How does it work?

My Kids' Money is a book that guides the parent through the conversation and processes necessary to equip their children with a solid foundation in basic money management concepts. The book, worksheets and other tools provide the framework, the parents provide the values and time.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Holidays!

Christmas morning is here and as good as everyone feels today, the pain of paying for all of the gifts will hit in a couple weeks......unless you had a budget and stuck to it.  Tough to do when the kids all want a Wii, or whatever it is they lust this year. 

One of the gifts my kids received is a new version of the game "Life" that includes visa cards for tracking all of the money electronically instead of paper currency.  Aside from being a headache waiting to happen learning how to play, I believe this is an indicator of things to come for our kids.  They will handle the green stuff less and less and the plastic more and more.  I think we can all agree that the skills needed to manage finances change when we are dealing with plastic, and although it is simpler in some ways, it is also way more complex.  Without a solid foundation in the fundamentals of financial mangement, these kids will get in trouble.  It is not if, it is when.

Obviously I have a bit of an axe to grind on this topic!  The good news is that we get to do somethng about it this year.  Now that Catherine has agreed to jump in as the Program Director, its time to put together the Advisory Board and get down to the real work - turning the rough draft in to a book, developing the web site, and establishing relationships with the partner charities we decide to support as an organization.

I am very excited about all that I will learn as I continue down this path, and wish all of you as much success and happiness as possible in 2010!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A Welcome Addition

For the three or four of you who actually read this blog, you already know that I had previously mentioned the need for a Program Director who is not me.  Out of the huge pool of volunteers (all two of you, and don't worry, I have other plans for you both!) I decided to go outside and follow a bit of intuition.  I am pleased to say that it paid off, and can proudly announce that Catherine Berger, a long time colleague in the life insurance space has agreed to fill the post of Program Director.

From our previous work together, I know her to be a dilligent, thoughtful and caring person who will be a huge asset rather than simply someone who can push paper around (although I know she is great at that as well!).  I am very excited to be working with her again, and I know she will provide her usual insight and creativity as the Program Director.

This announcement was my primary motivation for posting today, but there are a couple other things as well.  First, one of my more interesting reads over the past couple months was The Chaos Scenario by Bob Garfield.  He is a long time advertising expert, and this book chronicles his observations over the last four years as all things media have undergone some dramatic changes. 

You can learn more about him at his web site - The Chaos Scenario.

While I was on the site today, I noticed a link to an article about the publishing industry and an interesting fact - the average book in America sells about 500 copies!  There are a number of other thoughts and facts there that support my idea that the best way to actually have people read my book is to publish it myself.  For those of you who are curious, here's the link - Ten Awful Truths about Book Publishing.

The next step in the publishing process is already on the calendar - a meeting with a "Book Packager" who is essentially a consultant who can advise on all aspects of the process of turning a manuscript into a finished book.  That meeting is set for January 13th, and I should have a much firmer grasp on the timeline and steps needed to end up with a finished product.  Can't Wait!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Banking Day! On time this month!

We were a bit more on top of things this month.  Spent a bit of time reviewing past topics/discussions with both Miranda and Logan, which brings me to a fundamental skill that must be developed if you really want to work with your kids on money - the ability to repeat yourself relentlessly.  Remember, these are new topics, and despite our best efforts, they can be a bit abstract.  Only the most brilliant kid will understand shares of stock, compound interest, or how to figure out how much money they should have in savings (Can most adults to this?  I think not!) on the first go around.  So keep coming back to it, again and again, until it sticks.

The other aspect of this is that the point is not to memorize a definition, but to actually understand, so until your kids can tell you what it means in their own words, keep pressing play, then rewind on that tape recorder (you know, the one you use all the other times you have to repeat yourself - clean your room, stop teasing your sister, the list goes on and on!).  Oh, and keep calm about the whole thing, as your frustration will lead to your kid's shut down, and all learning will stop.  If you feel yourself about to lose it, call it a day, and come back to it next month.

We also set holiday gift buying budget as well as planned how to deploy some of the funds set aside for some worthy causes.  More on that next time.