or some of it. And I realized that, you know, my kids were not

going to learn anything unless I teach them. So I started teaching my own children. And very shortly after that, other people were asking me to teach their kids. And again, very shortly after that, I started going to schools and doing school workshops. And it just sort of expanded from there because there seems to be so much need. And this is one of the most powerful things I think that parents can do for their children is teaching them about money and teaching them actually how to utilize money, save, how to invest, all these different things. And it looks like when I read through your book that you believe that anybody can become a millionaire as long as they start obviously early enough. And so if a parent wants to start teaching their kids about money, what is kind of the best

way to kind of introduce that concept? You know what? I think the easiest thing to do is just think of money as something that is not a taboo. A lot of us have been brought up in the families where, you know, they say, we don't talk about money, you know, don't ask about money. Don't mention. But I actually think we should be talking about money because money is a regular part of our lives. We use it on a daily basis and we should be talking about it as if it's something, you know, just normal. And when we talk about it as if it's something normal and throughout the day, certain things happen to us that pertain to money, I think we should be talking about these things to our kids. So, you know, I will go to a store and maybe I, let's say, I will not buy this cup. And, you know, my child wants me to buy it because it has a superhero on it or something like that.

And so I will use that instance as a really good way to connect with my child and talk about money. And I will say, okay, we're not going to buy this because, number one, this is not in my budget. So then, you know, you may get conversations around the budget. Or it may be like because, you know, this is. too expensive. And I already have so many of these at home. So we really don't need anymore like that. But it's just having that conversation and being honest about it and having that also abundance mindset. So when you say, you know, I don't want to buy something. Also be very careful what you say don't say, I can't afford it. You can say I can't afford it, but I can't afford it

now, meaning that we can afford it later on. So let's plan for it and how we're going to achieve it. You know, if this is something that you want, let's figure out a way to like save for it or maybe figure out how we can earn money for it. It's also important to incorporate that positive money mindset and not the mindset of scarcity because we don't want to pass that onto our children. Exactly. That abundance mindset is so incredibly powerful because you think about the parents, you know, back in the day who used to say, hey, don't leave the lights on or something like that. but they don't explain exactly why they're saying things like that. So I think it is so important, like you're saying,

to just start to have these conversations in everyday instances to teach your kids about money. It is one of the biggest things that you can do to help your kids overall. So how do you teach your kids the why behind why they need to learn about money? I think this is a really important concept, and you kind of talk about it more so in the book too. But why or how can you teach them about the why so they know why they're actually doing this?

Yeah, I think everybody's why is very different. You know, a lot of times people want more money. And it's not so much the money that they want. It's more like, why do they want more money? Is it the time freedom to spend with our loved ones? Is it, you know, because they want to travel? And when the kids are young, they don't know why. They have no idea what why is.

But to me, I mean, I have teenagers now. And I usually tell them, especially my daughter because she's the girl, you know. And, you know, she jokes sometimes with me. She's like, I'm just going to marry rich. And I'm like, no, you don't want to do that. it's just that I want her. And I mean, it all depends on what she wants. But what I want for her is to be independent, to have her own money.

And so she's not dependent on anybody. And for both of my children, what I want for them is to have enough money invested, that it's earning them. And I tell them those are called money babies, but that's interest earned. So that money is producing money babies. And those money babies can support your lifestyle so that you're not stuck in a job that you hate. There's so many people that have jobs that they dislike. And it gives you freedom, not just the freedom, you know, like, yes, if you want to go and spend your time on the beach or you want

to play basketball or whatever all day long, that's great. But at some point, you will get sick of that too. So it will give your freedom to do something with your life, maybe even something more meaningful, like to pursue certain goals or maybe start a business that helps people in a certain way. I think it can actually create a better society. So I think that why we need to define it what it is for us. And then we need to talk to our kids for them to help understand what their why is. Absolutely. Think about what Maya is talking about here for all the listeners is how powerful would this stuff be to know if you actually knew it when you were, you know, five, 10, 15, 20 years old and you actually understood compound interest. You understood how businesses work and you

understood all of these different concepts. How much different your life could be if you actually taught this stuff. So I think this is so powerful to actually have this message for our kids. So as we go through this process, one big thing about the book is teaching kids about investing because obviously investing creates freedom for our lives. So it is one of the most important things that we need to learn as early as possible. So how early should you kind of approach investing when you're teaching kids? And how does that approach change over time? Oh, it definitely changes over time. So my suggestion for all the parents is to start investing on behalf of their kids as soon as the child is born, if that's possible. I do always caution

