It's a simple calculus, kids and money: From birth until college graduation, children consume dollars like they're chicken nuggets.

For those of us who aren't independentlywealthy" target="_blank" title="a.富有的；丰富的">wealthy, that puts unrelenting pressure on the family pocketbook. The financial demands of raising a child require that money you otherwise might use to prepare for retirement, or to save for a nicer house, a sportier car or a swankier vacation, must, out of necessity, be earmarked for Lego sets and pediatrician visits and school uniforms and Christmas toys and a college savings account and a minivan and a trip to Disneyland ... and lots of, well, chicken nuggets.

I'm not saying this to disparage kids. I have two of my own, and money is nothing in comparison to the happiness they bring me and my wife. Yet happiness does not negate the fact that the moment a child arrives -- and, actually, months before the arrival -- your role as an adult changes in dramatic, profound ways.

And so, too, does your family's financial life.

Not only are you now on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in costs over the next two decades, you also have a new obligation to teach your children about money so that they grow into adults who are at home in the financial world and who have a healthyrelationship with money. You, the parent, are the first and most crucial link in that learning process.

A Lot to Teach

I know that money seems a simple technology and one that wouldn't seem to require much handholding. After all, you've been spending it yourself since you were a kid, and you've been earning it at least a few years. What more is there to know about it, really? And what more do you really need to teach your kids that you don't already know yourself? Well, if statistics are any indicator, a lot.

In measuring how well 12th graders understand the basics of personal finance, the nonprofit Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found that a measly 10% could satisfactorily answer questions about personal finance. Many had no clue how to balance a checkbook. Over all, about half the students failed a test on basic personal-finance literacy.

Yet life as an adult clearly requires knowledge of personal finance. That doesn't mean your child needs an M.B.A. in securityanalysis or that you need to hire a financialadviser to tutor your preschooler. But kids obviously need better information to more effectively manage their own financial resources one day.

Kids have an infiniteability to hear what parents say, even in those moments we're convinced they haven't heard a word we uttered. Moreover, the concept you're pushing might not sink in the first time. Or the third time. Or the eighth time. But there will come a moment when you say what you need to say for the umpteenth time, and the way you phrase it or the mood of the moment or the experience your child just had will cause your lesson, almost miraculously, to suddenly resonate.

Of course, you might not know it at that moment. You will know it, though, when you see or hear your lessons in action.

Driving back from one of my son's soccer games a year or so ago, a flashy Italian sports car pulled up alongside of us on the freeway and the teammate riding home with us said, 'Wow, that guy's rich.'

My son, engrossed in a handheld videogame, looked up to glance at the roadster and reflexively replied, 'It's not how much money you spend that makes you rich. You don't know; that guy might have spent all his money just to buy that car and he has nothing else. So he might not be rich at all.'

Here he was casually correcting a teammate about what is and isn't the definition of wealth, barely having to think about what he was saying. The words were coming out effortlessly. Mom and Dad, he proved, really can make a difference when they set out to instill a bit of financialwisdom in their children.

But my son's commentary was not based on a one-off lecture I'd given him. The lessons had begun early and his mom and I reiterated them time and again.

Make a First Impression

Kids are far more impressionable when they're younger and much less likely to have any sort of experiences outside the family cocoon that could shape their thinking before you do. That's not to say you can't erase the habits or beliefs they pick up, but by the time they're hardened teenagers, your messages won't resonate nearly as strongly.

Ultimately, the aim isn't to mold children who only care about financialriches. It's to raise children who grow into adults who are financially aware and who are comfortable managing the various aspects of money -- whether spending, saving, investing or giving back.

Maybe your child does accumulatefinancialriches. Maybe not. But the true measure of your success in this endeavor is that your child, as an adult, never struggles to understand the basics of personal finance.

That will prove a far greater legacy than any inheritance you might one day leave behind.

Jeff D. Opdyke

• consume [kən´sju:m] v.毁灭；浪费；憔悴 (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
• vacation [və´keiʃən, vei´keiʃən] n.假期；休庭期；腾空 (初中英语单词)
• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
• comparison [kəm´pærisən] n.比较；对照；比喻 (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
• arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)
• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)
• obligation [,ɔbli´geiʃən] n.义务；职责；合约 (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi] a.健康的 (初中英语单词)
• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)
• finance [´fainæns] n.财政；金融 vt.资助 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• analysis [ə´næləsis] n.分解；分析(结果) (初中英语单词)
• obviously [´ɔbviəsli] ad.明显地；显而易见地 (初中英语单词)
• ability [ə´biliti] n.(办事)能力；才干 (初中英语单词)
• moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)
• concept [´kɔnsept] n.概念；观念；思想 (初中英语单词)
• phrase [freiz] n.短语；词组；措词 (初中英语单词)
• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)
• wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
• riches [´ritʃiz] n.房地产；丰富 (初中英语单词)
• accumulate [ə´kju:mjuleit] n.积累；积聚；堆积 (初中英语单词)
• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• profound [prə´faund] a.深奥的；渊博的 (高中英语单词)
• relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip] n.关系；联系；亲属关系 (高中英语单词)
• adviser [əd´vaizə] n.顾问 =advisor (高中英语单词)
• infinite [´infinit] a.无限的，无穷的 (高中英语单词)
• alongside [əlɔŋ´said] ad.在旁 prep.横靠 (高中英语单词)
• inheritance [in´heritəns] n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产 (高中英语单词)
• retirement [ri´taiəmənt] n.退休；撤退；幽静处 (英语四级单词)
• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)
• definition [,defi´niʃən] n.限定；定义；明确 (英语四级单词)
• commentary [´kɔməntəri] n.评论；评注；解说词 (英语四级单词)
• graduation [,grædʒu´eiʃən] n.毕业(典礼)；刻度 (英语六级单词)
• independently [,indi´pendəntli] ad.独立地；自由地 (英语六级单词)
• pocketbook [´pɔkitbuk] n.袖珍本；皮夹子；财力 (英语六级单词)
• satisfactorily [sætis´fæktərili] ad.令人满意地 (英语六级单词)
• effectively [i´fektivli] ad.有效地 (英语六级单词)
• roadster [´rəudstə] n.双人座敞篷汽车 (英语六级单词)
• financially [fi´nænʃəli] ad.在金融方面 (英语六级单词)
• legacy [´legəsi] n.遗产；传代物 (英语六级单词)