Kelli Green: 0:00

Welcome back to the Live Better Podcast. I'm your host and Centric Senior Vice President of Marketing, Kelli Green. April is Youth Month at Centric and today we're discussing why financial education starts early and how adults can really impact overall children's financial habits. Joining us today is our special guest, Kimberly Roberson, who is an educator, mother, podcaster, ironman, athlete. We are so excited to have her join us. So thank you so much for joining us and let's dive in. So, Kimberley, welcome.

Kimberley Roberson: 0:30

Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.

Kelli Green: 0:33

Well, we're tickled to have you, and one of the things I want to share too with our listeners is that you've been authoring our blogs for now a little over a year two years now

Kimberley Roberson: 0:41

A little over a year yeah.

Kelli Green: 0:43

Yeah, that's incredible. So I know we've mentioned in your introduction being an educator, a mother, podcaster yourself, an Ironman athlete, of all those things. I'd love for you just to kind of bring that in and tell us a little bit about yourself and how you kind of arrived at the Ironman. That is, to me, is like that's incredible.

Kimberley Roberson: 1:06

Yeah, it's a little bit. A little bit that's a lot. Sometimes I forget that that's um, that's on my little rap sheet, I guess. But um, yeah, I, uh, I, my background is in literature and so I used to teach at ULM and then felt called to start homeschooling my kids and so I have six children and um, and so that's an adventure. And then, uh, we've I've dabbled in podcasting and we I've done like over I don't know a hundred plus episodes with that. Just I like to kind of try on new things. And then, of course, with the blog, I love writing the, the Centric blog, and everything. So, um, yeah, and then, um, I don't know, where else.

Kelli Green: 1:53

Oh well, your Ironman, talk to us. Oh, what led to that? Because I think the thing I love so much about your family, you guys always bring in physical fitness and you're outdoors. There's such an appreciation for that and I think that is that kind of speaks to your faith Also, I love that. I just I really think that's fantastic. So, ironman, what was like? How did you say yes, this is what I'm going to do.

Kelli Green: 2:14

Challenge accepted.

Kimberley Roberson: 2:15

Well, it was actually through an interview that I was doing on my podcast, the Mommy Pro or the Mommy Project is what it's called and I interviewed one of my friends' wife. She had had a terrible accident, broke her hip, we had babies right close together and she, um said, the only thing that would get her out of bed in the morning, um, cause she was really kind of in a you know in a slump, she signed up for an Ironman and so I followed her whole path and so, as she's telling her story, I became very motivated to do something like that. And I mean, my background with my husband is we have done triathlons and races and I love, you know that community and culture, but to do something that drastic, um, with three little babies and working, I, I don't know. I just want to do it, just to see if I could do it, and and it took me a year, I followed a training plan, I was dedicated, but through that whole process I learned a lot about myself.

Kimberley Roberson: 3:21

I um, you know, had to pay attention to nutrition. I mean, there was just a lot of things that I had let slack in my personal life that you can't do that when you take on something that huge and that strenuous. So, uh, yeah, it was. It's remarkable. I look back and I'm like I can't believe I did that and um and so, and we have all of that kind of documented on our podcast too. Um, but that's what kind of led me to. That was just seeing her, her story and then seeing like man that really revolutionized her life and helped her in many ways that you just don't expect.

Kelli Green: 3:58

Oh yeah, and so that's kind of Well, I love what you're saying about this too, because you had to really set your mind on this goal and you might have.

Kimberley Roberson: 4:07

It's not about you know, if you look at the big picture it's very overwhelming, but it's in the daily, just consistent, little by little. That's how you make you know big differences.

Kelli Green: 4:38

I'm so glad you know that I wanted to ask you these questions because one I'm so intrigued by Ironman. But how, as we're talking through this and you're sharing your experience, such parallels are coming in my mind of seeing when you're raising children or you're also setting financial goals and achieving those. You know, we are literally one tiny decision, consistent decision, away from making vast changes in our lives, absolutely, and that's something a lot of times people don't really think about. Now I would tell you, like our financial journey, it took us right at about 15 months for my husband and I to become debt free. This was years and years ago when we took on that particular journey.

Kelli Green: 5:18

It's when Lily, our oldest, was first born and, um, and we were, you know, we just within that timeframe, we're like, okay, we really want to make sure we're making some sound decisions here, and so, bringing kids into the mix, you know it's like, okay, we're kind of eating and doing whatever we wanted to do when we were, you know, just, it was just the two of us, but then you bring in a child and then, 14 months later, we bring in our second baby. You know it's, it's wild how, when you reflect on things, life changes and you're the things that were so important aren't so important anymore and you really have to kind of start thinking about what sacrifices can I make today so that you know you're preparing really for a wholesome financial future for your family.

Kimberley Roberson: 5:59

Right.

Kelli Green: 6:00

Right. So, as we're kind of talking through some things, I know that kids are near and dear to your heart and with April being youth month, we have some really cool things happening here at the credit union. So every account that's open for our kids we actually fund that. Their membership account is funded and their initial deposit is funded. We are just so, in fact, for the month of April, over the last 10 years, we have seen just incredible exponential growth in our youth accounts, because so many folks don't have the extra money to fund those accounts, right, and that's something that's like hey, we want to take that, take that burden away, you know, and just help. You say look, if this is something that you wish to do, let us help you get started.