parents because sometimes people say, well, I have absolutely no money. I mean, take care of yourself first, put on your own oxygen mask first, right? Like take care of your own finances before you can start taking care of your child. But you can invest as little as $10 per week and that can add up significantly over a long period of time. And when they're babies, of course, they don't know anything about investing, but you're setting up this nice nest egg for them. And then as they get older, then you can start teaching them to put aside a little bit of their allowance. And with that amount accumulates, you can invest that together. And then as they, you know, have their first part-time job, again, the same thing. Like take a little bit of that paycheck, put it aside and invest it

so that when they become adults, this becomes a habit. They see 95% of what we do. We do on autopilot. We do it out of habit. So we want to create these really, really good habits. And one thing that I started doing with my kids when they were younger, I would actually, so we started off with savings accounts first. And they knew they had that savings account and the money in there was, It was actually divided into long-term and short-term savings because long-term for them is like so out of their realm. They don't even care about it. They don't care about the college. They don't care about owning a house one day.

So we had a short-term savings just to get them to save up for something that they can get in the near future. And that gave them that drive to continue saving and investing for the long-term goals. So that was really kind of like the first thing that we did. And then my kids actually realized because I would show them their savings accounts that they were not really making much interest on those savings accounts. So then we invested into a term deposit. That was the next step. And they realized they got a little bit more of an interest. And then they were like, okay, we're ready for stocks.

So I started buying them stocks of companies they knew and understood that they were actually consumers off. So like a lot of kids have iPads and iPhones. So my kids now own shares of Apple. And this is not a suggestion that everybody should do this. But, you know, it's just an example. And eventually we progressed. Owing Apple and like shares of stocks that they are companies that they knew and understood was actually really helpful because we were able to have conversations about these companies. Especially if they came up in the news.

It's like, what are these companies doing? Is this going to increase the share price? It's going to decrease it. But now we invest in ETFs and index funds. So it's kind of like it really progressed. I know it's a long winded answer, but it really progressed, you know, from the time they were born to where they are now. I know, and I love that detail because I think it's really important to kind of see that spectrum of how this needs to evolve over time. Because for a lot of people, they may think, hey, my kids are too young to learn about this, but there really a lot of times not. You can kind of explain simple concepts when it comes to investing, which kind of leads me into kind of what I wanted to talk about here. One of our most popular episodes we did over the last quarter was talking through, you know, how to teach your kids about money by age. So I wanted to see if you had any tips on how to teach kids money by age when it comes through this process. Because I know a lot of people are in certain situations where they have kids at certain ages. Maybe they they're younger kids, maybe they're older kids. And so they approach a lot of times has to be different

like you're talking about here with just the spectrum of investing. So say, for example, you had kids that were five or below. So this is obviously like kindergarten age and below. Sometimes it's difficult to teach kids about money at that age and some people don't do it. But I actually started doing it at this age. Is there any tips that you have for people who have kids five and below? Oh, absolutely. I mean, at this age, kids usually know that money is used as an exchange for things or services, right? Like, they know that we use money to get things. So I think it's a perfect time to start teaching them about money. And the very first concept that I like to teach this age group is understanding,

for them to understand the difference between needs and wants. And they can actually get this. At this age, I've been in kindergarten classrooms and I taught this. They understand needs are things we need for survival, wants the things that are nice to have, but we don't need them for survival. And, you know, I would even explain to them when your parents are shopping with you, They have things that they have to get. Those are needs.

And if there's money left over, then they would buy wants for you or for the household. And, you know, we've done some exercises. I would tell them, you know, next time you go into the store with your parents, you know, point to the things that are needs, point to the things that are wants. But, you know, it can actually be a little bit tricky because I had some parents message me afterwards and they were like, well, I wanted to pick up, I don't know, something for the parent, right? Like, whatever it was.

And my kid was like, hey, that's a want. That's not a need. Put that back. So, yeah, it can get tricky like that. And, you know, it's a good time to talk to them about coins and bills so they understand, like, okay, how the coins relate to each other. You can't start giving them allowance if you choose. Make it very simple so that they understand. I personally really think that when you give that allowance, you need to make sure that they do something with it.

It's not just handing money over. It's teaching them that, okay, now we have this money. we do with it? So when my kids were little, I used to teach them that they have to save a portion of it right away because I wanted to really embed that habit. And so that's just an example. And that's fantastic because I think those two things are really, really important. The needs in one side is something that I haven't done a ton of yet. So when I read it in your book, I said, hey, I got to start doing this with my five, I have a five year old and a two year old. So they're both in this range. And so I said, I got to start doing this. But I did do the bills and coins where

I actually went out and ended up having to buy fake money because I was doing bills. coins with real money and my two-year-old got a hold of a $100 bill and ripped it in half. So I ended up having to go through and I bought some fake money. Now they can kind of handle it, you know, like prop money on Amazon or whatever. And they can now handle it and we do all these different games with it and stuff. We even play with their toys to like create little businesses and they use the money to kind of learn how to kind of do that kind of stuff. So I think this stuff is really, really important.

