Helping kids appreciate money
100% of the kids that waited to eat a marshmallow were successful (good grades, relationships, happy) 15 years later when they were 18/19 years old. Wow! The ability to delay gratification really can predict future success.
Read MoreHow many of us could say that we've read every book we've ever purchased? Listened to every song we ever downloaded? Or even used every too-good-to-pass-up deal that we paid for through GroupOn? FamilyMint is no different. We know many parents sign-up because they love the idea and features and want to leverage the benefits, but sometimes life gets in the way, and other times changing the way things are done can take a try or two to make it stick. We received an email along these lines from a parent this week. I wanted to share her question and my response with all of you.
Read MoreThe price of college continues to go up; around $9,000 for tuition and fees alone at four-year undergraduate schools, and $35,000 or more at private schools, according to the College Board. Be sure there are no surprises; discuss these costs with your children, decide what they will be responsible for and get them on board (a FamilyMint.com account with a college goal is an excellent place to start!)
Read MoreWithin the FamilyMint support site at support.familymint.com there is a set of forums that we created to encourage dialog within the FamilyMint community. I wanted to share one of my favorites here because this blog has a much wider distribution than the support area and there are so many good ideas within.
Read MoreFind Your Passion. It’s said so often it sounds a bit cliché. But no matter how you slice it, it’s still true. Through passion you get motivation, and motivation leads to positive action and, well, that’s a great combination for success.
Read MoreDebit cards are under attack. Some well-meaning legislation in Washington called the Durbin Amendment is going to result in higher fees for consumers, potentially the end of free checking, and a shift away from debit cards in general. Why? Let's get take a look:
Read MoreOn the back of the One Dollar bill, you will see two circles. Together, they comprise the Great Seal of the United States of America. The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took four years to accomplish this task and two years to get it approved.
Read MoreOne of our earlier blog responders suggested that “budget” has negative connotations these days, so he prefers “spending plan.” He suggests that this indicates that the planner is in control of his or her own financial destiny.
Read MoreThe biggest money lesson I am passing along to my kids is how I act on a daily basis.This thought used to strike a bit of terror in me, especially when I saw how some of my kids’ money habits were turning out.
Read MoreA few weeks ago I wrote a post about paying allowances, noting that it is “one of the big conundrums of parenthood”. One of our FamilyMint parents commented that paying allowances was difficult in light of her family’s limited “spending” money, so I wanted to touch on the topic again with that in mind.
Read MoreAs parents, we have a responsibility to build our children into adults who don’t just cope, but thrive. A lot of it boils down to teaching them self control in making good daily decisions, including how they manage themselves – and how they manage money.
Read MoreA lot goes with that responsibility, but one key component is nurturing a charitable heart in your children. In all the reading I’ve done about teaching kids charity, most of the experts believe that this is one area that must be “learned,” so charity, it seems, does actually begin at home, as the saying goes.
Read MoreOne of the big conundrums of parenthood is whether or not to give your kids an allowance. A lot of it is based on your own experience, your view of its place in parenting, your financial situation, etc.
Read MoreToday’s kids glob on to computer-based programs like it is genetically engineered into their DNA, so dated “tools” like the envelope system we used, piggy banks, etc. don’t capture their attention. And what’s worse, they focus only on the money, and not on what the money can do.
Read MoreStatistically, we as adults don’t do very well when it comes to managing our own money, so are we laying the right kind of foundation the generations to come? Watch this video a find out for yourself. Real statistics. Real solutions.
Read MoreGoals are self-fulfilling, create energy, and can lead to extraordinary lives, yet only 3% of us take the time to think about them and write them down.
Read MoreCreating money-smart kids doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a skill and a behavior that has to be nurtured over time. The skill lies in learning the value of saving, giving, and spending conscientiously and understanding the difference between wants and needs. The behavior comes from the habits formed in doing these things over time and learning from mistakes.
Read MoreRemember the 80's R.E.M. hit song, "It's the end of the world as we know it"? If we continue to do what we as a nation are doing fiscally, than those lyrics will ring true for our generation and more so for generations to come. Do you know the depth of our current trade deficit, national debt, and budget deficit?
Read MoreAmong parents with children ages 23-28, a recent 2010 Families & Money survey found 41 percent of parents still providing some level of financial support to their children with just 35 percent expecting their grown children to achieve financial independence by age 30. FamilyMint.com empowes kids to take charge of their own finances.
Read MoreAn allowance is a great means to teach children how to manage money, develop budgeting skills and encourage independence. By giving an allowance and giving the child the responsibility to pay for the things they want and activities they like to do, it helps them see money is a limited resource and they must budget it wisely.
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