3 Ideas to Share and Save

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, I hope you had a nice weekend and you enjoy these Monday morsels of money-smart goodness. Money as gasoline Kevin Kelly is the author of Excellent Advice for Living, the co-founder of WIRED and an intellectual hero of mine. I was fortunate to have Kevin join me for a conversation on The Art of Allowance Podcast last year, and he shared an idea that stuck with me. We should think of money as gasoline, fuel we can douse on our kids’ interests…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, I hope you join my course waitlist below. But before you do … Good advice for graduates We live in a world where answers are at our fingertips, so learning to ask good questions is an important skill. If you’re more of a word hound, read my post on “The Link.” Do your kids know their DIMS SCORE®? You’re probably asking, “What the heck is a DIMS SCORE®?” (DIMS stands for “Does It Make Sense.”) Try this useful tool to help your kids spend…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends! Launching our kids: Are they really ready? My daughter graduates from college in less than two months, and I’m feeling the urgency. Have my wife and I truly prepared her for real-world money decisions? To find out, I invited financial readiness expert Tony Steuer on The Art of Allowance Podcast. Tony created “The Get Ready Blueprint,” a step-by-step guide to help kids thrive financially on their own. Tune in to ensure your kids (And mine!)…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, Thanks for joining me for another installment of Money-Smart Monday. A mistake to avoid Parents 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’…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends! Welcome back to Money-Smart Monday, where we explore simple, thoughtful (and occasionally surprising) ideas about money and life. Although the concepts I share are often focused on raising money-smart kids, they’re always designed to help everyone (Myself included!) think more clearly about money and living well. Let’s dive in! Tell me if I’m wrong (Seriously!) I’d appreciate your thoughts on these recent LinkedIn posts. Lectures Don’t Teach…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, Let’s dive right in! Always. Be. Learning. If that headline doesn’t ring a bell, watch this. And for a laugh, watch this. I recently finished Justin Welsh’s terrific course on using LinkedIn more effectively. And last week I began implementing that learning by posting about the importance of starting money smarts early, why financial literacy is not the goal and how money can buy you happiness. Please jump into these conversations, and let me…

Money-Smart Monday with 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 consider Unlike a “rainy day fund,” which you expect to use only in emergencies, a “buffer fund” is a practical account to…

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, This week’s topics feature a mix of the practical and the philosophical. I hope you enjoy them! A simple, well-communicated idea Parents often object to allowance as a “handout.” I do too. Which is why this short audio explanation from podcast guest Will Rainey is helpful. He and his wife increased their eight-year-old’s allowance, along with her responsibility, to help her learn to make smart(er) money choices. (Will is full of useful…

☘️ Money-Smart Monday ☘️ with John Lanza Hello, friends, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In celebration, I changed the headline color to green. Get it? A conversation from which I learned Money-smart luminary Laura Adams invited me to join her for a discussion about kids, money and more on her top-rated and long-running Money Girl Podcast. (She’s published over a mind-blowing 900 episodes!) We had a great chat about why raising money-smart kids matters. I also shared The Money Mammals’ origin story….

Money-Smart Monday with John Lanza Hello, friends, Let’s dive right into this week’s thoughts and ideas. Two quotes that changed my perspective “Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings.” —Richard Feynman “Physics isn’t controversial. It’s guided by laws. Finance is different. People’s behaviors guide it. And how I behave might make sense to me but look crazy to you.” —Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money (My book summary) We teach money like it’s physics….