Needs and once I'm going to implement right away right when I read your book. I'm definitely doing that. I think it's going to be really, really powerful. Now 6 to 11 is where they start to change and maybe development is happening. in different areas and they can understand some different concepts. So is there any differences on how you handle kids within this age range? Oh, absolutely. At that point in time, I start telling them, you know, they can actually spend their money wisely. They can start understanding that different stores may have different prices for the same item so that you can actually save some money. And

that money that you've saved, you can actually spend it on something else, right? So that's usually appealing to them. I also like to teach them about budgeting, like it's kind of the beginning of the budget. So what I've done with my kids, my daughter was, I think, eight when the first time we implemented this, but it was her birthday party. And I said, okay, you're going to be in charge with this budget. I'm going to show you how budgeting works. And I purposely made the budget. I guess I could have made it bigger, but I made it a little bit smaller because I just wanted to teach her certain lessons, you know, because of the budget, we realized like, okay, we need to have it at home. And I think she was great too. So in grade two math, I don't think that they were covering

or like maybe she didn't really do the math yet, but she knew the numbers. Like she knew, you know, $300, like anything above $100. She knew and understood. So I had this Excel spreadsheet that I created with some formulas. And I would just like plug things in there. And I said, as soon as we plug in, let's say pizza or cake or whatever, I said, this amount on the bottom, it keeps getting smaller and smaller. So I said, we don't want it to become red or like have a negative sign next to it.

Right. And she, it's so interesting because, yes, they don't understand math, but she understood what the whole point was. The point was not to get that number down to zero or below. Like, she didn't even understand the negative numbers, right? Like, that's a whole different math concept. But every time that number got close to zero, you know, she was like, okay, well, maybe we can change something? And it was really interesting because she was in charge of making decisions. And then she said, well, can we make the cake at home because it would be cheaper?

And I said, sure, not a problem. So we did that. And then she ended up saving maybe, I think it was like $30. And I said, well, you can keep this if you want or you can spend it on something else. And she decided to spend it on those loot bags, the gift favors, which I absolutely despise. I think they're just junk. But kids love them, right? So I just thought that was really nice that she was generous. She didn't want it to give something back to her friends. But it was an exercise that we went through.

And then after the following year, she was in charge of it even more. Like I didn't even have to explain to her as much because she knew exactly. what was going on. That's amazing. And I think that is one cool way because you're integrating some of the stuff that they're probably even learning in school with the math side of it. And in addition, it's amazing that she has that natural inclination for generosity to you. I think that's pretty, pretty cool. So lately, I've been noticing how fast things are changing at home. The kids are growing like crazy. Clothes don't fit anymore and routines are changing. And it just hits you. Life is expanding. And when your life grows, your responsibility grows with it. That's something I've

been thinking about more this spring, making sure the safety net we have in place actually matches the life that we're building. And that's where PolicyGenius comes in. PolicyGenius is an insurance company. They're an online marketplace that helps you compare life insurance quotes from some of the top insurers in America, all in one place for free. And their licensed team works for you, not the insurance companies. So they help you find the right coverage for your situation without all the guesswork. And they walk you through everything. Answer your questions, handle the paperwork, and help you get the coverage that actually fits your life today and where it's going. So protect your family with a policy that grows with your life.

With PolicyGenius, you can see if you can find 20-year life insurance policies, starting at just $276 a year for $1 million of coverage. Head to PolicyGenius.com to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you can save. That's PolicyGenius.com. I remember when I needed to hire someone fast, but finding the right person quickly felt impossible. And if you've ever been there, you know how stressful this can be. That's where Indeed comes in. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need.

Instead of struggling to get your job post noticed, Indeed's sponsor jobs help you stand out and hire faster. Your post jumps up to the top of the page, making sure it reaches the right candidates. And it makes a huge difference. Sponsored jobs on Indeed get 45% more applications than non-sponsored ones. And there's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. and listeners of this show will get a $75

sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash personal finance. Just go to Indeed.com slash personal finance right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash personal finance. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, Indeed is all you need. Local news is in decline across Canada.

