As an accountant, I've watched too many adults learn about money too late. My kids won't be among them.

The author (center) wants her kids to know that the comfortable life they live isn't about luck, it has taken careful planning on their parents' part.

Courtesy of Stefanie Ricchio.

As a CPA, many of the adults who come to me are learning about financial matters for the first time.

I don't want my kids to turn into those adults.

I've been teaching them early and often about money.

Budgeting, taxes, and investments are topics I've shared many important lessons on.

Somewhere between "when you have a job, you can buy whatever you want" and "you'll never have to worry about money" are the money lessons every child needs to hear to build their own money skills .

As a certified public accountant , I've spent a career watching the end results of money silence.

Every newly married, single, or widowed person who sits across from me, often middle-aged, is learning about debt, investing, wage negotiation, and taxes (of course, taxes) seemingly for the first time.

It never ceases to blow me away.

I decided early on that my kids, now 17 and 18, would never be those adults.

Make their money make money In my home, everything and everyone gets put to work, including any money in the bank .

My oldest started working at 14.

As I watched her nest egg begin to accumulate , I knew I needed to find ways to invest the idle cash and grow it.