I spoke with writer Lou Carlozo about the power of using “no” as a strategy when teaching your kids about money.  Here’s the article that resulted:

“Back-to-School Math for Parents: What’s an ‘A’ worth?” – MSN Money

#9 of the Top 10 things NOT to say to your kids about $$$ – “Money doesn’t grow on trees!”

 Instead, you should say “Make a list of your needs and wants and let’s talk about how you can earn some money to save to get what you need and want.”

 Click below to view each of the prior things not to say to kids about money:

#1 of 10,  #2 of 10,  #3 of 10 ,  #4 of 10,  #5 of 10,  #6 of 10,  #7 of 10 and  #8 of 10.

My youngest is a gifted young woman.  From a very early age she has been able to be that pal or friend of a special ed kid and not have that child think they are any different than any other kid.  She is also completely turned on by mission work.  Her idea of fun is to spend an entire summer going from one desperately in need town to another helping other high school kids paint houses, build porches, change out flashing on a double-wide and so on.  Her dream career is to work with special ed kids in some way.  We haven’t gotten that all worked out just yet, but we are definitely seeing a trend here.

As she applied to colleges this Spring, we discovered that her gifts were not measurable by ACT, SAT or GPA. There was no box for “tireless special ed volunteer”, or “youngest member of church council”. Continue reading

Parents – take note:  Grandparents can be a powerful tool in the process of teaching your kids how to be smart about money.

I grew up with my grandmother who lived with us, and everything she said – I heard. My mom and dad?  Well, not so much.

My grandmother had a distinct (maybe a bit unfair?) advantage over my parents. And my parents were smart enough to see how powerful a resource my grandmother could be in their quest to raise me to be smart about money.

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