And this is bad news for all of us. With less local news, noise, noise. rumors and misinformation fill the void, and it gets harder to separate truth from fiction. That's why CBC News is putting more journalists in more places across Canada, reporting on the ground from where you live, telling the stories that matter to all of us, because local news is big news. Choose news, not noise. CBC News. Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community.

Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my out of office has a forever setting. An IG Private Wealth Advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center. Find your advisor at IGPrivatewealth.com. We're going to go to 12 and 18. So age 12 and 18, obviously they are either preteens or teens.

teenagers. And so this is a concept where definitely they can understand a lot of different concepts here. So what do you kind of think through and how do you teach kids money during these age ranges? Yeah, I actually think this is an age where it's really, really important to start teaching them about investing, especially because a lot of them will start having their first part-time jobs. So before investing, actually, it's, again, like teaching them to save. But I guess the idea is that you would be teaching them to save from a very early age. So now it's just like this should be embedded, it should be there, like they're paying themselves first from every paycheck that they get. And now this money is going to be invested.

And, you know, they can start to understand more of these investing concepts. Another big one that I think parents should teach, and sometimes we forget to do this, is credit card and debt management. So parents can't put their kids on their credit card as authorized users. And usually people freak out when I tell them this, but I'm like, that doesn't mean that your kid is going to go out there and have a field day with your credit card. You're still in control.

You don't even have to give them that credit card if you don't want to. You can hang on to it eventually make some purchases on it. But by the way, so your child will assume essentially your credit score. But your credit score has to be really good if you're going to do this. Otherwise, you can actually mess up your child's credit score. So if you do this, make sure that, you know, you put a limit on that credit card, how much your child can spend. and it's not just giving them the credit card and say, hey, here you go.

It's about having rules. You know, the rules are how much can you spend? What stores can you spend at? Who's going to pay for this? Are you going to pay me? Are you going to pay bank directly? Let's look at your credit card statements. Let me teach you that, you know, this credit card statement needs to be paid in full

and that you really shouldn't spend money unless you already know that you can cover this, right? Like, we're using this to build your credit so that when you're 18 years of age and older, you know, if you want to apply for, I don't know, mortgage or a car loan or something, that you can actually get it on your own and you don't need a co-signer. So I think that's really important. For sure, that is really important. I think learning this stuff when you're a teenager, imagine if people do this stuff early on, we would have so much less money problems overall when they go into adulthood and have this understanding of how this, all this stuff works, especially when it comes to credit cards, debt, those types of things and making sure you're paying off your

statements in full. So I want to shift gears here to some key lessons to teach kids because I think there's some really cool concepts that you have in the book. And so I think there's some fun stuff that we could do here. So what are some fun ways to teach kids about compounding? Obviously, compounding is one of the most important things. They should learn early on because if they start early, they can become really, really wealthy even with just a small amount of money. So do you have any fun ways to teach them about compounding? Yeah. I mean, I like to ask them usually, like, I'm sure people have heard it before, but would you want to have like $3 million now or a penny that doubles every day for the next 30 days? And usually kids will say, oh, I want three million.

million dollars, why not, right? But then if you actually let that penny double by the time, you know, it's like the 30th day, that penny has grown into $5.3 million or something like that. And then it's good to have a discussion around that. It's like, hey, why did you choose three million instead of this? Did you know that penny can double like that? I mean, in real life, like you don't have a penny that doubles as quickly as that. But the whole idea is that compound interest is really powerful. And Einstein called it the eighth wonder of the world. But one thing I like to do with my kids, especially now that they're older, there are a lot of free compound interest calculators online. And I always encourage them, I'm like, you know, just put in some amounts,

like play around with it. See if you invest this much at, let's say, 10%, 3% inflation rate. So what would that amount be 10 years from now, 20 years from now? Those calculators are free, but I think they're just, I don't know, I find them amusing. I like to look at different scenarios, you know, even just for me for retirement one day. I just, really enjoy looking at them. I'm the same exact way and people make fun of me all the time because I spend my spare time going through compound interest calculators and looking at all these different calculations, which people who have listed the podcast for a long time know I put pretty much everything into a compound interest calculator for opportunity costs. So it is one of those things.

I can definitely relate to that for sure. So have you found any cool ways to teach kids about business? Because obviously like early on, I think it is one of interest for me specifically where I go through with my five year old and we take that fake money I was talking about, for example. and we'll take his toy cars and we'll use that and say, hey, here's a car dealership, sell me these cars and I'll hand you a X dollars that I think these cars are worth. And so we're kind of teaching them sales, negotiation, a little bit about business and transactions. So is there any other cool concepts that you found for kids to teach them about business? Yeah, I mean, I absolutely, first of all, I just want to say, I love what you're doing.

