Moms are taking charge of financial education—but are they teaching the right lessons?

Women aren’t just answering most of the money questions in American homes, they’re the ones starting conversations with their children, according to a survey of 1,202 investors sponsored by Los Angeles-based Capital Group.

According to the survey, mothers were more likely than fathers to talk to their children about the importance of good credit, where 76 percent of mothers had started the conversation versus 62 percent of fathers. Women also led men in the household in discussions about the importance of saving early (70 percent of mothers versus 64 percent of fathers), retirement preparation (69 percent of mothers versus 65 percent of fathers) and paying down debt (50 percent of mothers versus 42 percent of fathers).

Fathers still remain the primary investment decision-makers in their household; in the survey, 79 percent of fathers reported being the primary household investor versus 51 percent of mothers.

While most parents would acknowledge the need for financial education to begin in the home, most parents, 69 percent, rate themselves as only “somewhat” successful in teaching their kids about money.

According to the survey respondents, the five most important financial topics to be taught in the home are:

  1. Live within your means: Fifty-six percent of parents selected living within your means as the most important piece of advice for a child, teen or young adult.
  2. Start saving early and do it regularly: Forty-six percent of respondents said that young people should save regularly with each paycheck, while 43 percent emphasized saving early as an important educational topic.
  3. Take advantage of a 401(k) match: One-third of the respondents, 33 percent, named this among their top three pieces of advice.
  4. Avoid carrying a credit card balance and manage credit effectively: Avoiding high-interest debt was named by 28 percent of the respondents as an important educational topic.
  5. Budget based on percentage of income: Budgeting was named by one in five survey respondents as a key financial lesson for children.

Capital Group's survey was conducted by APCO Insight during April 2018 among 1,202 American adults who had some investment decision-making responsibility for their families.