Join us today for part one of a two-part podcast on Financially Literate Homes. 3rd Decade's Lead Financial Mentor, Jennifer Edwards, made financially literacy a big part of her children's upbringing. For this episode, her 3 children came on to discuss what this looked like for them growing up, how it's shaped them, and what they plan to implement in their own families some day.
For our next episode, you will hear Jennifer share her personal insights behind why she did what she did, when she began the conversation, and much more.
Join us today for part one of a two-part podcast on Financially Literate Homes. 3rd Decade's Lead Financial Mentor, Jennifer Edwards, made financially literacy a big part of her children's upbringing. For this episode, her 3 children came on to discuss what this looked like for them growing up, how it's shaped them, and what they plan to implement in their own families some day.
For our next episode, you will hear Jennifer share her personal insights behind why she did what she did, when she began the conversation, and much more.
Welcome to the 3rd Decade podcast. This episode is gonna be, part one of two, as many of you know, Jennifer Edwards is 3rd Decades Lead financial mentor. She definitely practices what she preaches and her children were generous enough to come on with us in this episode, in order to share their perspectives, being raised in a home that taught financial literacy from the start. My conversation today is joined by Jennifer and her three children, Samantha who's 23 Harry who's, 20 and Preston who's 17. Each of them brings to the table their own unique perspectives and shares what it was like growing up in a family that intentionally made financial literacy part of life. Here's our conversation. I hope you all enjoy. Thank you to all of you for joining today. I think it's really unique to hear the perspectives of adult children who were raised in financially illiterate homes. I know a lot of people find themselves as adults going like my parents never covered any of this, and I know your mom covered at least some of it, but I definitely want to hear your guys' perspective on some of these things. So I wanted to start off the episode with just a handful of questions for each of you. We'll just jump right in. So do you feel like you were raised in a home where the topic of money was spoken about openly and financial concepts were taught? And if so, how do you feel this has affected your financial health compared to your peers?
Harry:Uh, yeah, it was definitely open. It was more open than I think would be, uh, the average, I think that, uh, in general, our financial health, as the children here, from what I can tell is just more literate and, more secure than a lot of people that I know just because, we were taught the, the one tool, even a budgeting, just like the one tool of tracking expenses is so dramatic in its benefits. And most of my peers weren't even taught to do that. And so we always knew that there was a budget and we always knew that the money wasn't endless and where to some extent money was being allocated. And, uh, and that just, that just, you know, helps, you know, how to control it and how to have it, you know, be something that benefits you rather than something that you just stress about constantly.
Nikita Wolff:How old were you, Harry, whenever you, uh, started tracking your expenses?
Harry:Uh, when I left high school, that was, uh, great.
Samantha:Yeah. If I can piggyback on what he said, we always knew that our parents were spending within their means, and that was something that was really, really emphasized. You do not spend money, you don't have. And I think that's ingrained in all of us. That we would never do that. We she's talked to us. She's like, okay, don't take out credit card debt. Like I would never think to do that because they modeled frugality. And we also, this was a really interesting benefit of living in a financially literate at home. We were never stressed as to whether our needs were gonna be met. We knew that there was gonna be food shelter, education, that there were gonna be fun family activities, but we knew that we weren't going to be going out to eat all the time. We knew that we weren't gonna be like, we camped so much growing up. We, we did a lot of activities that were maybe more, cost efficient, but we always knew that we were gonna have these fun memories. Um, we just knew that we were going to spend within our means, but we were gonna have all of those needs taken care of, and there was never any insecurity there.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. I bet that provides a lot of peace of mind, even if, you know, you know, we're not gonna eat out much, but that's because we have all these other things being taken care of. Like knowing that that plan is established, you can kind of rest easy knowing that, you know, life's not gonna feel chaotic and uncertain.
Samantha:Absolutely. Yeah. And she would talk to us about it. She's like, this is how much this costs, this is how much I'm saving by. Um, for example, my, my mom is very resourceful when it came to cooking and at like canning, she would just buy a ton of produce and food in bulk, and she would put the time into processing it. And we would have a lot of beans and tomatoes and chicken and we'd have jars and jars and, and we be very prepared. Um, and she would say, Hey, this is how much I spent on canning all this food versus this is how much I would've spent if I bought each individual can at the store. Like, she always was very open with talking about how she was making it work with us.
