Ron Lieber thinks it’s time for parents and kids to start having honest conversations about money. Lieber is the personal finance columnist for the New York Times and author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous and Smart about Money. He says kids are going to ask the uncomfortable questions – are we rich? how much do you make? – and it’s important to answer their questions. Doing so will not only prepare them better for a world of increasingly complicated financial decisions, but it will help parents too.

“This isn’t easy and I don’t mean to imply that every parent walks into this with their head screwed on straight,” he said, “but often the process of having to teach it to kids, having to because we really do have to, helps the parents or parent figure it out for themselves.”