And I also think that role playing is really important, especially they have toys, you know, that they're like role playing with. It's like setting up a business and these toys are all interacting. You know, their imagination can grow wild. And I mean, you can be just there to facilitate few things. That would definitely be for younger kids. What I've done with my children last summer was my neighbor, actually, he's a single professional, high-income earner, doesn't really have time to take care of his lawn.

And some of the neighbors were complaining they were actually going to call city on him. And I was like, I didn't want part of that drama. I was like, I'm not doing that. So I said, okay, well, we can do something about this. So I said to my kids, you already cut our grass. You can mow his lawn as well. I prepped them. Like I, we went through this whole process.

We looked at how much people pay for grass cutting in our area. And then we said, okay, so if you guys want to do this, this is good money. It was working out to like $40 per visit, which is a lot more than minimum wage the teenagers are getting. And then we had this like whole, not like almost like a proposal for the neighbor. It was like they were going to go in. And, you know, the story always helps. So it's like, how are you going to sell your job? services. So they're, you know, they were going to say like, oh, you know, we're saving up for a new

laptop and, you know, we're looking to do services for other people. And I even prepared them for negotiation. I think negotiation is really important. And a lot of times people don't prepare their children for negotiating. But I said, you know, if he tells you it's too expensive or if he says no, then you can ask him why. If he says it's too expensive, then figure out, you know, like, you can lower it down to maybe 35 or 30. So it just gave them some pointers on that. But anyways, they ended up going to his door and he hired them right away. He did not negotiate. He was just happy they were there that, you know, somebody was going to cut his grass.

And then it was really interesting because we took that a step further. So I started telling them because we were going on vacation for two weeks. And I said, well, who's going to cut his grass? Because now this is your responsibility. This is a business. And they both said that they had friends that they were going to like ask. And I said, but now you can pay your friends, the full $40 that he's paying you. Or you can pay them 20, which is way better than what they're going to earn working as a cashier

because I think it's like $15 where I am. Like that's the minimum wage. And then they said they were like, well, no, we'll just pay them 40. And I said, okay. But there is a chance that you could actually hire all your friends. You can go around our neighborhood and actually get more gigs like this. And you can have a group of people working for you. And you can pay them $20, $25 an hour, which is still really good.

And you keep the profit, right? So I did explain all that, but it's so funny. I guess, I don't know, maybe because I'm an immigrant and I'm very driven, I totally would have done that when I was younger. Unfortunately, nobody explained it to me. I kind of had to learn this a lot later on in life. And my kids are like, $40 is just enough, right? Like, it's totally cool.

And you know what? In some ways, I think it's good to know when enough is enough, right? So I was like, you know what? If you're happy with your $40 once a week and they split it. So each will get 20. I was like, okay, I think that's okay then. I love that. And I think that this is the cool part that you unlock here. So what's happening here is that you're showing your kids, hey, you can start this business. You can go start this

lawn care company. And they're learning all these lessons, even if they're not even doing this leverage piece where they can utilize employees, things like that. They're learning the lesson that it exists. And that'll kind of sit in their brain and they'll kind of think through, hey, maybe I can do this with some other situations. And I think it's so important just to plant that seed. That's such a cool story. I think that is one where I love that stuff where you have these small businesses in these neighborhoods because it's really, really helpful to unlock some of these things for kids. So I think that is really cool and something that I wish, you know, all of us could learn early on. And I think it's really, really powerful for sure. Do you have anything that you think

is the most important lesson for kids to learn about investing? Is there something specific that you think is the most important piece to learn about investing early on? I think just that the kids, and I know it's hard for kids to understand this, but they have one asset that we as adults have less and less off, which is time. So the sooner they start investing, the better off they will be. And I remember hearing about that when I was in high school, but it just didn't, it didn't click. It only clicks now. And I don't really know what's the best way to explain it. I tell it to my kids, they just keep rolling their eyes all the time. They're like, yeah, you tell us that all the time. But yeah, I think it's just understanding that they have that time and the sooner they start investing,

the better off they will be. For sure. Are there any games out there that you've come across for investing or anything that kids can kind of play to kind of learn these concepts, especially if they're more game-oriented then they would be just listening to their parents tell them. Yeah. So I absolutely love, have you ever played Cashflow Quadrant? I had. That's what got me into real estate investing when I was younger. Yeah.

And they do have like a part where you're actually like even investing in stocks and whatnot. And I actually talked about that on my Instagram recently. And I had a teacher tell me that he tried applying this game in his classroom and he's like, it didn't really go well. I think the reason why it wouldn't work out well in the classroom is that it has to be in a smaller setting. So for us, it worked because here we have like two adults, me and my husband and then two kids. And we played this with our kids since they were very young, like maybe 10 years old. But my husband would take one kid, I would take the other kids.

