I am teaching Eleanor about money. I am starting with puppies.
Last Saturday, she came with us to choose the puppy we are sponsoring this year for Shelter to Soldier, a nonprofit that trains rescue dogs into service dogs for veterans with PTSD. We sponsor a dog every year. This was the first year she was old enough to help pick.
In our family, financial literacy starts at age five. And it does not start with money. It starts with philanthropy.
Here is the part nobody says out loud: it has to be something we both love doing, not a lesson I assign her.
That is what Saturday was. One dog (his name is Pluto and he’s really cute, see below). One veteran whose life it will eventually change. Tangible, irreversible impact, and Eleanor got to be part of choosing it. She already understands what Albee means to us. He brings joy to the house and works as a service dog for her great-grandmother. Handing that same gift to someone else is something even a two-year-old can grasp.
That is the lesson I want her to absorb before she learns anything else about money. Resources, including time and capital, can be aimed at something beyond yourself. Giving is not the sacrifice. It is the point.
At what age did someone first teach you that you had a responsibility to something beyond yourself?
