How to Teach Your Kids About Money (and Raise Value Creators)

Let’s talk about how to teach our kids about money. Not just in theory—but in a way that’s simple, practical, and built around who we want our kids to become: Value Creators.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what money is—a reflection of the value we bring to others by solving their problems.

So instead of giving our kids an allowance just for existing or checking boxes, we teach them to earn through gigs—paid opportunities based on the value they create. Some of these are physical gigs like pulling weeds, breaking down Amazon boxes, or washing the car. Others are brain gigs like reading Becoming Your Own Banker or summarizing what they learned from a podcast on wealth building.

They’re learning early that value doesn’t just come from doing tasks—it comes from thinking, solving, and helping.

And when they earn money? They don’t just get to blow it all. We have a simple system that teaches them what to do next:

• Save at least 20% of everything they earn
• Spend with intention (on wants, gifts for friends’ birthday parties, or items above our budget as parents)
• Share by giving to causes, people, or needs that matter to them

This cycle builds rhythm, discipline, and values.

We don’t avoid money talk in our house—we invite it in. Our kids know what things cost. We talk about what it means to delay gratification, to plan, to dream, and to be resourceful.

Think about your own childhood—did anyone really teach you about money? Or did you just stash it in a piggy bank, smash it open, and spend?

In today’s world, it’s easier than ever to become comfortable. One click, groceries show up. A toy arrives. Someone else does the work. But ease doesn’t lead to growth. And comfort doesn’t build character.

So when it comes to money, we want to raise strong kids who are problem solvers, not entitled consumers. Not Socialists.

That’s why we bring them into our bigger family conversations. We let them see how we’ve built our family banking system with whole life policies—currently 28 of them across three adult children. Every time a new opportunity for insurability arises, we stack more value into our system.

When one of our adult kids wants to buy a car or a condo, we are the bank. They borrow from us, at 14%, and we call that the “Kesler discount.” They repay it like any honest banker would, and they know that what they don’t repay just reduces their eventual tax-free legacy. It’s a real system with real responsibility—and it works. Read this part again. Too often I hear adult parents letting their adult children live in one of their homes paying rent below market value! Why does this happen? What didn’t the parent teach their child when they were young about valuing money?

And we gamify it too. If you haven’t yet, buy Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow for Kids (and Cashflow for adults too). It’s one of the best tools for helping kids—and even us as parents—break out of the spender/saver mindset and learn how to become wealth creators. It makes financial education fun, and it uplevels how we think about escaping the rat race.

At the end of the day, our goal is to raise kids who understand that money is simply a tool. A tool to build. To bless. To serve.

We want them to think in terms of abundance. Not “we can’t afford it,” but “how could we afford it?” That mindset shift is everything.

So teaching our kids about money isn’t a one-time lesson. It’s a lifestyle. It’s about alignment—tying money to our family’s values and showing them how to bring value to the world.

Because when they understand how to save, spend, give, and create… money finds its way to them. And when it does, they’ll know exactly what to do with it. Let’s make money great again and start by teaching our kids about how money ACTUALLY works. Start building your family banking system with specially engineered whole life from a mutually owned dividend paying company today, talk to a money mentor here.