Nikita Wolff:I bet that was a really interesting thing to experience.
Harry:And it was, it was helpful. Yeah. It, it was helpful, but it came with a fair share of disappointing moments, obviously that, that wasn't just exempted. There were plenty of times, mom, can we get this mom? Can we go, you know, can we, you know, go to Wendy's this time instead of having the bean burritos. And there were just many, many, many instances of no,<laugh>, mm-hmm,<affirmative>, we're not gonna do that. And we knew why, but we didn't have obviously the entire big picture or, you know, as, as children or minors, couldn't quite comprehend the entire big picture. So it came with its fair share of disappointments, but in the long run, obviously it's helpful.
Preston:Well those disappointments were honestly an integral part of like that process of trying to prepare us for future, knowing that we are gonna have to have some impulse control, cuz we can't just, you know, always get Wendy's when we don't know when we're some college students and we're kind of, you know, dirt bagging or something like that, maybe out it's true yourself,
Harry:Speak for yourself Preston.
Samantha:<laugh> And I go to Chick-Fil-A once a week, but you know
Preston:Yeah. But I mean, obvious that kind of taught us that there is some of that definitely part of your life where, you know, you're gonna have to have the bean burritos or you're gonna have to take the camping trip and not the hotel because you know, it's important to live within your means.
Samantha:And what they're talking about, Nikki with the bean burritos is what we would do is we would put beans and cheese and wrap it up in a tortilla and microwave it and then we'd put it in tin foil, grab one of my dad's like long black socks that he would take to work, put it in the sock and then let the bean burritos, solar cook in the back of a car when we would go on trips.<laugh>
Jennifer Edwards:Goodness. We're forgetting the plastic bag that causes the greenhouse effect.
Samantha:T hat oh, right. Y eah.
Nikita Wolff:So that's a whole science experiment.
Jennifer Edwards:Yeah. We, I mean the homeschooled. So we learned about these kind, the black socks in the plastic bag and that would, the heat would come in and, and it would be trapped by the plastic bag. And so you could have a warm lunch in the middle of the day, even if you were away from home,<laugh> when the sun was shinning.
Samantha:Which is just smart. That is amazing. Well, what's so funny. And what I wanna add is that when we were celebrating something, when we got good grades, when someone really did well at a, like let's say a piano recital or something, we did take the time to celebrate. And I remember specifically I'd done pretty well, um, in the course of a semester, um, I think I'd done well in a biology class or something. And we went to a really nice restaurant as a family and really made that an event and something worth celebrate. And it, we would've appreciated. Like we appreciated it so much more because it was a reward and something to be celebrated, not just a given if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. It
Nikita Wolff:Wasn't so much a norm. It was like a reward.
Samantha:Exactly.
Nikita Wolff:So were there any finance related memorable moments that you'd like to share?
Samantha:I mean, there's one that instantly comes to mind for me, which is that we were, We love to water ski and Rockline um, we always have, and we were coming back from a day of water skiing. We went into this Alco, which is like a general store, like a, a has been general store. I don't think they are around anymore, but my mom's saw this<laugh> bin of Otter pops. You know, those like popsicles that you like squeeze out in the summer. They're really good.
Nikita Wolff:I know them well. I love them.
Samantha:Of course<laugh> and the, the Otter pop packages were retailing at$2, but on the packaging, there was a coupon for a$2 mail-in rebate. So my mom looks at the bin of Otter pops and in her mind she's like free Otter pops<laugh> so we loaded up the carts and found out at checkout that in order to receive the rebate rewards, you had to do one transaction at a time and have the receipt for each individual pack of otter pops. So we held the cashier hostage for maybe 30 minutes, checking out all of these popcicles. I mean, there was no one else in the store. Like she didn't have anything better to do. We c ame and I just remember that I was impressed because she, she h ad taken the time to go through that, but we had like fun popsicles all summer and she took the time to mail i n every single rebate. And just, it was just cool to see her reaping the rewards of being frugal. And we had pops for like a whole year< laugh> b ecause she just didn't care. She was gonna like, just do whatever she could to save money and like meet our financial goals, but still provide like fun memories for her kids. So that's one that comes to mind for me right away.
