Read The Money Class for Free Online Page A

That’s never a good outcome, but it seems especially ill timed when you are embarking on a new stage of your life and could benefit greatly from bringing your family into the process.
    TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR HONESTY
    I know that many of you think having truthful conversations with your family about your financial situation is embarrassing or painful. You feel so defeated by having to admit what is going on. Please listen to me: You have it all wrong. When you stand in the truth, and you are able to communicate that truth, you should feel proud and triumphant. For when you take the step forward to live your life with honesty you are at your most powerful and your most admirable. It takes strength and resolve to stand in your truth. Your family will love you all the more for your ability to embrace the changes you need to move toward your new realistic dreams.
    Now, that said, if there are young children involved, a transition to a more modest lifestyle will no doubt be met with some resistance. That’s to be expected. And you must respect that they need time to absorb and adapt to the shift. But your words, your body language, and your spirit throughout will set the tone for them. Stand in your truth with pride and confidence and you will be parenting in a way that will benefit your children not just next week and next month, but for decades to come. You are imparting the invaluable lesson of living life honestly.
    GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT
    One of the reasons you find it so hard to act with financial honesty when it comes to your family is that you tend to act in the moment, rather than step back and contemplate before you make a decision. You say yes without ever stopping to think if you can in fact afford to say yes.
    That needs to change. For you to build and reach your new dreams you must carefully weigh each and every money decision. This is not simply about what you can afford. Obviously if you do not have money to spare you cannot give it away. But even when you do have the money to share, I am asking you to take the time to think through whether you are helping that person stand in his or her truth.
    When you cosign a loan for a child who can’t get a car loan because she has a lousy credit score, are you helping her stand in her truth? When you give a brother $15,000 to get out of credit card debt, is that helping him stand in his truth? I realize your intentions are good, but you need to distinguish between helping and enabling. People who are standing in the truth and need financial assistance deserve your help, if you can in fact afford to give financial help. People who are looking for your money to solve (probably temporarily) a problem of their own creation are not standing in their truth. My advice? Guide them, with love and encouragement, toward personal accountability and financial honesty. Don’t allow your money to do the talking for you; it will send the absolute wrong message.
    LESSON 2. HOW TO RAISE YOUNG CHILDREN TO STAND IN THE TRUTH
    One of the saddest aspects of our national borrowing binge of the past few decades is the damage it has done to an entire generation of children. Parents who used credit cards and home equity lines to finance a lifestyle way beyond the family’s means have left their children with no experience, understanding, or appreciation for what it means to live a financially honest life.
    I am not interested in assigning blame or provoking feelings of guilt. I raise this important issue in the hope that from this day forward all parents will devote themselves to instilling a strong set of values in their children and teaching them essential money management skills. Survey after survey reports that, in the wake of the financial crisis, parents worry that their children’s future will be limited. That is what we are addressing head-on in this class, so you will not live in a state of anxiety about your children, but you will in fact act to secure their future, right here, right