Vacations, water parks, outdoor events, ice cream – it’s all great summer fun, but it all also comes with a price tag. To make the most of summer, families can take the dreaded financial planning part and make that fun too.
Sandi Bragar, chief client officer at Aspiriant in San Francisco, joined Rob Hart on the WBBM Newsradio’s Noon Business Hour this week to discuss how to build a Summer Family Plan.
“It’s always a great time to create a shared family goal and creating a financial goal together creates connectedness among the family,” she told Hart.
While families plot out how to afford all their summer activities and goals, they can also learn financial skills. This is especially important for younger generations.
“There's so many different great ways to do this,” Bragar said.
She recommended systems where parents match money that kids put towards summer goals, and families can also set goals for saving certain amounts of money, with prizes along the way. Bragar also encouraged to let children get involved in plans by picking vacation spots or activities and organizing nights out.
“Making it fun is going to be really important for the experiential learning that you're trying to create with this shared family goal,” Bragar explained. Her work at Aspiriant has shown that from summer goals to family businesses, it’s important that every member of the plan feels like they are seen and heard, and that every member is held accountable for outcomes.
Parents should be aware of some structural aspects of the Summer Family Plan before they gather the family to start on their saving adventure. First, she said that they should be clear about their goals and framework. Then, they have to be prepared for potentially falling short of their goals.
“I think that’s really important to think through in advance to make sure that the parents have a good plan in place,” Bragar told Hart.