So we play, but we pause the game and we're like, hey, do you understand what's going on? Because there's that sheet. It kind of lists your net worth, not necessarily net worth, but I think it like lists your passive income. Yeah. And so we're like, do you understand why you're recording it like this? Do you understand what's happening? And so somebody needs to take the time to explain it. But if you have a whole classroom playing it, it's really hard.

If anybody is a teacher that's listening, and if you're thinking of playing this in your classroom, I would suggest you play this maybe with one or two kids, and then you make them champions and leaders, and then they can teach it to like one or two kids and then so on and so on. Because it's a great game, but it is complex. Like you really have to understand what's going on.

And especially if you're learning some of this stuff for the first time, it's overwhelming. But once you learn it, It's eye-opening. It's just like, oh, my goodness. 100%. I know so many people who have learned how to just invest in real estate through that game. And if nobody's ever heard of it, it's called cash flow. I think Robert Kiyosaki, the guy that wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad, developed it. And it's a game where you can actually go out there and buy real estate and stocks and different assets. And then you kind of learn how these assets

work and how they can increase your balance sheet over time, or your net worth statement. Same thing. And you can go through this process and really, really learn exactly how these impact your finances. So it's a really, really powerful game. It's not cheap. I think. it's like 70 or 80 bucks last time I looked. But you can find used copies and stuff like that too on eBay. And it's worth the money. I think it's worth teaching people, especially if you have older kids. It's going to be a really, really cool concept. But you do have to understand what's going on like Maya is saying. So it's important to kind of have those concepts and smaller groups are probably better. So I want to shift gears here to chores also because you kind of indicated that you do

believe in chores. So how do you think through chores and how do you manage chores for your kids? I actually don't believe in chores. I should say that. But I believe that there's actually four different ways to do allowance. And I believe that there's no one-fit-all approach. So is it okay if I just quickly go through them? I would love that. Yeah. So after doing this for a decade,

I realized that parents were at each other's throats about what's the proper way to do allowance. And when it comes to teaching kids about money, it really should come from your values. Everything is based on your values. So when it comes to parenting, we don't all parent the same, right? It depends on the values.

So allowance is the same thing. All allowance is just a tool that helps our kids learn how to manage money now when the stakes are low and dollar values are low so that they can actually properly manage the money later on. There are really four different ways. And if you try one, it doesn't work for you, try another one. Something's going to stick. So the first one is chores, which we all know, you know,

the kids don't do the chore, they don't get their allowance. And parents who support this, they want their kids to be hardworking and they want to instill the notion that, you know, we have to work hard for our money. The parents that don't believe in chores allowance method, what they do is they'll just give a set amount of money to their kids because they want their child to use that money to learn how to manage it. But what they believe is that a child will not be paid to make, let's say, their bed or take out the trash as they get older. They should be doing these things because they're a contributing member of the household. And so if these kids don't do the chores, they lose opportunities to, I don't know, play video games or screen time or go on play dates and so on.

There is a hybrid approach, which is the mixture of the first two. And these parents give their kids some allowance that's not tied to chores just so that they can manage this allowance and learn from it. But the kids also have an opportunity to do chores that maybe parents would pay somebody else. But instead of paying somebody else, the parents are paying the kids. It could be like washing your car or shredding your confidential documents and things like that. So the kids have the opportunity to earn more money if they want to. And the last approach is really no allowance at all because some people just believe that kids should not be given allowance. But in that case, I like to encourage parents to give their kids an opportunity to practice with money somehow.

So one example is the one that I talked about earlier, teaching your child to manage their own birthday budget, right? that would be one where your child is in charge and they know like they're like, okay, this is how money works. I'm managing it's not my parents telling me what to do. So I don't believe that there's one set way. I think we can all decide what works for us. And a lot of times people will try something and they'll tell me, oh, I failed. I'm like, no, no, you did not fail. It just means that maybe something didn't work out, try something else, right? Exactly. I love that. And I love that you went through those options because I think those options are really important because each of us have a different way to parent. And I think that's really, really important to kind of have those options available.

And I think one big thing here is that, you know, whatever option you choose, as long as your kids understand how to manage that money, that is going to be the biggest portion overall. Are there any ways that you manage, you know, paying your kids? Do you just pay them in cash or do you use specific banks? Or how do you kind of think about that? Yeah. So when my kids were little, there were no apps or any of the stuff that they have now, like there's green light, there's busy kid, there's go Henry. In Canada, they have like Maido. And we actually just used to give them cash.

