Bettina Langerfeldt

I was perplexed the first time I realized that highly educated me was completely illiterate when it came to money matters.

I was just turning 40 (yeah, I know -- a bit slow) when me and my husband had to face the fact that our financial situation was not going to allow a high school education for our beloved teenage daughter. Never mind her 3 siblings!

Although we had a fairly good living, we were perpetually in debt. With endless years of paying off our mortgage laying before us, and numerous other debts taking their toll on our monthly budget, our financial future did not look very promising.

Numbers don't lie. We had to admit that we had been hopelessly ignorant in managing our income. For the first time we questioned those honored diplomas we had received in college. Was this the successful and prosperous life they had so ardently promised years ago?

Looking around us we discovered that we were not the only ones. Most of our likewise highly educated friends were in the same boat.

One thing was for sure: Our highly acclaimed education had definitely not provided us with financial skills.

And we didn't want that for our children.

In the following years we aggressively pursued a solid financial education for us and our offspring.

Resources were not easy to find. As we had already painfully experienced in our own lives, traditional education does teach financial literacy.

And we didn't have any millionaire friends who'd be willing to show us the secret of how money works.

Luckily enough, we found a number of home-schooling families who were on the same quest for practical financial education for their children, and they helped us on our way.

Five years and many books and courses later, I can confidently testify that financial literacy is not beyond the layman's reach.

In 2 years and 6 months we paid off the seemingly insurmountable debt we had, including our mortgage.

The best thing is that we could teach our children in the process.

And I would like to share some of the insights we received that we teach our children to this day:

• The first thing we did is consciously invest time in teaching them everything we learned. Financial and business topics were encouraged instead of being banned at the dinner table. We also studied our budget with them and allowed them to suggest changes we could make.

• We limited their pocket money to almost zero, and offered them many options to work at home and earn a lot of money that way instead.

• We continually encouraged them to think of small business ideas they could implement.

• We inspired them to study about finances and money management, and gave less attention to their traditional curriculum.

• Now that we have portfolios, we show them to our children and teach them to work for this type of passive income.

• To this day we teach them to be generous with their money.

• We are constantly on the lookout for good mentors in all business areas.

The most important fact we discovered was that lack is not about how much money you have in your pocket. On the contrary, it's all about the way you think about wealth in your mind.

And luckily, that can be changed.