Raising Financially Fit Kids, Revised

My husband and I were wrestling with the age old question of to give allowance or not to give allowance to our kids. And if they get allowance, how much should they get? Of course this is an age old question for all of those parents who have gone before, but we are rookie parents with two kids and we knew enough to know someone must have thought about this.My husband and I were discussing what chores should they do to get allowance? What do we want our kids to learn from getting an allowance? Is it just so they stop asking us for money or is it so they can learn about the tradeoffs of spending vs saving?A friend recommended this book and the author cuts right to the chase: you give kids allowance so that they can learn about money. Kids do chores because they are part of the family and that is what a family does. In addition, she says, you should explain to your kids that they should probably have three different jars for their money; 1) this is money I am going to spend now, 2) this is money I am saving so I can buy something later, and 3) this is money I am going to donate to those less fortunate than we are.We found this advice super helpful. Our kids do chores without negotiating allowance; and they are learning that if you spend your money you don't have any left then you will have to figure out how to earn money until your next allowance.There are other great ideas in this book but we bought it to help us think about allowance. And it does that fabulously!I highly recommend this book if you have kids.

In a TED Talk, on `What we learned from 5 million books,' speakers Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel share the idea that you must find the interception of the `awesome' and the `practical.' This is especially true with financial education. While financial education is incredibly important or `practical,' the traditional teaching of financial education can be "boring" to kids. Joline's book is chalked full of creative ideas that perfectly find the interception of practical and awesome: ranging from mall scavenger hunts, to financial films and charity cafes.The creative ideas along with the education of how to do this right and a game plan by age and stages, make this one of the best financial parenting books out there. Working with parents to develop financial parenting plans, I have been using the original version of this book for a decade and have found it invaluable. This updated version takes it to the next level. Joline's life work is financial education; her years of experience and wisdom shine through with the ideas in the book. There are tons of financial parenting books on the market, and having read most of them, I have found this to be one of the very best.

Carefully provided advice that is given in a way that is developmentally appropriate for each stage of the child's development. This is a remarkably wise book. The advice is flexible enough to adjust to the family situation and values, as well as to the specific child. There are some really smart ideas that I had never heard before--goes well beyond the usual advice about spend some, save some, give some. The advice about how to handle allowance really blew my mind because it was so genius. I was really surprised that I had not heard of this approach before or had the good sense to think of it myself. This is a really cool book. I will keep referring to it over time and the developmental needs shift. It's really detailed, so it can be used as a reference over time. It's easy to understand, but takes on the realities of teaching children about all aspects of money that kids need to know about as they grow. Such a cool book.

Hi. I'm a kid who is writing this. This is actually a cool idea. A few things are missing but whatever I am satisfied with that.- A Kid

Really great read for my daughter. Easy to follow with clear language. Great for teens to understand basics of personal finance.

I have Ms Godfrey's earlier edition and we found the information and suggestions very helpful for our middle-class family. This edition has some updates and the same common sense advice about kids and money. Recommend.

A GOOD BOOK FOR CHILDREN AND EVEN ADULTS...HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Jolene Godfrey does a wonderful job of researching and writing age appropriate financial learning advice forFamilies.

A great way to learn how to teach your kids to be financially free for all ages.