Expert: Money Mentoring Pays Big Benefits

If you have ever had the experience of participating in a positive mentoring relationship (adult-to-youth or youth-to-youth) you know the short- and long-term benefits can be enormous.

I have witnessed first-hand the power of mentoring relationships via an award-winning non-profit organization in Minneapolis called YouthCARE.

For more than 15 years, YouthCARE’s Young Women’s Mentoring Program has employed urban teen girls to provide positive social, recreational, and educational activities for girls, 7-13 years old. In short, the benefits for both the mentors and the mentees are often life-changing.

So it is with mentoring relationships. Rarely are the benefits one-sided. It’s why I am so passionate about discussing the benefits of money mentoring.

At a recent speaking engagement, a 20-something young man described how his grandfather was an invaluable money mentor.

"Every summer, my sister and I spent several weeks with our grandparents who owned a small grocery store," said Matt. "Part of our daily routine was a five-minute walk to the local bank with Grandpa where we would drop off the night-deposit bag that held all the day’s cash."

While Matt and his sister loved carrying the “bag full of cash,” he said the value for him went well beyond that experience.

"Looking back, it was so much more than that," said Matt. "My grandfather also shared important life lessons on our walk -- like what it meant to own a business; how to save for goals; and why it was so important to give back to the community. He understood that someday those mini-life lessons would benefit us as we started making our own financial decisions."

And so it goes with money mentoring. One group transfers financial values and ideas to the other in the form of real-life experiences.

What if millions of youth and adults were matched up in money-mentoring relationships within their immediate or extended families? I believe the benefits would be off-the-chart positive. Not only would it foster intergenerational accountability, but it would also address a need that is larger than the Grand Canyon -- the growing challenge of financial illiteracy.

Participating in a money-mentoring relationship can be a mutually beneficial experience. Here are some suggestions to help you get started.

1. Establish a few goals (e.g. skills you want to develop, frequency of interaction, etc.)
2. Identify a possible mentor-mentee relationship (e.g. parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, aunt/uncle-niece/nephew, etc.)
3. Plan some real-world, age relevant experiences for teaching healthy financial habits (e.g. setting up a bank account, comparing features, benefits and prices when purchasing a home computer, sharing money and time with a cause they care about, etc.)
4. Measure your progress.

Money mentoring is not a one-shot deal. It's like the quote from the popular Aesop’s fable, "slow and steady wins the race."

Did you have a money mentor and if so were the lessons beneficial?

Sometimes we forget about people or experiences in our past that influence how we make financial choices today. A little introspection can be a good thing as you think about the topic of money mentoring.

How much impact does mentoring or coaching have on career success? A remarkable 91 percent of respondents from 42 countries said it had either great or moderate impact.

Source: DDI Global Leadership Forecast

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