Money-Smart Mondaywith John Lanza Hello, friends, I’m not sure if March is going out like a lion or a lamb, but I do know April is starting out with a monkey. Joe the Monkey, that is! Joe and his Money Mammals pals are bringing Credit Union Youth Month to life. So head over to your nearest branch to join in on the money-smart, mystery-themed fun. A bright idea you might considerUnlike a “rainy day fund,” which you expect to use only in emergencies, a “buffer fund” is a practical account to help you weather cash flow peaks and valleys. (Read more about it here.) During every peak, you contribute to a buffer fund just as you might to a Roth IRA. As the world of work continues to evolve, your kids are likely to spend a portion of their lives in the gig economy. So a buffer account is a sensible tool they can consider to navigate the inevitable financial valleys. (Plus a rainy day fund never seemed particularly useful to us Southern Californians.) A perspective I often suggestIf you’re a budgeter (Not everyone is!) and/or an allowance skeptic, money coach Kelsa Dickey shares a helpful perspective in this short audio clip from our conversation on The Art of Allowance Podcast. (Listen to our full discussion here.) An interesting idea from a recent read“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression,” affirms psychologist Brian Sutton-Smith. While most schools schedule play periods, Agora is a school built on a foundation of freedom in which play is an essential part of learning. This concept is one of the many enriching ideas that Agora’s Head of School, Sjef Drummen, calls Education 0.0. This name suggests a return to the very basics. It’s a profound notion that cuts against our tendency to think that incremental steps forward are always better—3.0 is better than 2.0, and 2.0 is better than 1.0. This back-to-basics belief got me thinking that Money 0.0 might be used to describe those three money-smart habits that have stood the test of time: portionsaving, meansliving and longinvesting. (You can get more details in this post.) A different perspective on success“I think success is: ‘At the end of the day, I tried my best, I did what I was capable of doing, and I’m proud of the effort that I gave.’ As an athlete, it’s easy to get wrapped up in other people’s external opinions of success. I’m a four-time Olympic silver medalist. You’d be shocked at how many times people say, ‘I’m so sorry for your failure to win a gold medal.’ Someone else’s idea of success may not be tied to my idea of success, and I had to learn that as an athlete.”
—Kara Lynn Joyce, three-time Olympic swimmer
More ideas I found interesting➡️ “No mindset in the world can make up for an insufficient balance.” Here’s to Youth Month! Enjoy the journey. John,
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