Last month I shared some thoughts about the important role grandparents can play in helping kids learn good money habits with readers of The Skinnie.  Here’s a link to the article:  TheSkinnie-TeachYourGrandkids AboutMoney-2014_04_18

Enjoy!

When you think about money phrases your children need know, what comes to mind?  Adjustable rate mortgage?  Compound interest?  Minimum payment?  Certainly, all of those are things your kids will need to understand at some point. But first they need to learn some others:

1. I don’t know.
2. I need help.
3. I made a mistake.
4. I’m sorry.

And they need to do more than just learn those phrases. They need to become so comfortable using them that they become instinctive responses when they are faced with financial decisions, such as whether to choose an adjustable rate mortgage.  I’ll take them one at a time and show you what I mean:

1. I don’t know. Continue reading

To celebrate Financial Literacy Month, I am launching the Money Savvy Kids Book Club.  To get started, the first book to read is A Chair For My Mother, by Vera Williams.  So visit your local library and read about saving for something very important.  Then, let me know what you or your child are saving for by adding a comment with a photo to our Facebook post announcing the Money Savvy Kids Book Club.  Once you do, you will automatically be entered in a giveaway to win your own Money Savvy Pig bank! Winners will be announced each month, with the first winner announced on May 22nd.

Here’s the link to our Facebook page to post your comments and photos for a chance to win:  Money Savvy Generation FB-MSKBC launched.

Happy reading!  I look forward to seeing what you are saving for this spring!

That is a classic question I get all of the time. Most recently, it came from a teacher at Libby Elementary in Chicago, Illinois. She teaches our Money Savvy Kids curriculum to the low-income elementary students in her class.  Here is her question:

“This is the third year I have taught the program and always struggle w/explaining the purpose of investing to children whose parents are on welfare.  Often the role of short-term vs. long-term goals is hard for them to comprehend, so investing is incomprehensible. Has this ever been addressed?”

I answered her–as I answer everyone who asks this question–with my life story. It’s why I do the work I do today.

Here’s what I told her:

Continue reading