“Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.”
Hello, friends!
I’m in Florida visiting The University of Miami with my younger daughter. So I’ll try to keep this week’s “3 Ideas to Share & Save” short and sweet.
— 1 —
Don’t rain on my parade! Here in The Sunshine State, downpours are common. (Go figure!) But the rain comes and goes with regularity. In fact, the joke around these parts is: If you don’t like the weather, then wait fifteen minutes.
Florida’s forecast got me thinking about saving for the proverbial “rainy day” versus saving for a goal. Putting aside money for the future is, of course, a wise idea. However, forcing school-age kids to save for an abstract “rainy day” is like taking money out of their hands. It’s just disempowering. 😔
Instead, we can teach our children to delay gratification by saving their money for a few weeks for something specific. Such is the process of setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal.
— 2 —
Punt the Piggs? Don’t tell the other Money Mammals, but Piggs the Bank just might be my favorite character.
How can you not love this guy? He’s a wacky blue pig who happens to also be a piggy bank! I created Piggs as a funny foil to Joe the Monkey and bestowed him with a coin slot in his back to add a money-relevant quirk to an already eccentric character.
But just as Piggs inadvertently gets in the way of Joe’s savings goals, using a piggy bank can get in the way of money-smart learning. We want our children to grasp the core skill of making smart money choices by sharing, saving and spending. Therefore, three jars suit this purpose much better than a one-chambered pig.
What’s more, many piggy banks are opaque, which is how I think of the antiquated approach to allowance:
- Hey, kids, put your money away so it won’t tempt you!
- We don’t trust you with your money!
- You might make a mistake! 😳
However, in the modern age of allowance, we use three clear jars. You can think of these jars as a metaphor for the open conversations we want to have with our children:
- This is your money.
- We’re here to help you learn money smarts.
- You’ll learn from your mistakes.
When set up this way, an allowance is a powerful tool to help you help your kids become money-smart and, eventually, money-empowered.
— 3 —
Start with “why”. Simon Sinek makes the case in his wonderful book, Start with Why, that great companies and causes are great because they have clear “whys” at their cores. To help visualize this relationship, he uses The Golden Circle:
All companies have a “what” they do. (They make things.) They also have a “how” they do so. (Here’s the process.) But great companies are set apart by the “why” they do so.
Sinek uses Apple as an example:
“We make great devices (What) in which the software and the hardware are totally integrated (How).” But the Why sets them apart — “We think differently. We want to challenge the status quo.”
And when Apple talks to us, they start with Why.
We should follow their lead.
We are on a journey to raise money-smart kids. This is our What. We use an allowance as the tool to help them learn about money through their own experiences. This is our How.
But the Why makes all the difference. We want our children to become money-empowered. Specifically, we want them to learn to use money as a tool to craft lives of happiness and fulfillment.
So start with Why, and 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.
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