Beck BodeIn this special Father's Day edition of the NoBondsCast, "Raising Relentless Investors," Beck Bode co-founders Ben Beck, CFP® and Jim Bode take a break from their usual investment discussions to share personal insights about fatherhood, family values, and how they approach financial education with their children. Learn how these wealth management experts teach their own kids about money, investing, and financial independence.
Watch the Full Episode of the nobondscast
Watch Beck Bode co-founders discuss how they're raising the next generation of financially savvy investors. This Father's Day special offers valuable insights for parents looking to teach their children about money management, entrepreneurship, and investing basics.
Key Takeaways from "Raising Relentless Investors"
- Build Financial Confidence Early: Children who understand money's value develop lifelong decision-making skills. Jim shows how teaching kids that "money matters and how you spend it makes a difference" creates financially confident adults who avoid costly mistakes.
- Transform Summer Jobs into Wealth: A teenager's first job can become their financial foundation. Jim reveals how converting his son's modest earnings into a Roth IRA created a powerful lesson about compounding: "You have another 50 years until you're going to be touching this money."
- Create Financial Transparency Without Anxiety: Open money conversations prepare children for real-world financial decisions without causing stress. The founders demonstrate how discussing "the cost of life" creates financially literate children who understand trade-offs without obsessing over money.
- Foster Independence Through Entrepreneurship: Early business experiences develop critical thinking that extends beyond finances. Ben shares how his childhood lawn mowing business taught self-reliance that ultimately led to creating Beck Bode, providing "an incredible amount of independence and freedom."
Below are highlights from their conversation – but be sure to catch the full podcast for all their wisdom and personal stories!
Teaching Children Financial Values: Insights from Financial Advisors
Q: What financial values have you taught your kids, and how have you seen those values reflected in their behaviors?
Jim: "One of the things I'm trying to instill in my kids is the value of money and understanding how far money can go. I still try to tell them the importance that money matters and how you spend it makes a difference. You can make decisions on how you want to spend your money, but realizing that you work hard for your money and that the decisions you make have a direct impact on whatever financial decisions you're going to have in the future."
Ben: "Griffin, my son, is the most dialed in financially. He's very conservative with respect to how he operates, and he's sort of entrepreneurial. Over the past year or so, he's actually started to go on eBay and sell. He first started selling his old baseball cards, and now that's graduated to selling his old baseball and other sporting equipment as he's gotten older with sports."
For Ben and Jim, teaching children to be "relentless" with their financial decisions means instilling a sense of responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit from an early age.
How Birth Order Affects Children's Money Mindset
Q: Do your children have different attitudes about money based on when they were born?
Jim: "Our kids have had a very different impact on finances based on their birth order. Luke [18] is much more cognizant about money. He's thinking a lot more about where, what are we doing for dinner tonight. Where Anna [11] might look at me and say, 'What's going on with DoorDash? Where are we ordering from?' So those little things, even how and where we were at our stage of our careers, has had a different impact on our kids."
Teaching Teens About Investing: Starting a Roth IRA for Your Child
Q: How have you introduced your children to investing?
Jim: "When Luke was 16 and first got his job, we opened up a Roth IRA. We explained the difference between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA. And then we asked him, 'Well, what are you going to invest in?' Of course, I didn't just let him go and say, 'Well, I heard about whatever company was on the news.' We took him through our process... He's read the book 'Dancing with the Analysts,' and we showed him the list of companies that we might own, where now he's tracking what's important to us, which is the future earnings of companies."
Ben: "Think of yourself as an 18-year-old and being afforded the information that Luke or any of our kids are this early in their life—what stands out is the value of money."
Childhood Money Lessons That Build Entrepreneurial Skills
Q: What childhood money lessons have impacted your approach as adults and parents?
Ben: "Probably the most impactful one was when I was in fifth grade, my dad started a lawn mowing business. On a whim, he got me and my brother together, we bought two lawnmowers and a weed whacker, and we basically advertised and went out and started mowing lawns in and around where we grew up. That was probably the most impactful scenario for me growing up because it taught me about what it means to be an entrepreneur—if you have an idea and you have something of value that can benefit somebody else, and you have the willingness to go out there and start, it's incredible what can happen."
Jim: "My first job was delivering papers. The hardest part of the job was actually collecting the cost. Once a month I would show up at somebody's house and say, 'Hey, you owe me $2 for the papers.' I was figuring out how to work with clients, how to talk to them about asking them for something that you've done for them, the cost of it. And then what do you do with that money?"
At Beck Bode, the founders' early experiences with money and business have shaped their investment approach. These childhood lessons in entrepreneurship, customer service, and value creation are principles they now apply both in their wealth management practice and in teaching their own children about financial responsibility.
Family Financial Conversations: How to Talk About Money With Kids
Q: How do you approach financial discussions with your children?
Jim: "My kids are very aware of finances. Maybe not personal income, but the cost of life and the luxuries that we might have or the things that we say no to—there's cost to that. So my kids, and I'm guessing with yours, are used to having money conversations, which I think is a really healthy dialogue."
Ben: "They are involved in the conversations, but they're hearing a lot of this stuff on a very daily basis being discussed. Every once in a while they have a question about, 'Hey, dad, what the heck are you talking about?' And it gives me the opportunity to think, 'Are we explaining things to our clients in a way that makes sense?' Because we do this every day, so a lot of this stuff can be second nature."
College Financial Planning: Involving Your Children in Big Money Decisions
Q: How do you involve your children in major financial decisions like college?
Jim: "We've included Luke in all financial decisions when it comes down to this and letting him know that this is a big commitment financially for mom and dad and him, because he's got some skin in the game."
Financial Independence: The Ultimate Money Lesson for the Next Generation
Q: What's one money lesson you hope to pass on to your children?
Jim: "I love the fact that we can instill in our kids that being an entrepreneur is actually a really positive thing. And it's okay to take some risks, especially early on in your career, that's going to put you in a position in the future to either be a business owner or to try something you might not have expected."
Ben: "The lesson that I always want to instill in my kids is that you handle your money appropriately and for the right reasons. That what it buys for you is an incredible amount of independence and freedom as you go forward to make the decisions that you want to make, to do the things with your family that you want to do. That's just an incredible lesson to learn."
Listen to the full episode of the No BondsCast Father's Day Special, "Raising Relentless Investors," to hear more insights from Ben and Jim on balancing work, family, and financial education. Available now on Youtube or at beckbode.com/podcast.
Looking for more guidance on teaching your children about finances? Schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our advisors to discuss your family's financial education and planning needs.
Beck Bode is a deliberately different wealth management firm with a unique investment philosophy that doesn't rely on bonds. We focus on long-term equity growth strategies for families seeking financial independence and building legacies for future generations. Learn more about our approach at beckbode.com.