In today’s world of fast-faced communication, tight schedules and even tighter budgets, the thought of making a million dollars now is appealing – especially for kids.  Though your kids may not be able to be a millionaire by age 21, I’ve created five tips that will teach kids how to think like one.  And thinking like a millionaire is the first step toward becoming one.  I’ve broken these tips down and will post one every couple days.

Here’s the first tip on how to think like a millionaire:

#1 Learn how to delay gratification

Self-control is the key to wealth.  The good news for those of us who have kids who were not born with the ability to delay gratification is that self-control can be learned.

In a recent survey by the National Academy of Sciences of more than 1,000 children who were studied from birth to age 32,  researchers found that “the kids who scored the lowest on measures of self-control—those who were more impulsive and easily frustrated and had the most trouble with delaying gratification or waiting their turn in line—were roughly three times as likely by adulthood to report having multiple health problems and addictions, earning less than $20,000 a year, becoming a single parent or committing a crime than kids with the most self-control.” Continue reading