What do you wish you had learned and applied?

A couple in my church family asked me if I could help with the education of their daughters during the Coronavirus social-distancing and school-shutdown. They are interested in some lessons related to investing with a biblical perspective. I told them I would. Since that conversation I have been thinking about the curriculum and how to make it relevant for youngsters.

I want to make it interesting for children (and youth) who are probably at least in 4th grade through high school. I’d like to hear from parents (or adults who have had to learn the hard way) and I have a few questions:

1. What money-related life principles do you wish you had learned as a child? What were the gaps that caused you to learn the hard way? For example, my parents taught us how to save and shop wisely, but I never learned how to invest or how they invested.

2. What grade in school do you think this type of training should start? I don’t want the age span to be too great, as it will make it difficult to tailor the training if the child is too young.

3. What topics would you want your child to understand before they leave the nest. I’m considering these broad categories: earning, spending, saving, giving, investing.

Although I haven’t used it yet, I am considering using ZOOM as the vehicle for training. I will also try to publish something on my blog for each lesson.

I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.