Kimberley Roberson: 6:42

That's right, and sometimes that's just that's. All you need is that little help to get you started. Um, that initial response and then and then from there, you know just putting in a dollar, a couple of dollars, you know whenever you can. It's a lot. I think a lot of people think you know when you have children, it's a, and you want to teach them about money, you want to teach them about budgeting or these big, lofty goals. It seems very overwhelming, but if you break it down into like little bitty, practical baby steps over time, you will see them walk out your door one day going to college with a wise financial head on their shoulders. That's right and that's what we want. Amen.

Kelli Green: 7:28

You know and you think about it. When you think, okay, I want to create this budget, I want to have a college fund for my kids, I want to have my 401k is fully funded. But when we think about that, it is that just as you were planning for your Ironman, you had to consistently commit. So, just like you mentioned, it may be a dollar, two dollars, whatever it is set that up to automatic transfer or automatically remind you, you know, to really make those deposits into your future whatever that might be, whether that's financial, whether that's you know, an Ironman competition, or if it's like you say, hey, something as simple as I've got, you know, cheap, I want to read.

Kelli Green: 8:11

You know, 12 books a year. What does that look like for you? You know, and really thinking about that, the consistency, I think, is something that you would really say, hey, that's critical and key in whatever you do.

Kimberley Roberson: 8:23

Absolutely, and and for our listeners. Uh, it just dawned on me. Some people might not know what an Ironman is.

Kimberley Roberson: 8:28

Yeah, so an Ironman is it's a.

Kimberley Roberson: 8:32

It's a big competition. It's been around for years, um, and so what it consists of? It's consists of three sports. So it's swimming and it's like 2.2.4 mile swim in open water, which is a whole beast in itself, right. And then you do 110 to 114 mile bike ride right after that, and then you get off your bike and you run a marathon. So and I will say this to the listeners, before I signed up, I had never ran a marathon. The longest distance I'd ever done was a six mile trail run, um, along the. You know triathlons, so I had done triathlons before.

Kimberley Roberson: 9:17

But so when you're signing up for a big goal back to our financial discussion or you're doing something massive, um, it helped me to not to. I mean, I understood the big picture, but not to look at the big picture every day. You just set a daily goal and that's what you're going to do that day. You're not going to be like, oh, I want to invest my money, but I only have a hundred dollars left over in the month. Is that even going to make a difference? Don't look in the big picture left over in the month. Is that even going to make a difference? Don't look in the big picture. Look in the daily and over time, over a year or two years or five years you will see a huge progression. But you can get overwhelmed if you look too much into the future.

Kelli Green: 10:04

If that makes sense, it does, I love it because it's so easy to become overwhelmed, and I think that's what stops people. Yes, it just because the fear of the unknown, one and two, you just feel like it almost just takes the wind out of you. You're total breath away when you think about this big, massive goal. But if you just say, hey, in everything that we do, just take a second and then just say, all right, what am I going to do today? What would be a win? Today and tomorrow might look a little different. Your yesterday may look a little different, right, but what is it that? The one thing that you might be able to do that helps get you to where you want to be, I think that's outstanding. There's so much to be said for that, especially when you're talking with folks just like you who have, you know, you've had some really big, lofty goals in your life. But you really put it all into perspective and said, hey, I'm looking at this holistically, but as you were kind of within your training, you thought, okay, I'm not going to get the cart before the horse here, let's see what we can do. Just the day-to-day changes. That's so incredibly critical. I will say this when we're talking about those day-to-day changes too, the talking about those kinds of things with your kids. One of the things I think is so interesting is when we can have the conversation and let them see what this looks like for us, when we are maybe making purchases at the grocery store, or when they say, oh my gosh, mom, I want to buy this, or like I need this. Would you do that? Can we go out to eat tonight, mom? You know, like what's the deal, and so some of the things that I share with our kids, you know I say, okay, like they may not necessarily have their own budget, but they still have chores and they earn a little bit of money here and there. And so I think one of the critical things for me and this is something I've done I'd love to hear about what you're doing with your kids.

Kelli Green: 11:49

One of the things I share with them is helping them to understand the difference between a need and a want. Yes, and then within that comes a savings conversation. So if they're like, oh, mom, can we stop by the store I want to get, you know, my oldest is in all about twin snakes, those little gummy things. Oh, it's gross, but anyway. And then my youngest little girl, you know she's like I want talkies and all this kind of thing or whatever, and I'm like I will not buy it myself because I just know how unhealthy it is. That's a whole other conversation that we can get into, but what I will share with them is that, okay.

Kelli Green: 12:22

It's like when they say, well, we're going to stop here, we've got our own money, and I will just remind them hey, remember, aren't you saving for this, right, aren't you saving for that? And then they start kind of thinking about okay, okay, that's right. And so that simple thing for me, instead of writing out a budget for them that can get kind of convoluted and one we're not going to be committed to. That Right, I know we're not.

