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5 secrets that millionaires teach their kids

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Most parents might skim over financial know-how when it comes to the life lessons they pass onto their offspring, but it appears that rich parents do the exact opposite.

This is just one secret that Steve Siebold discovered after spending 34 years interviewing and observing more than 1,200 self-made millionaires.

Perhaps the benefits of understanding money and maths aren't surprising. A 2007 meta-analysis of 35,000 preschoolers across the US, Canada and England found that developing maths skills early on can add up to a huge advantage.

Northwestern University researcher and co-author of the study Greg Duncan said in a press release:

The paramount importance of early math skills — of beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order, and other rudimentary math concepts — is one of the puzzles coming out of the study.

Mastery of early math skills predicts not only future math achievement, it also predicts future reading achievement.

Here are some more of the most important parenting tips from those who've made it financially, as revealed by Siebold in an interview with CNBC.

1. Surround yourself with successful people

This could be as simple as playing sports dominated by wealthy people, such as golf.

This might allow you networking opportunities, advises Siebold. He told CNBC:

You need rich friends.

The sheer exposure to their heightened level of awareness around everything related to wealth will dramatically expand your thinking.

2. Make money by solving problems

If you're fixed on getting filthy rich, you may as well help others along the way.

Helping to solve a widespread problem is a fail-safe way to make money. Siebold told CNBC:

Spend your time basking in entertainment, and you will struggle your entire life financially. 

Invest your time creating solutions to people's problems, and you'll never lose a minutes sleep worrying about how to pay the mortgage.

3. Pick a career you love

You'll be far more motivated earning money doing a job you love than one you hate.

But this can be far too easy to forget during the race to riches. Siebold told CNBC:

It's difficult to invest the necessary time and energy into a profession that bores you or that has little meaning beyond money.

#Waking up everyday with excitement for going to work is a formula for financial abundance, emotional fulfillment, and life satisfaction.

4. Spend carefully

Even if your paycheck is big, budgeting is still important if you want to stay wealthy.

Siebold gave CNBC a dire warning:

Excessive spending can ruin you.

It happens every day to people with millions of dollars at their disposal.

5. You deserve to make it

Most importantly, remember that you deserve prosperity. It should not be reserved for just people of a certain background.

Believing in yourself can make it possible, argues Siebold to CNBC. He said:

The only people who tell you that the self-made rich don't deserve it are people that have never done it.

Believe me, by the time you get rich, you'll be convinced that you've earned it.

Similarly aving high expectations means your children are more likely to succeed.

University of California at Los Angeles professor Neal Halfon and his colleagues discovered that the expectations parents hold for their kids have a huge effect on attainment. He said in a statement: 

Parents who saw college in their child's future seemed to manage their child toward that goal irrespective of their income and other assets.

HT CNBC

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