I have heard and read parents say things like, "Children don't need to know about money; they need to be children," or "They should focus on their studies, not on handling money."

I believe money is fundamental to life; most of the things we want and desire can be obtained with money. Money is part of our daily lives there is nowhere you can go where money isn't discussed or handled. So, why not teach our children about something so important from an early age? (Naturally, this should be done according to their level of understanding).

Perhaps I feel this way because my parents always talked to me about money in their own way. My dad took a simpler approach and would tell me to "save"; my parents, aunts and uncles, and grandmother would sometimes give me money for my birthday, Christmas, and other gift-giving occasions. Another way I managed to save was through the daily allowance I received for school breakfast; I would always keep the change, and once I had saved up enough to buy something I liked, I would spend it.

My dad swapped the "save" mindset for "spend it now" when Venezuela was hit by a brutal, ruthless hyper-devaluation; I remember it vividly that was the last time he gave me money. He said, "I always tell you to save, but this time, spend it immediately on something you want or need, because in a few days it won't be worth anything." Back then, the average citizen didn't have the habit of exchanging bolivars for dollars to hedge against devaluation. Don't judge me or my family for not switching from fiat to Bitcoin at that time; we simply didn't know it existed. Personally, I didn't go down this rabbit hole until 2020–2021.

My mom taught me another economic concept: "invest." She is a merchant at one time very successful with her clothing stores a woman who pulled herself up and achieved a great deal on her own. Without any formal education, she managed to figure out a basic formula without anyone ever teaching it to her: investing. From the time I was eight, she would tell me, "Daughter, I’ll provide the investment for this product, and you handle the selling. The profits are yours; then, you reinvest those earnings, and so on, until you grow your capital." You might ask, "How could a young girl work or sell things?" I was always at my mom's shop; I would watch and listen to her and learn how to deal with customers, and I tried to imitate her. My mom's idea was for me to sell my own product in her shop, under her supervision.

Now that I am an adult, I try to pass on to my daughter the same lessons my parents taught me, while also introducing concepts like currency devaluation, shrinkflation, inflation, and of course Bitcoin. She has her own wallets; when we play Monopoly or other games involving money like "playing store" we use sats and make payments via the Lightning Network. Her savings and allowance are also paid in sats. I always talk to my daughter about the importance of dividing money among savings, investments, and expenses. I might be overlooking something that I should also be teaching him/her.