My wife asked me the other day out of the blue with an uncharacteristically serious tone, “Have you thought of what kind of legacy will you leave for your children?” I paused for a few seconds before replying her thought provoking question cheekily, “All my wits and strengths lah..haha.” Unsatisfied with my thoughtless response, she said bluntly,” You better think about it.” So here I am, racking my brains and giving some serious thought to it and more importantly, penning them down.
Below are 6 important pieces of advice and wisdom I want to pass down to my children:
1. Financial literacy
The first thing that usually comes to people’s mind is to provide a financial legacy for their children. This is naturally normal as parents have worked more than three quarters of their life to accumulate wealth and become financially stable. Parents are constantly worried about the future of their child(ren) so their savings and investments are used as safeguards for their children. However, all these are deemed useless if their children do not have the financial knowledge to properly invest or save it for rainy days, or even worse, squander all their money needlessly. Hence, it is of paramount importance that children nowadays are provided with adequate financial education to navigate through the vicissitudes of life. I have taught my boys to save part of their allowance in their piggy banks so that the savings can be transferred to their young saver account every half-yearly.
2. Family
As Princess Diana once said, “Family is the most important thing in the world.” I agree wholeheartedly as family is the backbone of our life that provides unconditional love and support to every member in the family. Life has its ups and downs and it is family that makes all its members feel safe, loved and protected. I want my children to understand that it is essential to make every effort to maintain a close-knit family so that no one will feel alone when going through a rough patch. In essence, every family member shares weal and woe together.
3. Find the right partner
Finding the special one whom you can spend the rest of your life happily with is extremely imperative in my eyes. My advice to my children is to expand their social circle, not afraid to know more people and most importantly know what they want and look for in a partner. Give themselves plenty of time to know and understand the person they are interested in and do not waste time being dragged into fruitless relationship. Learn to let go if the relationship does not work out as there are plenty of fish in the ocean. Find someone who can laugh and shed tears with them, embrace their flaws and strengths and stick with them through thick and thin. The key to a happy and long lasting relationship is open communication where both partners are candid and not afraid to share anything under the sun.
4. Invest in yourself
Life is a journey of learning and self-discovery and you can grow and go far when you have an open mind to learn new things and pick up new skills. As the late Benjamin Franklin said,” An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” In short, the more you learn, the wiser you become, the better decision you make and ultimately the more successful you will become. As such, I always remind my children make it a point to improve themselves on a daily basis by learning something new.
5. Be positive
I like people who smile when it is raining. A positive attitude and mindset helps to improve your mood and brighten up your day. Not only does it help to reduce stress but also gives u the confidence to face challenges and cope with setbacks in life. When life hurls lemons at you, turn them into lemonade! Positivity is one of the keys to success and happiness that I want my children to possess.
6. Have good moral values
Instilling good moral values in our children is important in moulding them into caring and responsible adult. They need to understand values like kindness, compassion, respect and honesty are necessary to make them better individuals. I want my children to use their voice for kindness, their ears for compassion, their sight for respect and their hands for honesty. I will be one happy father if my children possess all these good traits. Just the other day, my face lit up with pride when my elder son returned home from school and updated me proudly that he had stood up for his classmate who was bullied in class. I gave him a thumbs-up that he has put these good values into practice in school.
In summary, it is not money or material things I want to pass to my children, but something intangible and invaluable that can stay in their hearts forever.
