“Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.”
Hello, friends,
Happy Labor Day!
Even though I’m on vacation as we speak, I still want to pass along “3 Ideas to Share & Save” this week.
But enough of my rhyming (“speak” / “week”)! Let’s get you to the good stuff.
— 1 —
Labor Day Treat: I’ll begin by dipping back into our archive. Coincidentally, I first featured the following topic on another holiday weekend!
In keeping with today’s labor theme, I responded to the way allowance was portrayed in the “Should You Give Kids an Allowance or Make Them Get Jobs?” episode of the No Stupid Questions podcast.
(I even tried to connect with the show’s hosts, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth, via Twitter thread to have a discussion. No luck. 😢)
You can read my full review and commentary here. But since I don’t want to keep you from your end-of-summer BBQ, here’s a quote from the show and my perspective on it. This statement underscores my primary concern with the hosts’ portrayal of allowance.
“If you’re a kid, and you’re given 30 dollars for doing nothing, of course you’re going to spend on the stuff that you want.”
– Stephen Dubner
“Doing nothing” is the problematic phrase here.
Dubner was trying to support his belief that an allowance is a waste of time and that we should only be paying our kids to work.
On the contrary, a purposeful allowance, the kind I so often write about in this newsletter, can help kids get invaluable practice with money and to learn to use money as a tool.
Which is why you want to be explicit about intent with your child: You’re setting up a system to help him learn to become money-empowered. There’s more on this subject in my book, The Art of Allowance, and in this post.
Of course, we want to start the money-smart journey early, as Duckworth notes that more self-regulated kids become more self-regulated adults.
(Self-regulation is the ability to control yourself. For example, you’ll wait to buy a new jacket because you’re saving for a car.)
We begin to develop our capacity to self-regulate when we’re young — typically by the time we’re three or four. So establishing a purposeful allowance is part of the process that helps kids learn to self-regulate.
And since most kids aren’t going to start working for money until they’re tweens or teens, not setting up an intentional allowance at a young age denies them crucial chances to discover concepts like self-regulation and delayed gratification. You might even miss an opportunity like the one from idea #2 below.
— 2 —
Goal Power: My nephew just finished saving for his first goal! 🥳
Here he is with his accumulated Save jar money, the picture of the goal for which he was saving (a LEGO set) and the thermometer he filled in to track his progress.
As my nephew’s family learned, goals are powerful tools that teach kids to delay gratification. And a wonderful outcome of establishing an allowance early is that saving for goals is a natural outgrowth of the process.
When you set up a basic allowance of, say, five bucks for a five-year-old, your child will quickly discover that he wants something that his current cash can’t cover.
(If you’re wondering what dollar amount to start with, then this post might help. The Allowance Launcher I’ve been telling you about allows you to begin the process as well.)
You can use this handy-dandy S.M.A.R.T. goal tool to create and print a label for your child’s Save jar. Then you can paste the image right onto the jar to help him visualize his goal.
And if you want to set up yourself to raise a money-smart kid long-term by growing your program with your child, then my new course can help.
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Why You’ll Love My New Course: In addition to helping your kids avoid the “envelope surprise” I recently shared, here are several reasons you’ll love my new course. 👇
Active learning, not passive watching: This course builds on LIVE workshops with other parents like you who want to set up their kids for money empowerment.
Learn with a cohort of parents: Join a community of like-minded parents who want to learn and grow alongside you.
Coaching:
- One 15-minute coaching session during the course
- One 15-minute coaching session after the course
- Unlimited email coaching throughout the course (And for two weeks afterwards!)
Ongoing support: Get access beyond the course’s schedule to have your questions answered via AMA sessions and email.
But wait! There’s more! Added benefits include:
- Future updates to course content
- Lifetime access to future cohorts
- 100% money-back guarantee (So you can’t lose!)
I’d love to have you join us. It’s going to be a fun journey that I promise you’ll enjoy.
John, Chief Mammal
P.S. Please consult with a financial or investment professional before engaging in any decisions that might affect your own financial well-being.
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