Teaching children: budgeting

[tangentgirl]

One big thing I regret is not starting contributing to a 401k earlier. Dangit, I worked at <big company> for 5 years starting at age 18. They matched, but I was so young and dumb and retirement seemed stupid and far away and why would I put my money into something I didn't understand, when I could have an extra $5 in my pocket right then? I remember even trying to turn them down for health insurance, cause I didn't want to pay the extra $4 a week or whatever it was. Luckily that didn't fly. Yeah.

That kind of stuff just wasn't valued or talked about in my family. My parents didn't have jobs with *fancy* things like retirement or insurance.

High school, on the other hand, could have done a better job. There should be mandatory classes on personal finance. I didn't really figure things out until my early 30s, after making a concerted effort to learn more and change bad habits.

**Editing because I'm still shaking my head at my 18yo self. I remember literally thinking that the 401k stuff must be a scam and people who gave their money to it were suckers. Geez!**