The One Conversation Most Families Avoid Isn’t About Sex Or Death

Is there one subject you never want to bring up with your parents, children or spouse? You might think the answer is something to do with sexuality, life and death or even politics. After all, one of the classic cliches is that you should never get into a talk about religion or politics if you want to keep the conversation friendly.

But a new video interview with a number of families reveals that the thing many of us are actually most uncomfortable talking about is money.

In this new video from SoulPankcake, four families talk about their openness and communication skills but the one topic that often remains “taboo” for them is money.

“That’s probably the one subject we really don’t talk about,” the mom in one family explains. “Money has always been a weird topic,” she continues. I think we don’t really talk about it very often because I don’t want to burden them with it.”

However, when it comes to financial planning, basic communication can make a huge difference in everything from college to buying your own home. If you’re still young, getting advice from your parents about how they’ve managed their money could save you from years of painful mistakes. And parents could also learn a thing or two getting their kids to open up about their hopes and dreams. They might even be pleasantly surprised, like with the parents in this video who learned that their son dreams of taking care of them when they get too old to take care of themselves.

“I think we could have been on our way of achieving those goals a while ago if we’d had that conversation,” he says. And even if talking about money can be uncomfortable, that’s a sound investment for just about anyone.