There is plenty of advice on how to move from rags to riches but seldom is there about moving from riches to more riches. Even parents who have wealthy families have a responsibility to make sure that their children do not just get their silver spoon but use it well.

According to the book, Silver Spoon Kids, a guide for wealthy parents on how to raise fiscally responsible children, you must show your children three things.

First, show them balanced behaviour by separating wants from needs. Two, giving your kids an allowance when they are young is key to teaching them how to live within their means as adults. Use the start of an allowance to discuss what your kids are expected to do so that they responsible for buying their own biscuits or chocolates or give some of it to their friend at school. They need to develop that sense of ownership before they lay their hands on your inheritance.

Three, show them how to give. Particularly when they are young, they're open to the message that they need to help. Help them count the change they save, and let them know it is good to help a needy friend in distress and not to be too greedy when others can barely survive. This helps them to know that their position is not a right but privilege that comes from hard work which they should continue in their life just their parents.

In times of difficult financial decisions, talk to your children and make them part of the solution.  Ask them for ideas on how the family can save money.  And convert some of those ideas into family rituals, whether it is putting change is a piggy bank or making a family budget.

Many parents who have made it from poor backgrounds make the mistake f thinking that they do not want their children to go through what they did go through, forgetting that their experiences made them who they are. So it is important to tamper the silver spoon with good financial education in order for children from wealthy families to protect their parents’ wealth from reckless plunder.

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