Just in case you didn’t know what boomerang kids are, they are just like they sound. It is when a parent raises their kids to be productive adults but for one reason or another they come back to live at home. I have a story about this but I will not use any names to protect the guilty.

The mother who thought she had already raised her kids to be able to take care of themselves has one child who can not control their overspending and giving their kids whatever they want. The overspending has caused the child to go deeply into debt and lose their house. Now instead of letting her child learn a lesson the hard way, she decides to take her in when she knows she does not have enough room. The mother says “I just want to be able to help my child out for a while so she can save up some money to move out” But instead of helping she is actually enabling her and allowing her to live completely rent free for almost 2 years. During this time the child has not even saved up any money and has still not bothered to move out.

This is a true story of someone I know quite well. This saddens me and also really pisses me off. Enabling somebody does not help them one bit. You are hurting them by not letting them deal with their own problems. When you do everything for someone they never learn how to take care of themselves.

Building a solid foundation is an important step in the construction of any building. If the foundation is not solid the building will collapse. The same goes with your finances. If you do not know the basics then its going to be an uphill stuggle
I specifically want to talk about building a foundation for your kids to learn about money. My feeling is that the earlier you teach them the basic principles the much better off they will be in the long run. (And they won't live in your basement when they are 40)
My son is 6 years old and like many young kids, they always want something new each week. A couple months ago we decided that it was time to start teaching him about money and how it works. We ordered Dave Ramseys Financial Peace Junior kit and a bunch of other products for kids. He really enjoyed listening to the stories and he really loves his giving, saving and spending banks.
Now each week he has a small lists or chores that he does to earn his money. And he has been really good about doing his work. A few weeks back he actually saved up enough to buy a small $7 toy for himself. We took all of his change and went to the bank to get dollars for it and off to the store we went. I let him pay for it himself also and I think it was a great learning experience.
Its simple things like this that build a strong foundation for other things in life. My goal is to save him from at least some of the stupid mistakes the my wife and I made with our finances early on in our marriage.