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© 2026 Treussard Capital Management LLC, by Jonathan Treussard, Ph.D..
PREPARING
THE NEXT GENERATION
Your kids are ready to talk about money about ten years before you are.
That's ten years of missed conversations, lost practice, and unnecessary anxiety—for them and for you.
This page brings together resources to help you start those conversations with clarity, intention, and confidence.
You worked hard to create financial security for your family. But now you face a different question: how do you prepare your children to become adults in an environment where abundance empowers them instead of robbing them of the grit, curiosity, and resilience that got you here?
If you're hesitant to talk openly about wealth with your kids, you're not alone. Many successful people wait—worried the conversation will feel awkward or change how their children see the world. But silence doesn't protect them. It often leaves them anxious, confused, or forming their own narratives in the dark.
Here's the reality: wealth you built feels different from wealth they will inherit. Your kids will experience your success as their starting point—not their finish line. That gap creates real questions: How do you prepare them? How do you pass along not just assets, but values, capability, and purpose?
The resources below help you bring those conversations into the light.
The paradox: whether your family has very little or a great deal, the antidote is the same.
Money can't be the biggest thing in your children's lives.
Not because it doesn't matter—it does. But because it's not everything. And if you want to raise capable, grounded adults, they need to see the full picture.
Your wealth is financial, yes. But it's also intellectual, social, and human. Teaching your kids to see all four dimensions—F.I.S.H., as my friend Joline Godfrey calls it—puts money in its proper place: important, but not all-consuming.
Joline has spent decades helping families raise financially capable kids. These two conversations are where I'd start.
41 minutes | May 2025
Big Idea
Kids are ready to talk about money a decade before parents are—and that gap creates anxiety on both sides. Starting earlier with the right framework makes the conversation natural, not scary.
In this conversation, Joline and I discuss:
"If you don't talk to your kids about money, you are in fact gaslighting them. They see reality and they're trying to deal with it, and then somebody's saying 'no honey, that's not real.' That is a disservice in a very big way."
— Joline Godfrey
Put It to Work
After listening, ask your kids (age-appropriate version): "What do you notice about how our family talks about money?" Just listen to their answer. Don't defend or explain—yet.
Listen:
~40 minutes | July 2025
Big Idea
Your job isn't to shield your kids from complexity—it's to on-ramp them into it with intention. Start with big numbers early, get comfortable with uncomfortable topics, and help them stretch their frame to make life richer.
I joined Joline on her podcast to talk about how my wife and I approach raising our own daughters. We went deeper into practice:
Put It to Work
Show your kids a "big number" this week—your property tax bill, college tuition costs, or even a charitable donation you're considering. Talk through what it means and why it matters. Let them see you thinking out loud.
Listen:
7 min read | June 2025
Your kids have eyes and ears. They're reading you and forming their own mental models. If you're not talking to them, the silence becomes its own message—and it's usually the wrong one.
Read →8 min read | January 2025
In 2008, I spent a weekend with the teenage children of extraordinarily wealthy families. What stuck with me wasn't the money—it was the angst. These kids carried raw fear about wealth that had never truly been theirs.
"If you do this right, you can turn to your spouse one day and say, 'The kids—they've got it. We're good.'"
3 min read | January 2025
Short answer: about ten years earlier than you think.
Read →10 min read | July 2025
This piece adds estate planning attorneys Anne Rhodes and Dave Haughton on legacy, family values, and the "Move that Mulch" story—teaching responsibility without lecturing.
Read →I meet families where they are. That includes conversations about the next generation.
I've worked with families to think through how and when to talk to their kids about wealth. I've sat down with teenagers to teach them how to think like investors—connecting investment thinking to life decisions they already understand before walking through how to analyze actual companies. I've created custom presentations for families on topics from foundational concepts to navigating market volatility.
There's no formal "program." It's just: what does your family need right now, and how can I help?
If you're managing substantial wealth and these ideas resonate, reach out.
Get in TouchAll content here is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Treussard Capital Management LLC is a registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For additional information and important disclosures, please visit treussard.com.