为什么父母不和他们的孩子谈钱呢?

为什么父母不和他们的孩子谈钱呢?

There is one question that most parents seem to dread more than any other when it comes to talking to their kids about money. Can you guess what that might be?

有一个问题是大多数父母在和孩子谈论金钱时最害怕的。你能猜出那是什么吗?

If you said "How much money do you make?" you are exactly right, according to Jayne Pearl, author of several books about what she calls financial parenting.

如果你说“你挣多少钱?”詹·珀尔著有几本书，她称之为“理财育儿”，她认为你完全正确。

Pearl said she was caught off guard when her own son, now grown, asked her that question at the age of 8. "I was initially like, Ahhh. I write a lot about personal finance and I wasn't prepared for this question," she said during an interview.

珀尔说，当她8岁的儿子问她这个问题时，她有些措手不及。“我一开始就想，呃呃呃。我写了很多关于个人理财的文章，但我对这个问题毫无准备。”她在一次采访中说。

She eventually answered her son's question, but focused on the expenses of the household to make the case that the amount she made covered most of their costs and that the money left over either went into the bank or could be used to pay for additional things they might want or need.

她最终回答了儿子的问题，但把重点放在了家庭开支上，说明她赚的钱可以支付他们大部分的费用，剩下的钱要么存入银行，要么可以用来支付他们可能想要或需要的额外费用。

"I realized that if I told him that I made $1.000 a year, he would think that we were rich. " said Pearl, who also made sure her son understood that this was private information that should not be shared with anyone else.

“我意识到如果我告诉他我一年挣1000美元，他会认为我们很富有。”珀尔说，她还确保儿子明白，这是私人信息，不应与任何人分享。

There are two main reasons why more parents don't talk to their kids about money and help them develop critical financial literacy skills, said Pearl, a writer, editor and mother of one.

珀尔说，有两个主要原因导致越来越多的父母不跟孩子谈钱，不帮助他们培养关键的理财技能。她是一名作家、编者，也是一个孩子的母亲。

For one, they're terrified they're not good role models when it comes to money, she said.

她说，首先，她们害怕在金钱问题上做不好榜样。

"Many of us make a lot of mistakes ourselves with money, or spend too much, or will say, 'I need a new pair of shoes' when you really don't," she said.

她说:“我们很多人在花钱的时候都会犯很多错误，或者花太多钱，或者在你真的不需要的时候说‘我需要一双新鞋’。”

Second, many parents feel like they don't know a lot about money and then don't have the confidence they can teach their kids about it. "We think we need a Ph.D. in finance to be able to teach our kids when it's not true at all. All you have to do is talk out loud about what you're doing as you're going about your business," said Pearl.

第二，很多父母觉得他们不太懂钱，没有信心教他们的孩子。“我们认为，我们需要一个金融博士学位，才能在完全不真实的情况下教育我们的孩子。你所要做的就是大声说出你在做什么，就像你在做你自己的事情一样。”珀尔说。

For instance, when you are at the ATM with little kids, it's a great opportunity to explain how you put money in the bank to keep it safe and to have money there when you need it, and that you can only take out as much as you put in, she said.

她说，例如，当你带着小孩在自动取款机旁时，这是一个很好的机会，可以解释你是如何把钱放进银行的，以保证钱的安全，并在需要的时候把钱(从银行)取出来，而且你只能拿出你放进去的钱。

Parents can also learn alongside their kids. "You don't have to just say 'I don't know.' You can say, 'I need to learn more about this too, so let's sit down and learn about it,' " said Pearl.

父母也可以和孩子一起学习。“你不必只是说‘我不知道’。’你可以说，‘我也需要更多地了解这个问题，所以让我们坐下来了解一下吧，’” 珀尔说。

Why should you talk to kids about money?

你为什么要跟孩子们谈金钱?

If you get past your insecurities about money and eventually talk to your kids, they'll definitely benefit, said Pearl. Kids are ultimately going to need to know how to handle their own money when they get older so better for them to learn when the stakes are low.

“如果你克服了对钱的不安全感，并最终和孩子们谈谈，他们肯定会受益，”珀尔说。孩子们最终将需要知道当他们长大后如何处理他们自己的钱，以便在风险较低时让他们学习比较好。

"It's better that they should make $20 mistakes than $20.000 mistakes when they're older," she said.

她说:“他们犯20美元的错误比他们老了以后犯2万美元的错误要好。”

How to talk to kids about money?

如何与孩子谈论金钱？

OK, so how can you actually start talking to your kids about money? For some answers, we asked some kids themselves, elementary and middle school students in Caldwell, New Jersey, as part of a new video series called "If I Were a Parent," where we ask kids how they would handle things if they were in charge.

好吧，那你怎么开始和你的孩子谈钱呢?为了得到一些答案，我们问了一些孩子自己，新泽西州考德威尔的小学生和中学生，这是一个名为“如果我是一个家长”的新系列视频的一部分，我们问孩子们如果他们是负责人，他们会如何处理事情。

Grace Szostak, who just started middle school this year, said she would start early, as young as age 4. She would get one of those play cash registers and have her kids do a little role play with it, selling stuff to each other to understand the concept of money and learn how to count it.

今年刚开始上初中的格蕾丝·绍斯塔克说，她会早点开始，最早在4岁的时候。她会拿一个玩具收银机，让孩子们用它玩一点角色扮演游戏，互相卖东西，以了解钱的概念，并学习如何数钱。

Pearl says parents know their kids and know when they are ready to talk about finances. "If your kid is ready to have a conversation, you can try to have a conversation. If it bombs, you can try again in a few months or next year but I think it's never too early to try ... and if you miss the boat and your kid is 17 and going off to college next year, don't throw your hands up and say, 'I missed the boat.' Start whenever you can."

珀尔说，父母了解他们的孩子，知道他们什么时候准备好谈论财务问题。“如果你的孩子准备好要和你交谈，你可以试着和他交谈。如果它失败了，你可以在几个月后或明年再试一次，但我认为尝试永远不会太早……如果你失去了机会，而你的孩子17岁，明年就要上大学了，不要举手说:‘我失去了机会。只要有机会，就开始吧。”