How To Get Your Family Talking About Finances
Thank you to TIAA for sponsoring this blog post. All opinions are my own.
Today I’ll share with you 5 tips on how to get your family talking about finances. Once your family starts talking finances your intentions and next steps towards a brighter financial future will become much clearer!
However, you’ll have to keep these conversations going as you prepare for your family’s financial future. Situations happen, things change, and you want to make sure you all stay on the same financial page. Plus, talking about finances becomes easier the more you do it. I promise!
TIAA recently invited families, including our own, to actually sit down and have a conversation about family finances to show that it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or stressful. You can click here to read my previous post and learn even more about my family’s experiences talking about money.
Whether it’s the birth of a child or the loss of a loved one, life’s big events are something you need to plan for!
Family Money Matters
As the Boomer generation — one of the biggest, wealthiest generations in American history — nears retirement, it is more important than ever that families align on their financial plans. My own parents recently entered retirement and until now we had not truly discussed our financial plans for the future.
I’m so glad we had this opportunity to partner with TIAA for their Family Money Matters Program because it gave my family an opportunity to have a discussion we may otherwise not have had. TIAA helped us get started by sharing a list of questions to help break that barrier and now that we’ve had our first conversation we are ready to continue moving forward. We even plan on having many more family finance conversations!
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To get your family talking about money you can access the TIAA conversation starters here. Available in two sets of questions, one for parents and one for adult children. These TIAA conversation starters are the perfect way to get your family talking about money.
Did you know…
According to a recent survey conducted by TIAA, 80% of both children and parents think the other is open to talking about various financial aspects. However, less than half (45% of children and 38.7% of parents) say they’re prepared to have the conversation.
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Encouraging is the fact that nearly half of parents (45%) who frequently talk to their children about their future financial plans feel proud about how those conversations went.
Below you can view our family talking about finances! I’m proud of how it went. I think the rest of my family is too. And I hope it inspires you to get your family talking about finances.
To make it even easier to get your family talking about money, below you’ll find my five tips to help you get started!
5 Tips to Get Your Family Talking About Finances
1. Gather Your Family for a Chat – Invite family members to come together in a comfortable and casual place. A favorite restaurant, your back yard or comfy living room will do just fine. Your meeting place should be a place where all will feel comfortable as you want this meeting to feel natural and welcoming to all. A comfortable setting will make it easier to get your family talking about finances!
2. Be Prepared – Prior to meeting with your family think about the financial concerns you might have. Also, think about concerns other family members might have? Chances are you might have similar concerns! To be well-prepared it’s important to have a list of conversation starters that will initiate financial conversations around your concerns. TIAA’s conversation starters are a great place to start! The questions provided are sure to get your family talking about money!
3. Have Honest Conversations – Don’t be scared of voicing your concerns with those you love most. Remember that they are your support system. They’re the people that care about your financial future the most. Share thoughts, concerns, and ideas with each other honestly. Remember to listen too! You might find that you share similar feelings and/or concerns. It’s also likely that you’ll uncover some new feelings or thoughts that will become valuable as you move ahead in your financial plans. Once you get your family talking about finances honestly, it will all become clearer!
4. Keep the Conversation Going – Talking money can be awkward at first but the more you talk about it the easier it will become. Don’t stop at just one conversation! Talking finances with your family doesn’t have to be scary! Plan on having more of these family financial conversations. They’ll get easier! Constant communication will make everyone feel valued and supported as you plan out your family’s financial future together. Plan a time when you’ll meet again in the near future to check-in and get your family talking about finances. Remember this should be an on-going process! The point of these family financial conversations is to better prepare you and your family for your financial future.
5. Reflect, Re-Evaluate, and Make a Plan – Many thoughts and feelings will come to light during your family’s financial conversation. Reflect on those as a family. Are there any adjustments that can be done? Anything you can do or others in your family can do? What changes would benefit your family’s financial future? Go back and look at the TIAA’s conversation starters. For example, many of the fine print questions listed here helped our own family re-evaluate. Questions listed such as “Do you have a will?” or “Are you comfortable paying down any debt you may have?”, were great starting points for us. Questions such as these will get your family talking about finances, help guide your plans, and allow you to clearly see where you all stand. They’ll also help you start the process towards making clearer plans that will help you achieve your family’s financial goals. Plan those goals together!
What are you waiting for? With my 5 tips, you’re now ready to get started talking finances with your family!
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Click here to access TIAA’s conversation starters and get started today! Then show us how you use the TIAA conversation starters to get your family talking about finances. Share with us on your favorite social media channel and use the hashtag #familymoneymatters, tag @TIAA and @NYCTechMommy, so we can see how you’re doing. Can’t wait to hear about your experiences!
Who is TIAA?
Whether it’s the birth of a child or the loss of a loved one, life’s big events are something you need to plan for. For nearly 100 years, and whether you have $5 or $5 million, TIAA has helped millions of people like you prepare for life’s events. They’re committed to helping you feel more confident about investing so you can focus on what matters most – you and your family.
15 Comments
Rebecca Bryant
WE are not a family that talks about money much. My mom has always just complained about not having any but then spends 100’s with my brother and their kids. SO I just gave up.
Milena
My husband and I just sat down together this January and went over our finances. A lot of big changes coming for us in this year.
nyctechmommy
Glad to year that you and your husband are having these conversations, Milena. Makes it so much easier when you are on the same page. I discovered that during my own conversations with my husband.
Melanie
I was shocked when I sat down with my parents. They had short term goals, but needed to come up with a plan so they’d be prepared to live until 100 (that’s my dad’s goal). It can be tough getting started, but these tips will certainly help.
nyctechmommy
Hi Melanie! I know what you mean! I always talk money with my parents but until now we had never sat down to actually discuss and plan goals. It does get easier. Glad you found my tips useful! Also glad to hear your dad is getting ready to reach 100! 🙂
Lois Alter Mark
This is such an important topic. Money is always a sticky issue but families need to sit down and talk and all be on the same page. Thanks for the reminder!
Stephanie Jeannot
These are very important conversations to have. Insight and knowledge of this should be shared amongst family. You just never know.
Ashley
Money is an important topic and something I agree the whole family should be talking about. We try to keep our kids in the loop by using tools created for them to help with learning about money and savings.
nyctechmommy
Hi Ashley! Glad to hear that you are getting those conversations started with the kids while they are young. It’s important to build that knowledge about money and savings. I’m sure that makes it easier down the road as they get older. wish I would have had more conversations around those topics with my own parents when I was a kid.
Bree
This is always a conversation that is very important to have but is avoided! I think it would help a lot if we all actually sat down together. These tips are great and will definitely help so thank you.
nyctechmommy
Hi Bree! So glad you found my tips helpful. You are right, it is a conversation that is often avoided. It does get easier once you actually sit down and get started though. Wishing you luck!
Jennifer
My parents totally didn’t have open conversations about finances with us growing up. I remember the first time I asked about my college savings account and they were like “what savings account?” I knew then I wanted to do better. Haha.
Keikilani
This is such an important conversation to have with the whole family. It’s not always an easy one to start, but I think when everyone is on the same page it keeps from having feelings hurt and misunderstandings.
Emily
These are great tips! My husband and I discuss money often, but we are just starting to figure out how much to let the kids in on finances. I do not want them to every worry about money, but do not want them to be so unaware on the fact of things. It is tough to figure out.
Brandi Crawford
Have honest conversations and keep the convos going were my biggest takeaways from this post. Great post. Awesome tips!