David Strauss knew he needed to do a better job teaching his children about money, but the layoff notice he received in January gave it a sense of urgency. ¶ “It made the discussions a lot more real,” said Strauss, 43, a Boston-based radio station manager. ¶ Knowing that the downsizing was coming, Strauss had already started talking to 17-year-old Daniel and 12-year-old Alexandra about wants versus needs and discussing how the family expected to cut back. ¶ “The kids are interested in talking about money now,” he said. “Daniel is getting his first job. Alexandra is about to have a bat mitzvah. It’s pertinent to what’s going on in their lives.” ¶ The Strauss family is indicative of a trend that’s sweeping the country. Whether by want or necessity, parents are taking greater pains to teach their children about such topics as budgeting and investing. ¶ Nearly half of parents said they were using the recession as a catalyst to talk about money to their children, according to a recent survey by T. Rowe Price Group Inc. ¶ “When things are going along fine, you just don’t have to think about this,” said Karyn Hodgens, co-founder of Kidnexions, a Rocklin, Calif., company that offers software to teach children about money. “But because parents’ finances are in such a state, they’re coming to the conclusion that now would be a good time to introduce these concepts to their kids.” ¶ Experts agree that the recession is an ideal time — a perfect teachable moment — to help children learn how to handle money. But parents still say they’re flummoxed about what to teach and how to teach it.
“We scare parents by saying that they should teach kids about money,” said Laura Levine, executive director of the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy in Washington. “They think they’re not qualified. But kids learn most of their money lessons from their parents. You …
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