How to Teach Your Grandchildren About Money with Jamie Bosse

Children’s book author and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® Jamie Bosse explains how to teach your grandchildren about money.

When it comes to teaching kids about money, we often struggle to find the right words, the right methods, and the right time to start. But what if I told you that a cartoon dog could help? In this episode of Retirement Revealed, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jamie Bosse, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® and children’s book author, about how to teach your grandkids the essential financial skills they need for a lifetime of healthy money habits.

The Journey to Financial Education

Jamie’s path to financial planning wasn’t the most conventional. She initially planned on becoming an elementary school teacher. But during her sophomore year in college, her parents filed for bankruptcy. That life-altering event sparked her curiosity about personal finance, leading her to take financial planning courses. What started as a quest for personal knowledge turned into a career dedicated to helping others avoid financial pitfalls.

Fast forward to today, and Jamie is not only a seasoned financial planner, but also the author of four children’s books about money, featuring Milton the Money Savvy Pup.

Why Teach Kids About Money?

Jamie’s inspiration for writing children’s books came from her own parenting experience. Like many of us, she realized that kids often don’t understand where money comes from or how it works. One day, while shopping with her five-year-old son, she told him a toy wasn’t in their spending plan. His response? “Just buy it on Amazon.” That moment made her realize she needed to take a more active role in teaching her kids about money.

Through her books, Jamie introduces kids to core financial principles in a fun, engaging way. Her stories emphasize concepts such as:

• Earning money by working
• Saving up for things you want
• Dividing money into Give, Save, and Spend categories
• Practicing gratitude to develop healthy financial habits

The Challenge of Invisible Money

Jamie explained one of the challenges kids experience in a way that I hadn’t considered before. Money, she explains, has become largely invisible. Kids see us swiping credit cards, using mobile payment apps, or clicking a button to buy things online. Unlike in previous generations, where cash was king, today’s children rarely handle physical money. The result is that kids nowadays tend to struggle to grasp the value of money because they never physically interact with it.

To combat this, Jamie and I discussed ways to make money real for kids, such as:

• Using physical cash whenever possible to demonstrate transactions
• Encouraging kids to use cash to make small purchases
• Setting up bank accounts for older children to teach digital money management
• Creating opportunities for kids to earn money, rather than just receiving it as gifts

Lessons for Parents and Grandparents

One of the most common concerns from parents and grandparents is that they don’t feel qualified to teach financial literacy. They worry that their own financial mistakes disqualify them from being good role models. But Jamie reassures us that you don’t need to be a financial expert—you just need to be willing to have conversations.

For grandparents, in particular, she suggests:

• Using positive language about money – Instead of saying, “We can’t afford that,” say, “That’s not in our spending plan today.”
• Modeling good financial behavior – If you’re saving up for a big family trip, explain the process to your grandkids.
• Encouraging kids to make spending decisions – Let them make their own purchases and discuss later whether they were happy with their choices.
• Helping kids understand trade-offs – If they want an expensive item, show them how to save up for it instead of buying it for them outright.

Teaching kids about money doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The key is to start early, be consistent, and create real-world experiences that help them understand the value of money. Whether it’s using cash, setting up a bank account, or letting them make (and learn from) their own financial mistakes, every effort counts.

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Additional Links:

• Jamie Bosse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiebosse/
• www.cgnadvisors.com
• Jamie Bosse on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/moneybossmom/
• Jamie Bosse on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/moneybossmom/
• Milton The Money Savvy Pup book series:  www.miltonthemoneysavvypup.com

Connect With Jeremy Keil:

• Keil Financial Partners
• LinkedIn: Jeremy Keil
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• LinkedIn: Keil Financial Partners
• YouTube: Retirement Revealed
• Book an Intro Call with Jeremy’s Team

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