Parents failing to teach their kids about money

Financial adviser Hannah McQueen says parents need to do more to help their children get ahead with money. Photo/Doug Sherring.

Kiwi parents are setting their children up to fail by keeping them in the dark about money, says financial adviser Hannah McQueen.

McQueen - a parent of two - and the founder of personal financial training business EnableMe has launched a book called Pocket Money to Property - How to create financially independent kidss.

McQueen says two things drove her to write the book - clients who were holding back their own financial future by still supporting adult children and worry about a sense of entitlement in her own children.

Re-watch the live chat below:

Hannah McQueen joins us live to answer you questions about how to teach your children about money.

Posted by nzherald.co.nz on Sunday, May 28, 2017

She says today's parenting techniques are setting children up to fail by keeping them in the childhood phase for longer and not giving them practical experience handling their own money.

She says telling young people to work harder is no longer enough to get ahead and more needs to be done to talk about money from a young age and give teenagers career advice.

"There has to be an acknowledgement that for the kids coming through the environment they have to succeed in is more challenging."

McQueen says parents should begin talking about money with children as young as five and introduce pocket money by the age of nine to teach them about the value of working.

Then by the age of 12 or 13 parents should be giving their children hands on learning by giving them control over their clothing or entertainment budget.

"We make the decisions and shelter them from the consequences because we want them to have this childhood.

"But it is not about the childhood - we want them to have a successful adulthood and a lot of kids are not prepared to be successful adults."

McQueen says teens should get a job and be told that mum and dad won't be there to support them forever.

"I think there has to be an expectation about when it is time to adult."

She says much more help is needed to guide kids on their future career path and it's not enough to just follow a passion if you want to get ahead financially.

And for those worried about how to get the next generation on the property ladder she says parents need to urge their children to buy at a younger age before their tastes get too expensive.

How to talk money with your kids
Age 5 -9
• introduce pocket money for chores that are outside the everyday family tasks.
• split it into save, spend and give to teach children about spending for today and saving for tomorrow.
Age 10 - 13
• work out your child's money personality and the weaknesses and opportunities that come with this and how to work on them
• Practice setting and achieving saving goals
&bull: Talk about how hobbies and interests might not be a good career choice but encourage entrepreneurship
Age 14- 16
• Talk about the financial realities of any career choice they might make
Age 16 -18
• Talk about how wealth creation is less about how much money you earn but what you do with what is left over.
• Teach them about the banking system and how to use it to your advantage
• Talk about how to create wealth - how to spend less than you earn and use leverage in business and the property market.
Age 18 - 22
&bull: Talk about how university study should include part-time work and that a student loan is the last option not the first when it comes to supplementing income.
Age 23 -30
• Ensure they have a plan to pay off student loan debt.
• Get them in a position to buy a house no later than 30 and have a financial strategy
• Talk about their life partner and sharing the same financial goals
• How to get paid what you are worth.