09 Apr 2026 What I Hope My Daughter Learns
As I sit here writing this Brief, my wife and I are on the precipice of welcoming our first child into the world, a baby girl. Naturally, there are many thoughts running through my mind. Do we have everything we need? If not, Amazon is a short shipment away. Are the bags packed and ready for the hospital? Not quite, but more or less everything has been placed at the ready. Are we mentally prepared for the journey ahead? If I have learned anything, it is that it is impossible to be fully prepared for the unknown.
Amid all this, my mind also drifts to the much more important questions. Will Mom and baby be healthy throughout birth? Will she grow up knowing she is loved and cared for? How will I know what to do when the road ahead is uncertain? There are many hopes, fears, and dreams wrapped up in this season, but that is not what this Brief is about today.
I’ll humbly submit this: after more than a decade as a financial planner and zero experience as a parent, I know a lot about money and very little about parenting. I’m grateful that I have had many influences on my thoughts around parenting, many of them in the Beacon office. While there are big life lessons I hope to pass on, today I’ve been reflecting on a few simple money lessons I hope my daughter learns over time.
Money is just a tool, it does not create meaning
From a child’s perspective, money can feel almost magical. A swipe of the card can produce groceries, books, clothes, or fun toys. It can turn problems into solutions. It seems so easy to just swipe away and obtain what you need. While examining someone’s budget reveals what they may value, money itself isn’t what gives life meaning.
Hoarding money is a lonely endeavor
I say this knowing that I was a kid that loved putting money into my piggy bank growing up. Did I have any goals for the money or items I wanted to buy? No, not really, even as a child I just liked seeing more coins in the jar.
But like Eustace Scrubb turning into a dragon in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader after resting on a pile of gold, hoarding money or gold can be a lonely place to find yourself. C.S. Lewis writes, “sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.”
It is all too easy to focus on the pile of money we have accumulated and lose sight of what we hope it can accomplish one day.
Some of life’s best pleasures cost nothing
A walk through the neighborhood. Sitting on the porch talking with friends or family. Checking out a book from the library. Some of the richest parts of life require no money at all. Finding joy in those things is a bit of a cheat code, it naturally lowers the cost of living.
Giving generously sticks with you
In a counterintuitive way, giving money away often lasts longer than anything you can buy. It seems to have a multiplier effect in life that simple material possessions can never match. You see the immediate impact, but the ripple effects extend far beyond what you’ll ever fully know.
There are so many more lessons about money that I hope my daughter learns one day. I am excited that there are many years ahead to impart these nuggets of (what I hope are) wisdom and also to keep learning myself. Let me know your favorite lessons around money that you hope your children have already learned or will continue to learn.
In the meantime, I will also be working on my Dad jokes.
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