I do not remember the first time I read Dave Ramsey’s mantra, “Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.”, but I wish I’d heard it earlier in my life; better yet, I wish I had heard and implemented it earlier in my life.
In April of this year I received an advanced copy of Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money, a book co-written by Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze. I thought I would get the opportunity to read it before the summer began and perhaps even write a review and giveaway post before the summer ended. Ironically, the thing that kept me from completing the book and writing a review was a personal financial choice to sell our home and significantly downsize our lives.
Jeff and I choose to speak openly with our kids about family finances; specifically, our early, and not-so-early, poor financial decisions. When possible, we take every opportunity to link the repercussions we experience as a family with the wise and not-so-wise choices we made and sometimes still make. We feel it is important for kids to realize their financial choices today affect their lives tomorrow.
So, each time we knock out another debt–whether a car loan or someone’s braces, we make it known to the kids. Our monthly budget sheet loses a line item which frees up money, and we can decide whether to spend, give, save or if needed, apply the monies to any debt.
Dave’s Daughter – An “Insider’s View”
Having already read multiple Dave Ramsey books, I looked forward to reading this book mostly for Rachel Cruze’s “insider’s view.” I was curious what it must have been like being raised by one of the leading financial authors and motivational speakers for debt eradication. Cruze was born the year her parents filed bankruptcy and grew up watching her parents learn how to take control of their money.
Now that she has spent the last decade educating students and young adults regarding how to handle their money and stay out of debt, she has proven the adage, “more is caught than is taught!”
Practical Steps for Parents
Smart Money Smart Kids is not a financial program or a curriculum, but instead a 250 (or so) page book with “practical steps parents can take to teach their kids about money basics like working, spending, saving and giving, as well as how to deal with bigger challenges like avoiding debt, paying for college, and battling discontentment.”
Written for parents of kids from toddler age to young adults, it reads with the ease of a journal entry, but with the common sense of a “How-to” book. I’m sure I tried Jeff’s patience reading to him from my many dog-eared pages and highlighted passages.
I appreciate that Cruze boldly states there is nothing wrong with spending, when done wisely. She pointed out that some of us have a more natural bend toward spending while others toward saving with neither more right than the other. Directing a child’s spending habits along the way–like enforcing the “sleep on it” rule for large purchases–was how her parents taught patience and alleviated impulse buying.
After reading the book, Jeff and I switched our kids’ allowances to commissions. They now make what they earn, and because our budget requires a cap, they know they can each earn up to $50/month, which does not necessarily mean they will. We agreed with Ramsey that the word allowance “implies that a child is ‘allowed’ a certain amount of money just for living and breathing.” We provide all our children need, but working is their means to earn the extra money they want for movies with friends or to buy a newly released video game.
Another aspect of the book that eases the application of some of the concepts are the age-appropriate suggestions both authors share. What makes sense for a 4-year-old and 14-year-old are entirely different and require different approaches.
Chapter Nine, “Contentment: The War For Your Child’s Heart” is my favorite chapter because I believe discontentment stands at the root of so many of the financial hardships people face. It comes with many faces, but it ends in destruction more often than not. Ramsey and Cruze tackle this subject with fervor.
I particularly liked this:
“Humility is a valuable virtue, because it breeds gratitude, which is unbelievably attractive, and bodes well for your child’s adult life. And of course, gratitude is the best antidote to a lack of contentment.”
While Smart Money Smart Kids naturally repeats several of the themes in Dave Ramsey’s other books, the co-authorship with his daughter makes its tone more personable. I would recommend it for parents with kids of all ages and think it’d make an excellent baby shower gift too. Why not study up for what lies ahead?
HERE’S THE CHANCE FOR FIVE (5) INDIVIDUALS TO WIN ONE (1) BOOK EACH!
I asked Dave Ramsey/The Lampo Group, Inc. if they would be willing to provide a few books for a review and giveaway and they were delighted to contribute. So now, five (5) blessed winners will receive one (1) copy of Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money.
HERE’S HOW TO ENTER.
To enter the giveaway, answer the following question in the comment section below.
As parents we are responsible to model wise financial choices and teach them to our children. What is the single most important financial lesson you learned from your own parents or grandparents?
THE RULES/DETAILS:
» One entry per person, please.
» Participants must be in the Continental U.S.
» No entries after 12:00 PM (CST) on Wednesday, October 22, 2014
» Winners will be selected at random and announced Wednesday after 1:00 PM (CST).
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families to live, love and learn. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods where she currently home schools two of her three kids.