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In this issue: Engaging kids with money-smart messages, empowering parents with robust resources and making a contribution to society. “Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.” ​​3 Ideas to Share & Save​ Hello, friends, I’d like to begin this installment of “3 Ideas to Share & Save” with a big thank you! 🙏 Our readership has doubled over the past several months due to your sharing these ideas and fellow writers’ referring this newsletter. It dawned on me that perhaps many of you new readers don’t know the origin story which brings me to this keyboard week after week to talk with you about raising money-smart kids. So grab your SuperVine 3000, and swing with me into the world of The Money Mammals to find out! — 1 — The Everymonkey: It all began with Joe the Monkey. Like his slightly more famous cousin, Joe was a curious monkey—curious about money. He soon discovered his friends were also interested in the green stuff. So like any group of curious mammals, they formed a band, wrote a few songs and began helping kids get excited about what has become their mantra: “We’ll Share and Save and Spend Smart Too!” Along the way, Joe wanted to make sure his money-smart lessons not only jumped off the screen but also popped off the page. When he learned to save for a goal, he thought that quest might be fun for kids to read about.
While we’ve made sure Joe’s book was available to families through our nationwide credit union program, we didn’t made it easy for you to pick up a print copy. So, in the words of Joe, “Blazin’ Bananas!” ​Joe the Monkey Saves for a Goal is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle versions. 🥳 And for you intrepid parents (or teachers) who want to do more with the book, you can download the companion Reading Guide to extend children’s learning beyond Coconut Valley with fun activities and discussion questions. — 2 — Empowering Parents: About a decade into Joe and his pals’ engaging kids with positive money messages like sharing, saving and spending smart, I began to realize something was missing. However excited kids were about the core money-smart skills of saving for goals, making smart money choices and distinguishing between needs and wants (And needlets!), parents needed to feel empowered to be their children’s guides. As my wife and I did our best to raise our kids money-smart—an ongoing process, by the way—I talked with many parents looking for help. These conversations inspired me to write The Art of Allowance, a framework to help families get started on the money-smart journey.
This book has since led to my podcast, this newsletter and a complete reimagining of the program we provide to our wonderful credit union partners: The Art of Allowance Project featuring The Money Mammals for young children and Adolescent$ for tween and teens. — 3 — Weekly Wisdom: “I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being. As we investigate this, we inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so they are able to accomplish something collectively which they could not accomplish separately. They are able to do something worthwhile— they make a contribution to society (a phrase which sounds trite but is fundamental).”
Thank you for joining me as we try to make our contribution to society. Let’s enjoy this journey! John, P.S. Please consult with a financial or investment professional before making any decisions that might affect your financial well-being.
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