My Son's Second AGM
Teaching agency through real-world exposure
I’m pretty sure that anyone reading this newsletter is well-versed in the language of money. Maybe you were taught by your parents, maybe you were motivated to learn on your own — or, more likely, some mix of both. I was taught to work lots and save lots, but there was a gap when it came to investing.
Regardless of your path, I think it’s important to understand what you were taught about money at home. Most of it isn’t explicitly communicated; it’s absorbed via osmosis. I could probably do an entire post just on the money lessons from my house growing up. Some were good. Others, less so.
As my kids get older, I find myself reflecting more on what lessons they’re picking up now. What am I doing and saying — and what are they actually hearing and internalizing? I don’t expect them to be as into finance or stocks as I am, but I do want the basics to be well understood.
I made a post explicitly stating our household’s money rules. Check it out.
Growth Mindset Focus
More important than the mechanics of money, though, I want to teach my kids to be active participants in their own lives. We all know people who feel like the world just happens to them, that they lack control. And if we’re honest, most of us have been that way at times too. I want them to have agency. Yes there are lots of things they can’t control, but there are also many things they can contol.
In that spirit of exposure, I took my 15-year-old to his second AGM. Here’s the first one we attended at North American Construction Group in case your interested.
TLA.v AGM
This time, we put on our dress clothes and headed to the Titan Logix Inc. AGM. It was quite different from the North American Construction AGM we went to last time.
As usual, I took the opportunity to ask plenty of questions. Despite not loving the sound of my own voice, I sure hear it a lot at these meetings.
A few members of the Titan Logix team were kind enough to walk us through a product demo, helping us understand some of the more technical aspects of their offerings and recent upgrades.
When I asked my son what the experience was like and whether he learned anything, his answer was simple: it was nice to see what his dad actually does for work. That makes sense. Most of the time, he just sees me buried in my office doing “computer work,” not asking questions directly to management or engaging with companies in real time.
If you have kids, I’d be curious how you go about teaching them about money and investing.
Thanks for reading.
Dean
This is awesome. Thanks for the idea! Your son is very fortunate to have such a caring father.
The agency angle is what seperates this from typical financial literacy. Most parents teach budgeting and savings but skip the part where kids see themselves as active participants who can own businesses or influence outcomes. Taking him to the AGM puts a human face on investing beyond just watching numbers on a screen. I try to do something similiar by taking my nephew to local small business owner meetups so he understands entrepreneurship isnt some distant thing.