Learning Personal Finance and Teaching Kids Baseball
At Cascade Wealth, we are often struck by how personal finance mirrors many aspects of everyday life. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how teaching people about personal finance is like teaching kids about the rules of baseball. Not surprisingly, my 8 year old boy is currently playing baseball and I am helping coach the kids. It is not always straightforward. In fact, it is often messy, full of contradictions, and hard to grasp, but with time, guidance, and practice, it can all of a sudden begin to click with the children. Fun fact, the 2025 official baseball rulebook is a 192 page document.
“Wait, what is a force out again?”
If you have ever tried explaining baseball to a 8 year old, you know what I mean. You’re standing in the backyard or at the local field, trying to break down something that seems simple. Three outs per inning, four balls, three strikes, hit the ball, run the bases, and score by getting home. But before long, the scenario questions start coming in…
“Why can’t the runner on first go to second if they caught the ball in the air?”
“Why does the batter get to walk?”
“Why is that guy out if they didn’t even touch him?”
Baseball, like money, is full of arbitrary rules that only start to make sense when you see them in action. Reading about them is one thing. Playing the game brings a whole different level of understanding.
Personal Finance Isn’t Much Simpler
Now, think about how we try to explain financial concepts to young people or even to adults new to managing money on their own. “Spend less than you earn” and “invest for the long term” are great guiding principles, but as with baseball, the nuances are where it gets complicated.
“Why can a Roth IRA be better than a Traditional IRA?”
“How come I owe taxes even though I didn’t sell anything?”
“If I save more, won’t that hurt my financial aid eligibility?”
See the parallels?
The Myth of Simplicity
There’s a common belief that good financial planning should be simple. While there’s truth to that, it should feel simple on the surface but the reality is that our tax code, retirement rules, education savings options, and estate planning tools are anything but simple.
It’s like saying, “Baseball is just a bat, a ball, and some bases.” Sure, that is technically accurate, but try telling that to someone learning about balks, infield fly rules, designated hitters, and pitch clocks.
At Cascade Wealth we believe one of our most important jobs is to translate the complexity into actionable, understandable steps for you. Much like a great coach helps kids learn how to grip a bat before explaining batting averages and WHIP.
Patience, Repetition, and Game-Time Learning
What works best when teaching baseball to kids? Lots of practice, repetition, and patience. Celebrating the small wins like a good catch or an accurate throw. The same is true with financial literacy.
We encourage parents to talk openly about money in age-appropriate ways. Let your kids “play the game” with an allowance or savings jar. Teach them how to spend, give and save. Show them the value of setting a goal and working towards it, rather than just giving them the answers or doing it for them. Buy them a book about financial literacy for kids.
Similarly, for adults, financial clarity doesn’t always come from a spreadsheet. It comes from engaging with your plan, seeing how your portfolio reacts to volatility, making tradeoffs when reviewing your cash flows, or learning from a tax surprise so it doesn’t happen again.
Teaching with the Long Game in Mind
There is another important parallel between baseball and financial planning. It is the long game. You don’t win with one great inning or one brilliant investment. You win by staying in the game, keeping perspective, and making smart decisions over long periods of time.
A good coach, or advisor, helps you focus on the fundamentals. They explain strategy, help you navigate setbacks, and remind you that a bad day or game does not define the whole season. That’s the kind of partnership we aim for with our clients.
Let the Game Be Fun
Finally, let’s not forget, baseball is supposed to be fun. And so is the life that good financial planning helps create. Money is a tool, but not the ultimate goal. Just like we don’t play catch to produce future MLB stars, we don’t build budgets and investment strategies for the sake of numbers alone. We do it to build a life of purpose, security, and joy.
So next time your child asks a question that seems to come out of left field, whether it’s about baseball or money, pause, smile, and take a swing at explaining it to them. You might not get it perfect, but you’ll be laying the foundation for something much bigger over the rest of their lifetime.
And if the questions ever get too tricky, whether it's about IRAs or squeeze plays, we are always happy to step in and help. Schedule a free consultation here
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