Matt Bell's Blog, page 26

Profitable Ideas: Just Say No, The Good Life, and More

Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web.

Embracing the freedom of no (Becoming Minimalist). “Every choice we make has an opportunity cost, and the currency we’re trading is not just our money—it’s our time, energy, and attention.” 

Money isn’t real (Fast Company). “Money can solve money problems. It can’t solve life problems.”

Record-high HSA limit coming for 2024 (Kiplinger). Great news for those who use health savings accounts, which I think of as “super IRAs.”

I studied habit-building for 1000+ hours—here’s how to form any habit you want (Better Humans). The headline may be a bit overblown, but habits are incredibly important, so it’s worth learning how to form better ones.

Material wealth is not the good life (Eternal Perspective Ministries). Randy Alcorn is one of the best at helping us follow the Word’s guidance on financial matters, not the world’s. 

How to protect your identity, finances if you lose your phone (Kiplinger). With so much of our lives now on our phones, it’s good to have a lost-phone action plan in mind.

Try these 9 ways your parents saved money (US News). What are some wise money management lessons your parents taught you?

Should we talk money with our kids? (Compass – Finances God’s Way). While we should still keep age-appropriateness in mind, I’m in favor of being transparent with our kids about family finances. For more on this topic, pick up a copy of Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management.

To weigh in on any of the above, just leave a comment below. And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free subscription to this blog.

Helping Kids Get Started With Investing — 3 Common Mistakes

Over the last several years, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about teaching kids how to invest. There is so much potential good that could come about by getting kids started with investing as soon as possible. In a practical sense, they have an abundance of one of the most important ingredients for compounding returns. They have time. A little bit invested now could turn into a lot down the road.

While there is a lot of potential, I realize there are also some mistakes that could be made along the way. Here are three of them.

1 – Parents could be tempted to make all the decisions and do all the work

There’s a decent amount of research indicating that what little is happening in the way of teaching kids about money in schools hasn’t been all that effective. The key take-away is that it hasn’t been done in a very practical way. The kids are listening to too many lectures. They haven’t had enough hands-on experience.

That’s a good lesson for parents to be aware of. If I do all the work of investing for our kids, they won’t learn. So, I’m forcing myself to resist the temptation to charge ahead and just get things done. I’m making sure our kids are involved. And what great benefits we’ve already seen!

When our daughter was just nine, I remember looking at an investment web site together. She noticed that the price of a stock she was looking at kept changing, and that led to a great conversation about how frequently stock prices change. And that led to a surprisingly in-depth conversation about the different ways to buy stocks and ETFs, such as with a market order or limit order. (I’m constantly reminded that kids can understand even seemingly complicated concepts much earlier than we may assume).

2 – Kids could be tempted to think investing is all about getting rich

With all my talk about the potential of getting started with investing early (“$3,000 invested at age 18 could turn into over $1 million by the time you’re 70, even if you never add another penny to the account!”), I realize there’s a danger that our kids could see this as only about getting rich. The last thing we want to do is to raise rich young rulers.

While $1 million certainly would be great wealth, it’s also merely a reasonable nest egg that would help them provide for their families in their later years. Seen from that perspective, it’s good stewardship to encourage our kids to begin investing when they’re young.

What’s especially exciting to me — and what hopefully gets conveyed to our kids — is the freedom that would come from having such a great head start on retirement even before they finish high school. It could remove what is often a huge struggle for people: saving enough for their later years. And it could free them to invest for other purposes, such as buying a house, starting a business, or investing for any number of other worthy goals.

3 – Kids could mistakenly think stock market returns are guaranteed

I’ve told our kids many times that an 11%+ average annual return (the assumed return baked into the example of $3,000 at age 18 turning into more than $1 million at age 70) is only that—an assumption. It is certainly not guaranteed. And I’ve told them the stock market has experienced some significant downturns. But it’s one thing to hear such things; it’s something very different to experience them.

This is one reason I’m glad they’re starting their investing journeys while they’re still under our roof. It’s been helpful to be alongside them through some ups and downs in the market.