Nikita Wolff:I love that.
Preston:I, you know, I remember in high school, like a couple years ago, I'd be talking to my friends and they'd be talking about how they legit spent hundreds of dollars, like all of their money on clothes and things at stores. And I just remember thinking, you know, just inside my head, not telling it to them, but I, I was like, that's not a sustainable lifestyle to just spend everything that you have and then, you know, have some starry eye mindset that you, that it would pay itself off or that, you know, your knees would be met if, if it'll all just work itself out. I just remember that, that feeling, that, that was just such a, a, just a naive perspective to have and thinking, and being grateful for having the experience of like a mother encouraging me to have a budget or to save money or save like a large portion of whatever I got out and paychecks or at birthday parties or anything like that. And so that, that's one of the big things for me is realizing that there's a lot of people who don't actually realize, especially, I mean, I'm still in high school and there's especially a lot of high schoolers out there who don't seem to, to realize that they need to start building good financial sound practices and habits in high school to prepare for getting out of it in college or you know, other
Nikita Wolff:Themselves. So that's so true. And I, I think that, unfortunately, a lot of the times that lesson is learned the hard way, because they've spent all of their money, you know, in high school it probably is on clothes. And then when they wanna buy their first car, they have nothing to able to buy it with. If their family can't help them with that, or an emergency pops up as an adult. I know plenty of, of my peers even live like with their bank account balance is below a hundred dollars. Um, like what happens when something bad happens? What happens if you get a flat on your car or a hospital deductible or anything like that, it's like now you have to go into debt and pay interest on it. And it's it just compounds itself into a bigger mess. Yeah.
Samantha:I think that Preston made a really good point, uh, that a lot of people think that money is gonna fulfill your needs or were by happiness in some way. But our parents modeled from a, the beginning that you do not have to have the fanciest stuff to be happy. I remember, um, our dad would drive to work<laugh> he is, he works, uh, he's a criminal prosecutor. Um, so he is surrounded by attorneys and he would drive to work in this<laugh>, this black Metro that we kind of like lovingly referred to as like the balding egg, like it was white on top. Like it was like chipping and it looked so old. And my dad is just happy as a clam driving to work in this beater car. Um, they just, just kind of showed us from a young age. Like we don't have to have the nicest stuff, the nicest clothes, the nicest car in order to be happy. Like it's more important to they emphasized service is what makes you happy family is what makes you happy education and improvement and memories like those are what make you happy. And so I'm really grateful for that example,
Nikita Wolff:What a valuable lesson to learn. I, I really love that because so many people, I think attach their, like future happiness to like the next upgrade. And when you realize it's never about those things, like we talk about in our classes like humans have in infinite capacity to want more. Right. So, so absolutely for him to set that precedence early on is really neat. So how would each of you guys describe your relationship with money today?
Harry:My relationship with money is, is comfortable, almost alarmingly comfortable. Maybe that's a bad thing when I started by budgeting and when I started budgeting seriously, which was more when I turned 19 and was wholly independent for a period of time. Uh that's when I started seriously budgeting and seriously tracking expenses. And since that point money has been comfortable, not because I do in fact make the big bucks, but because there's just security and knowing how much there is and how much you have to spend. And obviously like every other human. Yeah. I do have an infinite capacity to want more and to want the next upgrade, but I know how much I make, I know how much I can spend. I know what is going to be taken out of my account automatically and how much it's gonna be left. And, and when those things are, are set in stone, when you know those numbers, it may not, not be happy or joyful necessarily, but there's security in it. And, uh, I think that's about all I could ask for. So it's, uh, that works fine for me. It's
Nikita Wolff:Interesting to hear. It sounds one of the questions we ask our students when they first, uh, are like prepping for their meeting is like, how would you rate your scale on finances from zero to 10? You sound like a one or a zero.<laugh> a lot of people are like sevens tens.
