Warren Buffet is financial genius.
In addition to his achievement in wealth, he is one of my parenting gurus because we share many life values.
"Love is the greatest advantage a parent can give."
I admire Warren Buffet because he and his first and current wife raised their children on basic fundamental values despite their wealth.
He often says, that he will be leaving very little inheritance to his children and they knew this from a young age. All 3 children are grounded and work at foundations that are meaningful to them, funded by their parents.
I love Warren Buffet's humility. He is a simple person with simple values. He continues to live in the same house In Omaha, Nebraska since 1958 that he purchased for $31,500. He enjoys Dairy Queen burgers and fries and Coca Cola.
I have heard him say, that the only real difference in wealth is that you can travel differently meaning he happens to have a jet rather than flying commercial.
I admire his advice that unconditional love is the most important gift you can give to a child and to allow kids to succeed and fail on their own. (This differs a bit to our helicopter parenting style that seems to be so popular now.)
In terms of money, Warren Buffet believes that the parent's relationship with money is the value that our children emulate when they grow up.
With this in mind, I am not materialistic person. I am known for keeping a very simple, efficient, tidy home. I feel that it is important to spend lots of one on one time with our kids. We do not need to purchase every new gadget or latest cell phone.
My husband's first cell phone was provided by his company and it was a flip phone. After many years, he realized that he needed a smart phone so he got approval by stating the following reason on the e-form: My current cell phone is so antiquated that it belongs on the antique road show. Someone clearly saw the humor in this and quickly upgraded his work phone.
The rest of us have older phones and I am the type to buy something with the expectation that I will use it until I am forced to upgrade and we take care of our belongings. I notice that these values do get transferred to our son because he takes care of his things, decides when to give it away or donate, and if he sells the item, he gets to keep the money.
Actions are the best way to impart values to other people regardless of age, wealth, or intelligence. One of my parenting concerns is raising children who feel entitled and the best ways to ensure against this is to encourage children to find something that they are truly passionate about in life and feel fulfillment for themselves rather than ride on the financial coat tails of their parents.
Source: www.cnbc.com