And I found that when they were younger, cash was great because it really taught them about the relation between the coins and the bills and they were able to give us change. And it was a lot easier. Like we would go to the bank and we would get smaller bills and smaller coins. And we would just distribute that to our kids. And they could separate it into like their little piggy bank and whatnot. So as they got older, I realized that, you know, we need to start teaching them how to handle money online. And sometimes, again, parents freak out about this. They're like, oh, you want me to give a bank card.

to my child. And I'm like, no. I mean, yes, you should open up a bank account for them. I personally prefer cash. I'm a cash, but I love cash. But our world is moving towards cashless economy. And it doesn't matter whether I like it or not. It's my job to prepare my child for where the world is going to be when they grow up. So, you know, yes, I gave them. I opened up bank accounts for them checking and savings. I had their bank card with me at all time when they were little. And I would only bring it with me when, you know, we were going, let's say, to Walmart or Toys or Us or something. And I would be like, okay, you know, I'm bringing it.

You know how much money you have on your bank account on the checking bank account and that you can spend. You can't spend more than that. So I think it's important to teach them how to handle this cashless payments, how to understand how the banks work, how to we draw money, how to deposit money, because that is all important. Absolutely. I completely agree. And so utilizing kind of both concepts, giving them cash, especially early on, like you said,

is going to be helpful just for understanding and how to manage that money. And then from then on, you can also teach them on the digital side as well because that's what we're going towards, like you said, is just one of the biggest things. Now, do you invest for your kids specifically for their future? And if so, how? Yes. So we started investing for them as soon as they were born because I'm from Canada. So we have something similar to 529 plan.

So as soon as they were born, we opened that up. And we have certain maximum amounts and we've been contributing maximum amounts to that. And any money that our kids got, especially when they were little, we actually opened up another custodial account where we deposited this money. So in addition to their college fund, they have this other money that had, it's literally been like accruing interest since they were born. And now as they're older, again, every time, you know, they have birthday or Christmas, I buy them a share of now it's like an ETF.

And, you know, that's just, it goes into their investment account. And then I encourage them, again, like whenever they earn money to save a portion so that they can actually invest themselves. They also get dividends within their portfolio. And it's just nice, you know, I would tell them, I'm like, hey, you got dividends. And they're like, yeah, make sure you invest that, like reinvest it back into the, you know. And I just love that. You know, they're not like, hey, I want to spend it. I wouldn't let them spend it anyway.

But I just like it that they say, just reinvest it. I'm like, okay, we're going to keep building. That's amazing. And I think that's one of the most powerful lessons we can definitely teach our kids going forward is just kind of showing them that they have this available and showing them, you know, how this works and these brokerage accounts and how to save a portion so they can invest those dollars for sure. So this is one question I ask everybody. If somebody was looking at a pie chart of your specific investments, how do you invest your money and what does that kind of look like? Yeah.

So for me, most of my money is in ETFs. I would say about 90% of it is in ETFs. And same with my kids, actually. And I think individual stocks, or maybe even more, like maybe 94%. I think individual stocks are maybe another 5%. And then I do have maybe 1% of Bitcoin. Exactly. That's perfect.

And that's what I love it. Pretty much everybody kind of lands on that same scenario when we talk to them on here. Is a lot of most folks are like majority index funds or ETFs or something in that range. and then it comes down to like that final 10% is always different, which is always interesting. So I'm going to ask a couple of questions, rapid fire. I'm going to shift gears here and kind of see what you think. So what are some of your favorite books that you have read as of recent? Oh, so as of recent, I really like Dan Sheik's book for teenagers first to a million.

It's absolutely amazing. He gives a lot of great tips. I wish I had that book when I was a teenager. I think that's, you know, it's an amazing book. Another one, which is my favorite. I didn't read it recently, but I always mentioned this book because it's my favorite book. It's Atomic Habits by James Clear. I live by that code.

I do believe the small steps can lead to big results. And every day, whenever things get hard, I'm just like, I'm just going to do one little thing. And it doesn't matter what it's for. If it's like in my personal life, if it's in my, you know, fitness, if it's for my finances, I always try to do one little thing. And really the compounding of doing that one little thing after a long period of time, it does show that it does make a big difference.

Both those books are amazing. Dan's a friend of the show and but James Clear's book, and this is a great time of year to start to read that again because I usually reread that book pretty consistently. And towards the beginning of the year, I start to do it again just to kind of remind myself throughout the year. You know, these small habits are really going to add up over time. And I love that book for sure.

