Encouraging children to be self-sufficient

Clinical Psychologist & Wealth Advisor Lee Hausner, PhD, shares advice for parents on how to teach your teen to be self-sufficient when they are young adults
How To Encourage Self-Sufficiency In Early Adulthood
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Encouraging children to be self-sufficient

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The challenge of helping a child become more self-sufficient after they come back to your home having completed college has got a lot to do with the messages that you're giving this child about your expectations. Initially, you can give expectations while the child is in college which says, "I'm very happy to keep you on the dole while you are being educated, but once you are finished, we will expect you to function independently – to get a job, to get an apartment. Happy to have you come for diner, happy to have you come to the vacation cottage, but basically, we want to support your independence." That is a clear message that parents have to give. But now let’s assume that for whatever the reasons, economics, the child initially comes home. When that child is in a transition period, you have to be very clear about how long that transition period is going to last before you are going to require the child to start making an economic contribution to support – even within the family home. And the expectation is that this child will get a job. There are lots of jobs available. The job is not going to occur because somebody is sitting at home saying, "I hope somebody's going to knock on the door and give me a job," so it has to be very clear that the transition period in your home and then he or she is going to have to find independent living and a means to support themselves.

Clinical Psychologist & Wealth Advisor Lee Hausner, PhD, shares advice for parents on how to teach your teen to be self-sufficient when they are young adults

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Lee Hausner, PhD

Clinical Psychologist & Author

Dr. Lee Hausner is an internationally recognized clinical psychologist, business consultant and family wealth advisor. She served as the senior psychologist for the Beverly Hills Unified School District for 19 years. She is currently the Senior Managing Director for First Foundation Advisors. An acknowledged expert on psychological issues involving wealth and wealth transfer, she was a presenter at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and is a frequent participant at the high wealth/private client conferences for major financial institutions. She is a frequent guest on national radio and television and a quoted expert in national publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Times, Forbes, Fortune, Privilege, Town and Country and Worth Magazine.

Dr. Hausner is the co-author with Doug Freeman of A Founder's Guide to the Family Foundation, published by the Council on Foundations and is the author of the seminal work regarding wealth and the family; Children of Paradise: Successful Parenting for Prosperous Families. In addition, Dr. Hausner incorporated her unique six-step transition model for succession in family business in the critically acclaimed family business resource book Hats Off to You 2: Balancing Roles and Creating Success in Family Business, of which she was a co-author.

Dr. Hausner is a graduate of Northwestern University (BA, Psychology), San Francisco State University (MA, Psychology), and Kensington University (PhD, Psychology).

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