Hopefully it’ll help toughen them up and prepare them for their lives as investors. As we like to say at Sound Mind Investing, one of the greatest investment risks is the risk of getting in your own way. Usually, that means selling out of fear. You have to live through a few downturns to learn how to not panic, and to build the internal fortitude to hang in there.

So, as we take the next steps with our kids, these are some of the key mistakes we’re trying to avoid.

What are some other dangers you see in helping kids start investing at an early age?

For more on teaching your kids about investing and all aspects of money management, pick up a copy of my new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management.

Profitable Ideas: Profiting by Pausing, Quitting the Comparison Game, and More

Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web.

I’m trying a waiting period and I like it (MoneyNing). There’s power in a pause.

The case for financial literacy education (NPR). It’s helpful when schools teach about personal finance, but parents are the best teachers for this topic.

Credit card rewards programs can turn into a predatory trap (Washington Post). Be careful not to let rewards programs reward the credit card issuer more than you.

Breaking my rules (Humble Dollar). What happens when a veteran financial writer goes against his own advice?

The newest college admissions ploy: paying to make your teen a “peer-reviewed” author (ProPublica). There’s no end to the companies offering to help parents get their kids into a good school—for a big fee.

Perfectionism holding you back? 3 ways to shift the habit (Ted.com). We should strive to be good at what we do, but that can go too far.

How to declutter your digital life: 9 practical tips (No Sidebar). Computer clutter can be a productivity killer.

Money and impressions: a fool’s game (Becoming Minimalist). Quitting the comparison game, though not easy, is one of the most profitable things you can do—financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

To weigh in on any of the above, just leave a comment below. And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free subscription to this blog.

Tough Money Conversations With Kids

If you’re going to help your kids learn about money, getting them started is one thing; keeping them going is another. Motivation can wane.

That’s what seemed to be happening the other night with one of our kids when he opened up a conversation about investing. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like the wheels have come off, with him wanting to cash out in favor of buying some stuff right now. But I can tell that some hard realities are setting in. Like the long time he may have to wait for the payoff.

The hard work of waiting

As I’ve written before (see What If Your Kids Had Their Retirement Funded Before They Finish High School?), we helped each of our three kids open investment accounts when they were 15, 12, and 10 and encouraged them to follow the most aggressive strategy offered by Sound Mind Investing, where I work. While we suggest that older investors devote no more than 20% of the equity portion of their optimal asset allocation to the Sector Rotation strategy, I explained to our kids that they have time on their side. As long as they can handle the volatility they’ll likely experience, their long time horizon should give them a great chance of generating impressive long-term average annual returns. (The strategy has averaged 12.5% per year since 2000.)

It’s been an up and down experience for our kids. They knew going in that it would be that way but theory and reality are two very different things. Still, I’d far rather have them experience market declines while they’re still living at home, where we can easily talk about it. And they’ve handled the volatility just fine.  

But recently, one of our sons asked me some questions about his account. He wanted to know how long he’d have to wait before he could use some of the money. And then he asked how certain it was that the strategy would generate great returns long term.

The questions caught me a little off guard, and honestly, I was worried that he was rethinking this whole investment thing. It surprised me because he’s been so diligent about adding to his account.

Beginning with the end in mind

I told him he could take a lot of his money out right now if he wanted to. It’s his money. And it’s in a Roth IRA, where contributions can be withdrawn with no penalty. I also explained, as I have before, that the returns are not guaranteed. The 12.5% figure is an average of how the strategy has performed since 2000. It could perform better than that, and it could perform worse. Either way, there will likely be some very good years and some very bad years.

I then tried to remind him of some of the long-term benefits of starting this investment account at such a young age. If he could build the account to $3,000 by the time he’s 18 and then never added another penny, and if it continued generating a 12.5% average annual return, by the time he’s 70, it would be worth nearly $2 million!

