Money-Smart Mondaywith John Lanza Hello, friends, Thanks for joining me for another installment of Money-Smart Monday. A mistake to avoidParents often give kids just enough money to avoid any mistakes. But Stacking Benjamins Podcast host Joe Saul-Sehy stresses the power of deliberately giving kids a little more money than they need—enough to let them make some honest mistakes. (Listen to this short clip.) In our conversation on The Art of Allowance Podcast, Joe shares how his parents’ caution unintentionally left him financially unprepared for the real world and resulted in painful money missteps later in life. Our kids need low-stakes chances to experience financial regret and reflection early. If we protect them from small failures, we may be inadvertently setting them up for bigger, costlier mistakes down the road. Have you tried this game?Podcast guest Evan Wilson told me about the “Family Budget Surplus” game you can play with your kids in this small snippet from our full discussion. Using actual household bills—like utilities, groceries or subscriptions—you can challenge your kids to find ways to reduce your family’s monthly costs and allow them to keep the difference. As a result, kids learn first-hand about managing real-life costs, budgeting creatively and identifying the financial impact of their choices. This activity transforms abstract budgeting into a tangible, rewarding game and aligns family interests towards shared financial goals. A powerful visualEvan also recommends explaining compound interest to your kids not with numbers or spreadsheets, but with two simple lines. One line shows gradual, straight-line growth, and another illustrates exponential, “hockey stick” growth. This is Carl Richards’ take. This visual instantly demonstrates how powerful time is in building wealth. It’s memorable, intuitive and far easier for kids (and adults) to grasp than traditional spreadsheet explanations. Are your drawing skills not up to snuff? Here’s our handy-dandy, downloadable version. A quote to ponder
“The hardest thing is not doing what you want—it’s knowing what you want.”
—Naval Ravikant
I’ve come to believe that most of us either ignore or are still grappling with Naval’s words. In a similar light, Daniel Gilbert explains in his popular book, Stumbling on Happiness, that we humans are not very good at predicting what will make us happy. This trait is why our own experiences tend to be the best teachers. More ideas I found interesting➡️ Japanese philosophies about how to spend less I hope you enjoyed this week’s ideas. Until next week… Enjoy the journey! John,
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