Step 2: Teach them to pay themselves first
We hear this all the time, but few people actually do it. When you pay yourself first you do not have to worry about willpower.
Think about it. If you had saved just 10% of all the birthday and holiday gifts, your allowance, the money your grandmother tucked in your hand as you left her house, and the money you earned, how much would you have had before you became an adult? What if that amount was 25%? 50%?
Teach your kids from before they can understand that a portion of every dollar they receive goes into a savings or investment account. Make it non negotiable. If you are a parent who expects children to pay a portion of the things they want, teach them that those funds are separate and must be kept in a different account.
What children learn and do will become the habits they will take into adulthood. Saving and investing should be as ingrained as brushing their teeth.