Harry:I dunno if I go broke, I can move back in with my parents
Nikita Wolff:Weigh in on that
Jennifer Edwards:After 18<laugh> I Nikki, just to comment on that a little bit. One of the things that I see in working with participants is that that stress number is not correlated to income. It is correlated to control of income. So, you know, I can have somebody making 36, I've got grad students that are just making peanuts and they feel 100% secure because they are doing that managing correctly. And then I've got people making, you know, 80 to a hundred thousand dollars a year, not managing correctly. And that stress number is high. So it is not related to how much you make and Harry is, and just, you know, he's still a student and he's, you know, know not making a lot of money, but if you feel secure, it's probably because of that, that control of the, of the, um, of the income is in place. Not, not just the
Nikita Wolff:Knowledge of the, the facts
Harry:Control your money. Don't let it control you. Is that a saying, okay. Cause that popped into my head and I'm sure someone else copy. I didn't say it. And claim, you know, originality
Jennifer Edwards:<laugh>, that was something my dad taught me. And, but they weren't good with money, which we'll get into a little bit later, Nikki. And I was that if you don't control your money, it will end up controlling you.
Samantha:Um, I would say that I have a little more anxiety about money than Harry Harry is someone I kind of look up to in that respect. I would say that I am very uncomfortable with talking about money to anyone other than my mom.<laugh> I have a hard time asking people to pay me back for things. I have a hard time asking how much money I'm gonna be making. Um, I think that I just have a little bit of a people pleasing issue when it comes to talking about money, but I'm, I have the skills and I have the resources in talking to my family to be able to overcome that. It's something I'm just trying to chip away at. I know that it's something I can overcome. Um, but I don't feel like my future is unsecure. I think that those skills have helped me in many ways, but talking about money is still a little bit challenging for me. So that's a, a challenging aspect of my relationship with money.
Nikita Wolff:How about for you Preston?
Preston:Uh, well obviously I think mine is a little bit different than Harry's and Sam's, I'm, I'm still in the house. I'm still very financially dependent. I'm not paying rent or for food or utilities or insurance or anything like that right now, but I'd still, and also with COVID, it's kind of interesting because I don't really spend money, like honestly, like at all, I don't think I bought clothes for like a year and a half.
Samantha:Not a good thing.
Harry:Not, everyone has this amazingly generous older brother, who supplies 95% of their wardrobe.
Preston:Yes. Yes. Um, I've just had a, this wonderful older brother who I've provided all the clothes and the shoes that I'd ever need in life, but as hand me downs as, as hand me downs, mm-hmm<affirmative> as,
Jennifer Edwards:but you're willing to wear them.
Harry:I'mwell taking care of.
Nikita Wolff:I didn't have, have the privilege of, uh, an older sister, so I didn't have hand me downs.
Preston:Yeah. Well, it's it, it's very, um, it's very nice financially to have them, if you're willing to wear them, uh, secondhand clothes, but at the same time, I think, you know, I'm very aware of how, how life changing it can be and how important it is to, as we were saying, like to control your supply of money and don't let it control you. I'm trying to make my best decisions as a high schooler with just, you know, the small amount of money that I get in part time work, just trying to save as much as I can for a future that I know that is going to require a lot of control and a lot of cognizant effort to try to, um, have a sound base, uh, and a sound relationship to it.
Samantha:So, but I think one of the reasons that Preston has some good skills in high school is because our parents have us pay for our cell phone for our like clothes for anything we wanna do for fun. We wanted to go out to eat with our friends that was on us, if there's anything that we wanted to do. So I think that it just wasn't handed to us. And then I think that that was very helpful for us.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. It sort of strengthens that muscle before you even fully have to use it yet. And I bet Preston it's, it's been kind of helpful getting to see your two older siblings kind of do a pilot run yeah. To adulthood with their finances
Samantha:We were the first pancakes.
Nikita Wolff:So is there anything you guys wish that your parents would have explored more fully with you when you were still living at home? I guess this will be for Harry and Sam. I
Harry:Wouldn't have minded going over the investment side of things before I left. Not because I feel unprepared now as a more independent adult, it's something in which I'd like to have slightly more literacy than I do now. Um, but that, that's, that's the only thing I can think of when it comes to personal finances and personal responsibility, obviously that the, the money management was quite adequately emphasized, but the, you know, how Roth IRAs were, or, or how passive investments were in building a, you know, diversified portfolio I could have stood to, uh, you know, it just a little bit more in depth on that. Although since then I've gotten, I've been caught up on that, but, you know, that was, that was something that I could have stood to, to learn a little bit more in high school, but since then, it's been great. I
Samantha:Have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. There's nothing I don't think was adequately covered. I think something that I'm looking into a little bit more now that I'm a grown up is, uh, home ownership and renting and apartments, renting, purchasing, things like that. Um, it might have, but I think that my mom tried to explain all of this stuff to me and I just, wasn't listening though.<laugh> in high school. So I think that she gave me as much as I could handle. And I'm very grateful for that.
