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6 Awful, Selfish Reasons to Teach Your Daughter About Finance
Here’s the middle-class female life plan in 39 words. Get good grades. Go to college. Marry. Pay your dues to prove you’re worthy of a non-miserable job. Birth 2.5 children. Teach said children the life plan. Retire. Figure out what you actually want to do with your life.
None of this required financial education for women 70 years ago. There were crazy things then, like pensions. Home-ownership was possible on a single income. A minimum wage job could pay for college. Unfathomable.
But nowadays, in spite of traditional gender roles, there are some excellent reasons to teach your daughter a thing or two about personal finance — reasons that directly benefit you.
#1: No Loans to Co-Sign!
Millennials (and soon Zoomers) aren’t buying houses without their parents’ help. It’s just not in the cards. It could be co-signing a loan, helping with the down payment, or even helping with the mortgage.
I mean, did you see that recent study about how many hours you’d have to work on minimum wage to afford an apartment? Dude.
But let’s say she has a career with the potential for home-ownership someday. The sooner she’s independently wealthy, the sooner you aren’t financially on the hook for her decisions.