What part of your work or your life makes you come alive? Oh, I love teaching. But I love teaching in person more than online. I was actually just teaching online yesterday. And but when I teach in person, it's like, I just feed off the energy of the participants and I can read the room. I'm not a trained teacher. I just think that this is one of my gifts and I'm very grateful for it. I can read the room.

I can see if I'm losing someone and I can bring them back and I can get them involved. And I can get them to understand what I'm trying to teach them. And I don't know how I do it. I just, I'm able to do it. And it makes me so happy when I'm actually able to teach something to someone that they didn't understand. and I also love it when people message me afterwards and say, oh, what you said or what, you know, I actually ended up applying that and this is how my life has changed or this is what our family is doing now and things are so much better. And you can absolutely see that coming through in your book and the way that you teach online even. And in person is probably even better just because you can talk to those individuals after and see their energy and have that conversation.

What is your biggest fear when it comes to money? Because I come from scarcity, right? And I'm still battling that scarcity mindset. It's really hard. I'm always afraid that I'm going to forget about the things that are really, really important, that I'm going to put money first, like things like my health or, you know, I'm very ambitious. I'm very driven.

And so I keep pushing. And a lot of times, especially now that I'm getting older, I'm kind of like, wait, you're like, I need to take a break. Like, my health is going to suffer. Like the alarm bells just go off. It's like I'm not spending enough time with my kids and they're getting older and they're going to leave soon. And I want to still stay married to my husband. So it's like I don't want money to make me forget about things that are really,

really important, right? Like chasing money, like having this business. And I love what I do. But again, at the end of the day, it's a business, right? So it's kind of like, okay, I don't want money to be the reason for me to like forget about the things that really matter. And that's 100% one that I can definitely relate to too, because I've kind of think through this all the time, like, am I spending enough time with my kids or my wife or all these different things? It's really, really important to kind of think through that because that's one thing that

a lot of people regret on their deathbed is they say they didn't spend enough time with the people they loved. And those, you know, our kids are going to remember how much time we spent with them. And so I think it's really, really important. I think that's a great one. How do you plan to level up your finances this year? I would like to invest more. I was thinking that I'd like to increase my investment percentage. And we've been comfortable with where we are right now. I just thought maybe you could tighten the belt a little bit. Exactly. And that's kind of a valuation I do at the end of every year, too, same thing. And I think it's really important for all of us to do that.

If you could tell your younger self one thing about money, what would that be? I think it would be definitely learn about ETFs and index funds because they're really easy to understand and start investing in them as soon as you possibly can. And even if you can just only invest $10 per week, that's great. Just do that. You don't need to invest more if you can't. But stay consistent and let that money sit in the portfolio. Do not take it out.

Consistency is the key. And starting early is really, really powerful. Absolutely. The last one is my favorite one. What does wealth mean to you? I think to me wealth is actually things that are not necessarily related to money, but I think money can definitely help with. So for me, wealth is health.

My health, the health of my kids, As we speak right now, you know, you told me your kids are sick. When my kids are sick, I don't feel well. Even though I am physically well and everything's fine with me, but when somebody's sick, I just, I'm not okay. So yeah, our health, you know, the fact that we just have each other. I mean, I'm just so grateful. I have so many amazing people in my life that I can count on that I can rely on.

That's really true wealth to me. Absolutely. That is such an incredibly powerful answer that we can all always keep in the back of our mind for sure. So Maya, this has been absolutely amazing. Where can people find out more about you, your book, and your website and everything else you have going on? Yeah, sure. Thank you so much for asking that. So I am quite often on Instagram.

I hang out there a lot. I answer a lot of my followers questions. My Instagram handle is teach. Dot kids. Dot money. I do have a blue checkmark next to my name. So make sure you follow the right account. Otherwise, you're going to be harassed by scammers that will try to sell you crypto.

I also have two websites. One of them is Denari. D-I-N-A-R-I-I-com. And another one is wealthy-kids.club. And my book can be found on Amazon or pretty much any bookstore. And it's called From Piggy Banks to Stocks, the Ultimate Guide for a Young Investor. Absolutely. We will link all this up in the show notes below so that you guys can check those out.

Maya, thank you again so much for coming on. This was incredible. Thank you so much for having me. This was fun. Frozen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Play-O-Joe.

The online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games. What you win is yours to keep with no wagering requirements, instant payouts, and no minimum withdraws. Hey, I just won. Woo-hoo! Feel the fun! Play Ojo! Honey, forget about the lasagna. Let's celebrate!

19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you. Call 16-531-2600 or visit Connexonario.ca.