FINANCIAL SECURITY
Everyone’s worried about money—even kids. Calm their
concerns with a truthful accounting of your family’s situation.
by Ron Zodkevitch, M.D.
When trouble hits, your natural instinct is to
protect your children by saying as little as
possible and pretending everything’s fine. This
is a mistake because kids pick up on your tension,
and without the facts they imagine scenarios far
more terrifying than the reality. Job loss, home
foreclosure, other financial concerns—these are
all family matters. By opening up and letting your
children participate in resolving the family’s
problems, you’ll reinforce important values, build
their sense of self-worth and model what it
means to pull together. Kids can also learn
valuable lessons about managing money. Use
these strategies to make the best of bad times.
Give them the facts
Pick a time when you can be
calm and sit everyone down
together to explain what has
happened. The younger the
kids are, the less detail they
need or want. Just give them
the basics, starting with a
simple statement, such as,
“Like lots of people
nowadays, I’ve been laid off
from my job.” Then provide a
few more details and quickly
reassure them that you have
a plan and that everything
will work out: “Don’t worry.
Your father is still employed.
I’m already looking for
another job, and we’re going
to be fine.” Keep the meeting
brief, and if you start to feel
emotional and overwhelmed,
take a break and continue the
talk another time.
What kids care most
about is how they’ll be
affected. So if you’ve been
laid off, you might say, “The
good news is that while I’m
looking for another job I’ll be
around more during the day.
But we will have to cut back
on some things. We won’t be
eating out in restaurants as
often, and we’re going to hold
off on a summer vacation. But
