The Things We Forget to Teach

We spend a lot of time preparing the next generation for life.

We teach them to drive.

We encourage them to get an education.

We talk to them about careers, relationships, responsibility, and making good choices.

But somewhere along the way, many of us forgot to teach them how to write a check.

I was reminded of this recently through an experience with a younger client I have worked with for several years. She received a meaningful inheritance from her father, who had the foresight to understand that receiving money and knowing how to manage money are two very different things.

He structured his estate plan in a way that gave his children time to mature before having full responsibility for their inheritance.

I think there was a great deal of wisdom in that decision.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of watching this client learn about money, investing, planning, and financial responsibility.

It has been a journey.

Recently, that journey included learning how to write a check.

A 4:55 P.M. Friday Lesson

It started, as financial emergencies often seem to, at 4:55 on a Friday afternoon.

My client realized she didn't have enough money in her checking account to cover some upcoming expenses. She had money available elsewhere, but moving money between financial institutions isn't always instantaneous—especially late on a Friday afternoon.

We worked together that evening and again Saturday morning to find another solution.

She had checks connected to one of her investment accounts. If she could find them, she could write herself a check and deposit it into her checking account.

After opening several previously unopened envelopes, she found the checks.

Success.

Or so we thought.

She wrote the check, deposited it through her mobile banking app, and waited.

The bank placed a hold on the deposit.

Then the check was returned.

When she sent me a copy of the check, I immediately saw the problem.

She hadn't signed the front.

When I explained this to her, she was genuinely surprised.

"No one ever taught me that."

That sentence has stayed with me.

Because she was right.

She knew to endorse the back of the check. She knew to fill in the amount. She even knew to use the memo line.

But no one had ever explained that the blank line on the lower right-hand side was where she needed to sign her name.

What seemed obvious to me wasn't obvious to her.

And why would it be?

We Assume People Know What We Know

It's easy to laugh at a story like this.

It's easy to say, "How could someone not know how to write a check?"

But I think that misses the larger lesson.

We often assume people know things simply because we know them.

For many of us, writing checks was part of becoming an adult. We paid rent with checks. We balanced checkbooks. We waited for checks to clear.

Today's younger generations have grown up in an entirely different financial world.

They Venmo.

They tap their phones.

They set up automatic payments.

They move money through apps.

Many have probably never stood in line at a bank, filled out a deposit slip, or balanced a checkbook.

Technology has made managing money easier in many ways.

But easier doesn't always mean better understood.

And when something falls outside the normal rhythm of tapping, swiping, and clicking, a surprisingly small gap in financial knowledge can create a surprisingly big problem.

In my client's case, an unsigned check led to returned deposits, a frozen account, multiple phone calls, conflicting information, a fraud review, and several days of uncertainty.

One missing signature.

One very big headache.

What Are We Forgetting to Teach?

This experience made me think about the things we assume our children and grandchildren know.

Do they know how to write a check?

Do they understand how to read a bank statement?

Do they know the difference between their available balance and their actual balance?

Do they understand that depositing a check doesn't necessarily mean the money is immediately available?

Do they know that moving money between financial institutions can take several business days?

Do they understand how credit card interest works?

Do they know where their important financial documents are?

Do they open their financial mail?

Do they know who to call when they have a financial question?

And perhaps most importantly:

Do they know how to plan ahead?

The Financial Skill That Doesn't Require a Calculator

There was another lesson hidden inside this experience.

Planning.

My client waited until she was almost out of money before realizing she needed to transfer funds.

That left no room for error.

And there is almost always the possibility of error.

A transfer gets delayed.

A check gets held.

A bank flags a transaction.

An account number is entered incorrectly.

A holiday changes the processing schedule.

Or someone simply forgets to sign a check.

When we wait until the last possible moment, a small problem immediately becomes an emergency.

Panic sets in.

And once that panic button gets pushed, it can take a hot minute to unwind everything.

Planning ahead doesn't mean everything will always go perfectly.

It simply gives us breathing room when it doesn't.

That may be one of the most important financial lessons we can teach the next generation.

Leave yourself some margin.

Keep enough cash available for upcoming expenses.

Know when your bills are due.

Understand where your money is.

Think a few steps ahead.

Don't wait until Friday at 4:55.

Financial Literacy Starts at Home

When we talk about teaching young people about money, we often jump immediately to investing.

We want them to understand the stock market.

We tell them to start contributing to a retirement account early.

We explain compound interest.

We encourage them to save.

All of those things matter.

But maybe we need to start even smaller.

Sit down with your children or grandchildren and show them how to write a check.

Show them how to read a bank statement.

Explain what happens when they deposit a check.

Talk about why banks sometimes place holds on funds.

Teach them how to create a simple budget.

Show them how to review a credit card statement.

Explain why planning ahead matters.

Tell them who they can call when they don't understand something.

And perhaps most importantly, create an environment where they aren't embarrassed to ask.

Because "I don't know" is not a failure.

It's an opportunity to learn.

My client's father understood something years ago that I think many families could benefit from remembering:

Money and financial maturity don't necessarily arrive at the same time.

An inheritance can be received overnight.

Financial wisdom cannot.

That takes time.

It takes experience.

It takes conversations.

It takes mistakes.

And it takes people who are willing to teach the things the rest of us assume everyone already knows.

Sometimes financial literacy begins with understanding compound interest.

And sometimes it begins with a simple lesson:

Sign your name on the line.