Insulation vs. Isolation In An Age of Affluence

America is the Disneyland of the world. Kids in this country are blessed with a level of affluence that is unknown throughout most of the world. Even those of us who grew up only a generation ago can barely comprehend many of the things today's culture takes for granted. According to the American Express Retail Index, parents and teens spent an average of $550 per child on back-to-school shopping. Teenage Research Unlimited reports that teenagers are spending an average of $84 per week of their own and their parents' money. Wealth in America grew exponentially in the last decade. The Spectrum Group reports that high net-worth households (those with assets of at least $1 million, not counting their primary residence) exploded from 1.8 million in 1990 to 7.2 million by 1999! Today, more than half of all American millionaires are under 55- years old, compared with only 26% a few years ago.

Whether you're a part of this new financially elite segment, or not -- this data has a direct impact on your family. You don't have to be wealthy to be a victim of the "wealth factor." Just as a tide raises all boats, wealthy friends affect what your kids want. When their friends buy the newest brand of shoes, or the most popular line of jeans -- your kids will want them, too. And, even if you run with a decidedly middle-class group, don't underestimate the effect the media and advertising have on your children's wish lists.

A big part of parenting today has to do with helping our kids live within the culture, without becoming a part of the culture. It is an issue of insulating them from the pressures and temptations around them without isolating them from the world at large.

Where We Came From

I suspect that many of you are a lot like me. I grew up in the sixties. Things were somewhat different in those days. Back then money wasn't openly discussed in many households. There were several reasons for this:

First, our parents came from a more genteel era. After all, if they had prospered, talking about money was considered vulgar and tantamount to bragging. If they were struggling, they suffered silently-never admitting their pain. Also, remember in those days money was a "guy thing." Dad handled the dollars in most homes, and Mom and the kids heard very little about the family's financial picture except when there was a crisis.

But, I suspect the most important factor of all was a general lack of financial education among most of that generation. After all, these were the people who had fought and won the Second World War. Many of them had sacrificed their own childhoods and dreams for a college education so their kids wouldn't grow up speaking German or Japanese. In many ways this was the generation that abandoned their hopes to give the next generation a future. It's little wonder that they weren't as educated (or, as cocky) as their kids have become on monetary issues.