The Simple Trick We Teach Our Kids about Choosing a Career

How do you advise your kids about choosing a career when most of the jobs they’ll do haven’t even been invented yet? Here’s our simple trick to set them up for success.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A common question to ask school age kids. 

I wanted to be lots of things, or so I thought, and not one of them was what I do today. 

Doctor (Had recently broken an ankle)
Lawyer (Saw all of Law & Order)
Fighter Pilot (Had watched Top Gun)

Rarely did I think of anything other than what I would be doing day to day in one of those jobs. 

I knew nothing about the lifestyle, the challenges, or the financial prospects. 

Doctors and lawyers appeared to drive nice cars, to do fun things, and to wear new clothes. Fighter pilots had a nice ride. 

Otherwise they were parents of my friends.  

You can be anything you’d like as long as you are also an investor

Our daughters now get the question. So we discuss the topic on car rides, around the table or by text in this new, new world. 

Our one piece of advice as they find their way is straightforward. 

You can be anything you’d like as long as you are also an investor. 

We’ve watched friends of every professional flavor contribute in diverse ways and build lives of comfort and opportunity. 

Doctors 
Lawyers
Fighter Pilots
Teachers
Builders
Welders

All leading impressive lives making tremendous contributions without financial or future fear. 

All grownups. All imperfect. All living the best lives they know how. 

The rest of the journey is theirs

And so we share with our girls that we don’t have the answer as to what they should do. 

But that we do know the power of doing the best one can. Living below one’s means. Saving. And investing. Simply. 

The rest of the journey is theirs. No matter how daunting that may seem to them or to us.

Resources for investing with kids

Content for kids:

• Rosemary Wells’ Bunny Money is a great book for introducing saving to littles.
• Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club: In this animated series, Warren Buffet mentors entrepreneurial kids.

Books for older kids or for adults to read with younger kids:

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad — a classic that’s become an empire in its own right. Worth reading frequently.
• The Richest Man in Babylon — the basics of money, told in parables. This is another one to return to regularly. 

Thoughts?

How do you talk with your kids about careers and investing? Weigh in below in the comments.