Kelli Green: 12:44

But what we can be committed to is when we're making our groceries. So I order our groceries every week and I will say, okay, we have an allotted amount that we want to spend, right, and I can say, okay, if you want this and we can't have that. So it's like if you want this for your lunchbox and we're going to have to look at what we're going to bring in for snacks after school. So that's kind of helping them understand the needs versus wants. Yeah, that's how I've kind of brought that into our household. What are some things that maybe you're doing with your kids to really build maybe healthy money habits?

Kimberley Roberson: 13:16

Well, one thing that I was thinking about this, when you were kind of presenting this as something that we would talk about is we talk about money a lot and I try to talk to them about how much things cost, just bring awareness of just how much food or gas or just little things cost and we talk about I mean, I've got a range of children, so our oldest is 12 and our youngest is one and we've got six, so we've got a variety of ages. When they were little well, my older three. When they were little well, my, my older three when they were little we had this game called the allowance game and it's a board game and my kids love board games and so we would, um, we would play that. It teaches them about how to count money and this and that, Um, but also how to you know earn, yes, and so that's like through board games you can teach you know just money awareness, taking them shopping with you, you know, instead of. I mean, I think ordering groceries is great, but there's nothing like going to the store and pointing out the prices, talking to them about how milk is more expensive now than it was later. Milk is more expensive now than it was later, and I try not to bring that too often up because I don't want them to have money anxiety, but I do want them to have an awareness that everything has a rising cost and um. So those are some things that we do now.

Kimberley Roberson: 14:53

Another thing that we do is we they earn money through chores, right, and they, we, they earn money through chores right, and they also money earn money through good behavior.

Kelli Green: 15:01

Yes, I love that.

Kimberley Roberson: 15:01

I mean, we homeschool so So in order for us to motivate them, they I'm like okay, if you do your school work with a good attitude and you help out with your younger siblings or, you know, pick up your room without fussing about it, you might get a star in the chart, and we have a star chart. When they fill that out, they get a certain amount of money, and so we don't do allowance, we kind of do it that way, and when we give them that money, I'm like that's your money. Now you have the savings, you have the giving and you have the spending category in their little piggy bank. But I don't micromanage their money because they and I'm and I do remind them I'm like all right, when you buy those V bucks, your money's going to be gone. Are you wanting to spend your money that

Kimberley Roberson: 15:54

Or do you want to? Do you want to go to the convenience store and buy that Icee and you know there's that chocolate bar or something? But I try not to uh, like I said, micromanage their money because it's theirs. And when they go off and out of our house and on their own, I don't want them to not know how to do it because mom and dad are not there to tell them how to spend their money. Does that make sense? Oh, absolutely.

Kelli Green: 16:23

It's so interesting that you're talking about that. We're very similar in the way that we're sharing. So when they receive that allowance, it's based upon their chores that they complete. Here's the thing if you do it and you're not told, then you can. You know you get paid. But if we have to ask you to do that, it's like our bosses don't come in and tell us every day hey, did you do X, Y, Z? Hey, did you do that? We're adults, you know, and so it's so important.

Kelli Green: 16:48

I think I was listening to a doctor on a podcast and hearing him share how important it is that we instill. We let our kids fail, we let them make that mistake. Similar, we're talking about finances. But if they spend that money and then they realize, oh man, I'm broke, it's going to take me, you know, four or five weeks with my chores before I can, you know, get enough money. That's concerning, you know. But we need them to feel that. You know, they need to feel that, like man, I might've made a mistake here, because there's the best made mistakes or where you learn. That's exactly right, and so that's something to really think about. And so I have loved this conversation with you today, kimberly. This is awesome, I love what you have done. And then just number one this is awesome, I love what you have done. And then just number one you, you have. You've inspired so many kids through your education and your tutoring program. I think that's awesome.

Kimberley Roberson: 17:40

Yeah, I um, yeah, I forgot to mention that I, um, I love to help, uh, kids that are maybe struggling with their, their schooling. Um, schooling, my tutoring kind of service or business, if you will. That's kind of like a side hustle, and that's another thing. Like my kids are seeing me and my husband, we are like, okay, we got to go and do our side hustle because this is how we pay for X, y and Z, and so having these open conversations about why we go to work and what we're doing and how we're spending our money, it can bring it full, you know, bring it full circle. But but yeah, and I love to encourage kids and however they're needing to be encouraged and speaking life into them and also their parents. You know their parents are out there doing the best they can and they need some like good job, mom, you're doing great.

Kelli Green: 18:34

Absolutely. I love it. You are the ultimate encourager and I'm so grateful that you know we've met through your husband, who actually, for those of you that may not know, we actually have her husband's the one that takes care of all of our production. Yeah, and so, from anything from our design work, when we're anything you see from a video perspective, it is all on him. So I'm so grateful for that connection and I just I'm so thankful that you took the time to join us today. You juggle a lot and I appreciate you just taking the time to do this with us. It means a lot. All right, well, thanks so much for tuning in to the Live Better Podcast with Centric. Be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media at MyCentric. See you next month. And, as always, centric is federally insured by the NCUA.