Parents Must Both Teach & Watch their Income-Earning Children in Handling Money
The right of income-earning children who possess responsibility in handling money must be respected by the parents.
Money issues are undeniably among the things that can inevitably cause rift in parent-children relationships. One situation that was exposed to many people was the money issue between Paris Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo and his mother, Angelica.
While the people feasted on the issue, countless individuals are surely saddened how this material thing has torn apart a beautiful bond between a mother and a son. Both sides surely have their own standpoints.
Carlos did not care about the amount of money that was withdrawn from his bank account. His point was that he was not informed about it. On his mother’s part, she claimed that she used the money for investments as she is only after the future of her son. Meanwhile, the issue boiled down to the mother asking for forgiveness and her son expressing, even before she apologized, that he has long forgiven her.
Money is not bad at all. While many people may deny it, it is a “need” in life. It is our love for money which can turn it into an instrument to do bad. When it comes to possessing it, each person is entitled to handle his or her own money.
Truth be told that in the Filipino culture, it is a whole lot easier from an older family member to ask the younger family member about money information than the other way around. To make it clearer, it is easier for parents to get the bank account passwords and other information from their children than for children to ask it from their parents most especially if the younger member is yet to make money.
Amid the countless money issues which some involve parents and children, it is my humble belief that it is time for a new practice of letting responsible income-earning children manage their own money. This actually boils down to the quote that “once you carry your own water, you will learn the value of every drop”.
I recognize that most parents are just concerned about their children. There are also countless children who are filled with gratitude as the life they’re living in the present is because of how their fathers and mothers handled their own money. However, is there anything better than teaching the child how to use or grow his/her own money? Parents won’t always be around to do it for them.
Teaching a child how to handle money is best done at an early age. It can be one of the lifetime learning that a parent can instill to a child and it can go a long way, even beyond generations.
In situations wherein parents have to use their income-earning children’s savings, I believe that at whatever age, the child deserves to be informed about it. Most especially when the child is already big enough to know how much he/she has in his/her account, the child may be depending on it for something. Informing the child is also one way for parnents to inculcate the value of respect to the child.
On the part of the child, the efforts, blood, and tears spent by a good parent in raising his/her child will always be priceless. While paying back is a voluntary act, gratitude for a parent’s sacrifices should be enough to not let things come to worst.
Disclaimer: The content of the article posted above is an opinion of the writer. Also, the citations provided are based on the information deemed as facts by the different sources that contribute to the basis of the making of the whole viewpoint. The writer does not, in any form, intend to create inaccurate understanding of the topic or influence the readers, instead, express one’s viewpoint in a formal manner.