Family Financial Planning: “When Do Families Plan for their Financial Future?”

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Welcome to my Wednesday Education (financial) B.R.E.A.T.H.S. blog where I am opening up a conversation around family finances and strategies to discuss money in each household. My family never talked about money, we only had one semester of personal finance in high school, and so we all had to find out about money the difficult way. I am here to change our money mindset so that our kids can learn how to manage money that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Each week on Wednesdays, I will be giving pointers on how families can start talking about money.

Recently in Education Wednesday

Last month, I reviewed how children’s books and games can help families start the discussion about finances.  A few weeks ago, I explained the 5 W’s of FamilyFinancial Planning. These five Wednesdays in June, I will break down the 5 W’s and highlight each area to better help families understand how to open up communication around how money works and everyone’s roles in family financial planning. 

The first week in June, I started breaking down “Who” should participate by giving ideas on how children and adults can start talking about money at home. The second week, I discussed “Why” everyone should start family financial planning and make it an annual holiday party. Last week, I listed “What” families should plan for the financial planning portion of the party. This week, I will explain “When” families should plan for their financial future. 

When Should Families Start Planning for their Financial Future?

The last few weeks I created detailed lists of who, why, and what should be planned for finances, but when should families start? The answer is, now. As soon as someone has an income, they should start planning what to do with their money. We can all start planning our financial freedom by understanding different sources of income we can have at different times in our lives. Below I have created a list of ages and possible sources of income for that age range. There can be some overlap between income sources, but this will give people a good idea of a variety of streams of money they can attain throughout their lives. Entrepreneurship offers income at all age levels and there are several different types listed and many more not listed, discuss those options with everyone in your family.

Possible Sources of Income for All Ages

Possible Times to Financially Plan with Family

In my first family financial planning posts last month, I stated that families can have daily discussions about money by reading books, playing games, and having interactions with money. In this month’s posts, I mentioned that families should have at least one annual financial planning party each year. It is recommended to do this at the end of the year to better plan for the future year. Many families who have multiple sources of income will have quarterly financial planning to keep track of all the family funding that will be helpful for tax reasons. 

Put on Calendars for All Family to See

When your family sits down to discuss planning for your financial future, be sure to mark the dates on a calendar everyone can see. I also recommend putting the dates into an electronic calendar with notifications and sharing with all the family members to have available on personal devices. Having a calendar in multiple places will help ensure everyone is aware of the dates, times, and commitments to future family financial planning. 

Conclusion 

There are several things to consider when thinking about when to plan for your family’s future. When you have time, sit down and review this list with your family. I have created it so that you can refer back to and use it to help you plan your future family financial needs. Next week, I will get into the “Where” families should start planning for their financial future. Best of luck on your family financial planning. 

Thank you for reading,

Dr. Jaime Brainerd, Ed.D.