Do your children know your salary

[JanuaryJaguar]

Following on from the thread about whether your parents know your salary I am curious if people share this information with their children. Also if they are aware of what you earn now old are they.
I think in this country we are very coy about salary and linking a persons worth to what they earn. This can lead to children growing up without enough financial knowledge to live as adults.
For my part I gave my children pocket money from 4 years old and have gradually had conversations about salaries and our mortgage, bills etc. My 16 year old knows what we earn, how much tax we pay etc but my 13 year old is less interested so probably couldn’t tell you.
So my question is, how old are your children and how much do they know about your household income and expenditure?

Mine don't but they are 6 and 3! I will tell them one day but only when they are old enough not to repeat it to anyone. We will be doing GoHenry and savings accounts etc with them.

No - but she's 5.

We're low income,so she knows money isn't endless and we save money here to spend money there etc.

So she knows we don't go to soft play all the time, but that means we can go swimming or to the beach for the day or whatever.

My 20 year old does and I know what she earns from work and her uni bursary and what she will earn when qualified. I know what my dad and mum earned and I know what my wealthy brother earns. Not sure what my self employed one earns, not sure if he even does to be honest.

No.

I don't think they need to know! It is good for them to learn money management etc but having them start judging people for how much they earn, i don't think so. They can learn as adults

Yes, they are teens and older. It’s still just a number for them as until they earn their own and have to pay for the day to day stuff they won’t really understand.

Why would knowing make them start judging people? I don’t understand that logic.

yes, op mine knows, we have always been open as a family,

You don’t think they should be making education decisions based on future earnings potential? I think it’s fine to work in lower paid employment but you should have your eyes wide open to the implications of this.

DS is 21. He knows our salaries, our mortgage, investments, how much we sold a business for, all of our bills. We don’t hide any financial information from him. He’s known all of this since about age 14/15.

We figured if he wants to live and sustain the lifestyle we currently lead, then he needs to know how much he’ll need to earn and what his costs will be.

My parents never discussed anything finance related with me. I don’t think it did me any favours.

Mine do. It's not exactly a hot topic but if they've asked I've told them and given them context as to what it means, the tax I pay etc. I'm a big advocate of salary transparency and think the way the British, in general, approach this, with cloaks and daggers, has facilitated the gender pay gap.

DS2 (nearly 5) - has no idea

DS1 (8) - has a rough idea, re: money in general we are looking to buy a house atm. and he knows how much deposit we have, and our total budget. He also likes to ask if we have any investments (He also likes military history, he basically 48 in an 8 year old body)

Yes, I've never hidden it from parents of DD. Although I've always worked in the public sector so anyone who wants to find out could. I know what my parents earn. Perhaps if I earn big bucks I'd be more inclined to keep schtum.

I think it's important for financial education. I've shown DD now a teen, my banking app and credit card accounts and talked through how they work. What Apr is etc.we talk about 'Bill' money and 'Fun' money and about getting the balance right and although our bills are always paid sometimes we have to tighten our belt and spend less of the 'fun' money.

DD has a SIPP, not a huge amount in it but she can already see how that investment is increasing. She has her own current account and savings account that she manages independently. We spoke about having a float in the current account and putting more money in the savings at a higher interest rate and transfering as necessary.

How are children supposed to make career decisions if they don't know the details? I also talk about non-financial benefits so the discounts I get, the maternity/paternity/ parental leave on offer, my pension etc. We look at job adverts and the different levels of responsibility per Salary and the job description and whether those things are things she'd like to do or not.

I run a business and share my books with my DS and have since they were teens they are curious anyhow so they can understand tax's profit net profits etc.

And then they can see the variables of what I can draw down and they understand our mortgage and build costs etc.

They know my DHs salary as I've moaned about if for so many years and he finally got a much better paying role, so we celebrated and they asked and he told them.

I've talked to my daughter (10) about my hourly rate. It sounds like a lot but I've told her that it has to cover my work costs, then 40% goes to the government in tax. Then what remains has to pay for the mortgage, power, heat, food, transport, clothes, holidays and fun things. It's introducing the idea of budgeting, which I will build on as she gets older.

They should be looking at careers that interest them. Earning 6 figures isn't everything. Being happy and content in work is important.

I don't think it's worth the stress and pressure people talk about when earning high amounts

They should be aware, obviously that money makes things easier etc.

But really it's more important they know the value of money and can manage the funds they have, whether it's a minimum wage part time job or a CEO earning £500k

My kids don't know specifics but they know the general idea and we have conversations about what things cost and the choices we make.

DD is 17 and has a rough idea of everything but not exact figures.

Why would they need to know that?

Yes DD's know.
Unfortunately, one is a bury her head in the sand type.
I showed the other one all the piles of paperwork laid out for the tax returns. She was horrified.

Yes. They are 11 and 9. Single parent here. 11year old also knows what we have leftover after bills as she was watching rich house, poor house and asked me.

No, as I work in their school so it might be tricky for them to know.

Yes, as a single parent with low CMS, ok-ish income, but high bills/mortgage they need to know. I include them in budgets. When we watch rich house/poor house they can identify with poor house. They know the sacrifices I make in time to spend with them. They know every penny we have goes to them.
They also see the flip side in their dad. He's minted and will take them for lunch at The Ivy. But they know he's minted because although he works all hours (yet only claims he earns £12k 🙄), it's the sacrifices that I've made such as school runs which has kept me in a lower paid job, that has enabled this.
I think it's important to share income. Especially when we are bombarded with financial news. I very quickly showed them how my 3% pay increase was swallowed up by inflation and continued high interest rates.
Eldest is now in work and understands how expensive she is to run 😂
Younger teens seem to have grasped this too.

My 18 year old DS does yes, but not my parents 🤣
He uses my salary as a benchmark to earn more than, and my DHs salary as one to aspire to 🤣
He’s known one for quite a few years, because they don’t learn about taxes, NI, pay rises and bonus’ in school, so I’ve been teaching him using our payslips.

About a year or so ago I started teaching him about all our outgoings as well, I wrote it all down with our combined salary’s, showed him my bank accounts, how I save, and how savings interests work as well. He’s become quite good at savings. He still hasn’t fully got his head around it all but he’s getting there

@fanaticalfairy i never said anything about 6 figure salaries. There is a big difference between minimum wage work and jobs like teachers, nurses etc. Most jobs above minimum wage require children to work towards their exams and understand what is required in terms of post school education.

No.
My kids knew that we earned enough for holidays and most of what they wanted.
As adults they know that if they get stuck, they can ask. Helped one dd out with nursery bills, another with some credit card debt.
Beyond that they don't need to know