Nikita Wolff:And Preston, I guess we won't completely skip over your ability to answer this, but you, you still have a year left, right? So no, it's may. Oh my goodness. Okay. So you have one month left.<laugh> is there anything now, right now we're gonna down tonight cover everything. Is there anything that you, uh, wish hope for your mom to cover with you, you before you, uh, take flight?
Preston:Um, honestly, I mean, not a lot, maybe like, cuz I tend to go to college, so maybe, maybe we try to like, mm-hmm,<affirmative> nail down. Uh, maybe I'd want to learn cost versus benefits of like different degrees and um, different career pathways.
Nikita Wolff:Or even trades. I feel like there's been a big uptick again in trades because people are graduating under, you know,$60,000 worth of debt just for an in-state school, assuming they don't do like anything Ivy league. And uh, for instance, I'm gonna actually use my own example. My degrees in family studies in human development and all of my peers are stuck at jobs that, uh, I mean they paid full price for their degree, but their jobs pay between 30k and 35k a year. How are you supposed to pay that off? And especially if you ha like choose to have a family or if you're a sole earner, like at, at that point, it's not worth it. So I feel like there's been kind of a reassessment of the benefit of trades, where there might be a little bit of an upfront cost, but you're always gonna need an electrician. You're always gonna need a plumber. You're always gonna need a mechanic. And these are becoming like rarer and rarer to find people with these skills. So there's a lot of job security and they pay well.
Preston:Yeah, So maybe a little bit more exploratory of different career paths, whether or not it's college or different degrees.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. Well there, there you go, Jen, there's your note. How thank you. Thank you, Nikki. We'll we'll definitely start exploring some of that. Yeah. So last question that I have for you guys today is what kind of strategies do you plan to implement for your own children someday?
Samantha:I, I thought about this one. I feel so lucky that while my mom was mailing in the rebates for the Otter pops and my dad was driving the, the paint chipped Metro, they were saving for my college and my retirement. Um, and because of those efforts, um, I'm able to graduate from college debt free and I was able to do unpaid internships that have made it possible for me to take an absolute dream job. I'm gonna start working in DC in a couple weeks. And that's only possible because I was able to have the financial flexibility to commute, to SaltLlake and do an unpaid internship, which if I was taking out loans and if I had to fund all of that myself, I don't know if I would've been able to do so. I think that I want to mimic that and, and save for kids college and retirements right away. That's, that's something that they modeled for us that has just paid off in dividends. And I, I think it was very smart and I am so a grateful mom. Thank you.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. I think that it is so valuable to, to be able to see like the hard work that your mom puts forth for you guys. Like literally, like you said, it pays off in dividends. Like you didn't have to go through college with the stress of like, where do I buy my next meal? Can I afford it? Do I have to go into debt? Like have to turn down different opportunities because of financial strain to be able to have that removed from the equation is such a privilege and so wonderful that you were able to cash in on that gift from your parents.
