“Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.”
Hello, friends!
I’m excited to share my first new essay of the year. 🥳 Truth be told, I’m not sure I’ve been as nervous about a piece of writing as I am about this one. Yet my challenge to a bedrock principle of financial literacy has been a long time coming.
I’m hoping to change the conversation a little bit through this essay. So here it goes!
— 1 —
You Don’t Need a Budget: There. I said it. 😅
That didn’t hurt too much … not yet at least. Throughout my time in the money-smart movement, I’ve been in countless discussions during which my heart would pound out of the worry that I would be perceived as an imposter.
The subject of budgeting would inevitably be broached. I’d nervously chat, hoping I wouldn’t have to fess up or respond to a question like, “How do we teach our kids to budget?” I would avoid the topic because my wife and I don’t budget, and (Dare I say it?) we didn’t plan to teach our children to do so either.
Gulp! 😬
There’s a dirty little secret in the financial community: Budgeting is considered a fundamental principle, yet so few people actually do it.
This isn’t to say that budgeting is bad. It’s not. I wrote this essay so that we non-budgeters can come out of the shadows. The Budget Mafia needs to accept that there is a place in the money-smart spotlight for non-budgeters and budgeters alike.
I’m excited (and anxious 🥴) to hear what you think of this piece. Please let me know!
— 2 —
Clark and Cash: I’ve become a tad obsessed with the Clark Howard Podcast as of late. Clark is a long-time consumer advocate to whom my wife (the Money Mammals OG) introduced me back when he made waves on a syndicated radio show.
Clark pulls no punches. He shines a light on well-run, customer-centric organizations like Costco and ruthlessly pillories institutions with “customer no service.” For instance, he calls Wells Fargo a criminal organization (😳) due to its account fraud scandal roughly five years ago. By his doing so, Clark hopes that such institutions will change their ways.
Clark’s podcast is chockablock with relevant information about how to save, invest and spend smart. His website is also filled with recommendations for investing and credit as well as shopping deals. Incredibly, he even has a free consumer center you can call. 📞
In a recent podcast, Teachable Moments: Teens & Money, Clark laments that his 16-year-old wouldn’t know cash if it “hit him in the face.” Like most teens, his son is obsessed with digital money (Apple Card, Venmo, nothing physical).
I agree with Clark that digital money lacks the “finiteness” of cash. There’s also less pain with each digital, virtually invisible, transaction. When you deplete a wallet full of cash, each purchase cuts into your stash. You see finite amounts, and the pain of each transaction increases as you approach that last dollar. 😩
Though we see our balances in the digital domain, we could use a better way to represent the finiteness of this type of money.
This is a challenge I’m pondering, and I’ll be sharing more about this topic in future emails. As always, I welcome your thoughts too.
— 3 —
Boring Browning Is Back: Admittedly, we got a little behind last year in releasing The Art of Allowance Podcast shorts. The silver lining is that now we have new videos I can share with you over the next few weeks. ⛅️
Chris Browning of Popcorn Finance fame not only has an epic podcasting voice but also shares some simple advice I highlighted a few weeks ago (Boring may be better.) that we can pass on to our children when the time comes to introduce the concept of investing:
If you didn’t have time to listen to my long-form discussion with Chris, then I hope you take a few minutes to watch this clip.
And although my wife and I started the investing conversation with our kids in their teens, you might take money expert Brad Klontz’s approach by beginning even earlier.
I hope this newsletter helps you with at least one idea you can add to your plan to raise money-smart kids. 💡
Until next week, enjoy the journey!
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.
Like what you just read? You can sign up for the newsletter here.