Teach your teen the value of time

“Time is Money”
“A stitch in time saves nine”
“Time and tide wait for none”
“Don’t waste your time doing these silly things”
“Do you have some FREE time?

We’re all pretty well acquainted with these phrases. As we get older, we realise that at some point these phrases have all turned out to be true. However, as is the case with many other things that are ubiquitous, most people fail to unravel the deeper meaning behind it.

Have you ever wondered why we colloquially use only certain verbs with the noun ‘time’? ‘Spend’, ‘waste’, ‘manage’. It's almost like we’re trying to tell ourselves something. That time is a scarce but hugely valuable resource. Much like money.

Recommendation: A really good illustration of how time can be equated with money is captured in the movie In Time, where the phrase is interpreted quite literally. Therefore, the richer you get, the more 'immortal' you become. (It's a pretty good watch, highly recommended!)

Being young and having their whole life ahead of them, teens have a tendency to look at time as something that lies in their future. For parents, the value of time comes from their past and the lessons they’ve learnt in dealing with its fleeting nature. Thus, it becomes important to teach your teens the value of time and what it means vis-a-vis money.

So how do you make your adolescent understand this in a way that will actually impact them?

Use yourself as an example. Here’s how:

1. How you essentially trade your time to earn money

The Exercise: Based on a fixed increment and estimated retirement age, show your teen how much money you would make in your career, and compare this with the net worth of the wealthiest people they know.

The Lesson: True wealth is never achieved by trading time for money. It is achieved by finding leverage and scaling it.

(This is also an excellent time to show them what your personal tactics to build wealth through leverage are).

2. How you can buy back time with money

Based on how much you earn, show your teen the cost of an hour of your time. Having established the relationship between time and money, you can now show them how you can buy back your time by spending money.

The Exercise: Draw your teen’s attention to the things you need to get done over the next few days. Now that they know the hourly value of your time, you can show them how much it would cost for you to complete these tasks manually by trading time, or by paying a professional to do them, freeing up time at the expense of money.

(If you pay your teen to help with household chores, this is also a good example to use).

Bonus point: go ahead and point out how much it costs you to be taking the time to educate your teen about time for some meta humour. Though be sure to underline that time spent with your teen is considered priceless. 😉

3. The time value of money

This is a concept that many financial analysts struggle to grab hold of. What if you could explain it to your child in a way that will always have a lasting impression? If they understand this, then they will understand the exact relationship between Time and Money.

The Exercise: Ask them if they would rather have 10 spare hours right now or 2 years later? Similarly, ask if they would prefer $1M in their hands right now at their young age or the same amount at the age of 25?

The Lesson: If they want these things right now, then you can be sure that they have understood the basics. If not, then tell them how time, like money, is promised to none. You can never wait for things to happen (because you lose a lot of opportunities in the interim). Besides, who knows what the future holds?

4. That little bit of existential dread

It is pretty uncharacteristic of parents who are meant to be their child’s protectors to actively scare them about their place in the world. But take it from us, that just a little bit of fear is good. As the famous Alicia Keys song goes, “There’s only 28,000 days”.

The Exercise: Talk to your child about how long yet short life is. Especially when there’s so much they’d like to do. Sooner or later, they will begin to see that time is not different to money in reality. They will prioritise and optimise their lifestyle, because nobody knows them like they know themselves!

Now that your teen understands the value of time, it'll be a lot easier to get them to create that timetable you've been asking them to make.

Teach your teen all about building and managing wealth by signing up to the Yodaa app now!