Harry:I have a slightly, a slightly different thought. Uh, not that I'm sure I will have kids..., but if I were to have kids, uh, My educational path, hasn't been exactly smooth sailing and I've spent a fair amount of time, more independent and working full time and paying my own rent, uh, than, than Samantha has. For example it's just been a little bit of a, of a different experience for me and those periods of time, weren't exactly stress free, being more independent and being more self responsible and having to, you know be a provider for yourself at, you know, 18 or 19 or whatever it, I feel like the experience of taking time away from school and away from, you know, having my, you know, that parental support at, you know, taking that time away and working full time was a significant catalyst for me, which I'm very, very grateful for. Uh, and, and, and now that I'm possibly going back to school, I feel much, much more prepared to return to school and to then exit school again, cuz I, I feel like I've already established my, ability to, t o be self s ustaining or to be self-responsible. And I know a lot of people who are graduating college for the first time who haven't gotten that taste of being responsible for your finances and for, you k now, y our, just a ll o f your a dult responsibilities t here there's a lot of people went to high school straight out or sorry, went to college straight o ut o f high school and, a nd haven't had the experience o f, o f, I d on't k now more, I, don't w anna insult a nyone, but I d on't k now like a, a, a semi a dult experience or, you know, I've just felt like the time that I spent being s elf r esponsible a nd working full t ime at 18 and 19 and 20 has been super, super, super helpful. And so if I were to have kids, I would emphasize that I would have them work in high school and maybe even take some time off in between high school and college or sometime within the college career experience and, uh, and work for a bit and be, and be self responsible for a bit because it's been, it's been a fantastic experience for me, just the, the growth and maturation. It's, it's been a really, really good experience. So I would, I would encourage that for my kids if I were to ever have them.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. And I bet it's been good, but it's not been easy.
Harry:Yeah. There there's, there's a little bit more stress involved, at least initially it's, it's not quite as comfortable or cushy just, you know, just for a little bit, but it's a, it's a good thing to get used to, I think, early on.
Nikita Wolff:Yeah. I could totally agree with that. How about for you Preston?
Preston:Um, I think the big thing for me is probably going to be living that living a frugal lifestyle where I don't want, even if I am financially sound, I still want to kind of drive around beatter w ith cars. And I kind of still want to like, you know, g et, have the burritos i n the s ock. And, and my mom is kind of embarrassed about this, but I'm not. And so the, this is I think kind of more of my,
Nikita Wolff:It like positively shaped you. It's not like a negative memory.
Preston:It was, it was such an integral part of like my childhood, knowing that, you know, while of course, yes, we didn't get everything that we wanted and life wasn't just like, you know, beautiful. And we were just in money heaven. It it provided depth of, of experiences for me knowing that like, yeah, we, we weren't poor, but we acted like we were in some cases.
Nikita Wolff:And its Interesting because that's probably how your parents were able to afford something like putting Sam through college and not almost yeah. Letting her experience that financial strain. Yeah. And now the burritos were worth it guys.
Samantha:And it's unlocked unprecedented levels of financial freedom where my parents could, I, I did some, I took a job in Alaska driving tour buses and they were able to hop on a plane and come visit me and just all these cool things that we've been able to do because they had the means because they paid the price early on
Preston:Mm-hmm<affirmative>. Yeah. But even so I think with, with the beater cars and with the secondhand clothes and, with, you know, some experiences where I go out to eat with friends and I bring my own bag, I get chips in a sandwich. Um, and I think that having those experiences like definitely changed, like what I wanted. I began to focus away from what I thought that I wanted was like the nice car and the nice house and would, which those things are nice and can be had, can be, you know, can bring happiness. But I think it's more important than having those is to at least get them in the right way and, and work up to that and realize that you don't need to have everything to be happy. And I think that that's a pretty big part of why. I mean, I try to keep teach my kids is that you can be really happy doing, not having everything in the world, but still having lots of incredible, great experiences that don't really cost a lot.
Nikita Wolff:So yeah's and engaging in the things that truly bring your life value. Yeah. Which is not, you know, the newest car.
Samantha:No, one's gonna be surprised when we visit Preston in a tent in 10 years,<laugh> we bring him lasagna and we're like, are you okay? Pres? And he's like, yeah, I'm great.<laugh>,
Nikita Wolff:She's happy as a clam<laugh>. Well, those are the questions I had for you guys today. Thank you guys for setting aside the time today to talk about your experience. I think it's a pretty unique opportunity to be able to have one of our mentors, children, or plural children, like reflect on their own experience. Growing up, Jen is highly regarded at 3rd Decade and it's kind of neat to see. She has truly put her money where her mouth is for decades. And, uh, it's pretty neat to see the positive effect it's had on each of your guys's life, in their own unique ways.
Samantha:Well, that is so nice of you to say, we, we love hearing about her work with you guys and she regards you all so much as well, and just loves working for you. So thanks for having us. It was the delight. We, we really enjoyed it.
Nikita Wolff:Thank you for listening to today's episode, join us for part two airing in two weeks until then we hope you're doing well. Have a great week and we'll talk soon.