I also told him that when he’s working a full-time job, having this account set up would take away a lot of pressure to set aside so much for his later years. If his company offered a match on a 401(k) plan, which I explained, he should absolutely invest enough to get the full match. But beyond that, he’d be free to save and invest for other things, such as a house or maybe his own business. It would give him options that a lot of other people don’t have.

He took it all in and seemed satisfied with the conversation. Not excited, but perhaps at least content to stay the course.

Using real money in the real world

It’s tough. I get it. It’s a long time to wait for the payoff. But all of this—the questions, the disappointment, the grappling with the patience required—is why it’s so important to get kids in the conversation about money, and in the game with actual money, early. I want them to wrestle with this stuff while they’re still living at home.

I’ve heard that the reason so much of the financial literacy efforts taking place in schools hasn’t been effective is that it’s too theoretical, too abstract. Kids need to have real money involved if lessons are going to stick.

Yes, we need to teach. And we need to do our best to be good role models, which is why we talk about things we’re saving and investing for—things we’re waiting for. But the regular conversations—the opportunities for kids to ask questions and wrestle out loud with some of the things they’re sorting out—may be the most important part of the process. 

For a comprehensive approach to teaching your kids a biblical approach to money, pick up a copy of my new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management. 

Profitable Ideas: The Urge to Merge, When a 4.5% CD Trumps a 5% CD, and More

Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web.

Married couples who merge finances may be happier, stay together longer (Science Daily). The research is in: “Married couples who have joint bank accounts not only have better relationships, but they fight less over money and feel better about how household finances are handled.”

The power of a good neighborhood (Wall Street Journal). The influence of our surroundings is huge.

3 things Clark says you should do with CDs in 2023 (Clark Howard). Why a 4.5% rate may be better than a 5% rate.

Gone in seconds: rising text message scams are draining US bank accounts (The Guardian). If you don’t know who sent you that text, it’s probably best to delete it.

Time the avenger (A Teachable Moment). Frugality can go too far.

Medical credit cards drive up the cost of care, says CFPB (Kiplinger). See that glossy brochure in your doctor’s office, the one offering an “easy” extended pay plan? Just say no.

Why I paid the neighbor kid $10 for a simple task, even though his parents said it wasn’t necessary (Foundation for Economic Education). In interesting lesson from the neighborhood economy.

It’s confirmed: the internet is one big shopping mall (Fast Company). “It’s hard to find a corner of the internet that isn’t trying to sell you stuff.”

To weigh in on any of the above, just leave a comment below. And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free subscription to this blog.

Teaching Children the True Power of Work

I had the most remarkable experience the other day. An arborist I had made an appointment with called to say he was running early and asked whether that was okay. It was. When I met him, he was the nicest guy, and he was clearly very knowledgeable about trees. 

He quickly alleviated some concerns my wife and I had about two tall pine trees in our yard, suggested an easy way to ensure their continued good health, and was a delight to work with. He was personable without taking up a ton of my busy workday with idle chit chat. Then he sent a very reasonable bid within a couple of hours of our meeting and the work was completed a few days later. It was such an unusually positive experience. He really made an impression on me.

I’m not sure how this came up in our conversation, but it turned out that he is a Christian. In fact, he’s a member of our multi-site church, but worships at a different location.

The excellence with which he did his job Brought to mind this verse: “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is” (1 Corinthians 12:7, MSG).

A picture of what we’re aiming for

One of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is to foster within them a diligent, God-honoring work ethic. Elements of that include finishing what they start, doing jobs with excellence, and working without complaining. We want to cultivate within them those work-related character traits. And we want those ways of working to flow from healthy, God-honoring motivations.

We want our kids to be compelled by Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for human masters.”

And we want them to see that in doing their work with excellence they are letting the light of their faith shine brightly.

Little beginnings, big purposes

It would be easy to think that some of the early lessons we teach our kids about money aren’t all that significant. To believe that helping young Johnny set up a lemonade stand in our neighborhood on a hot day is a little thing. 

But these are far from little things. Connecting them to God’s Word makes them incredibly big things. That’s why it’s important for us to help them make that connection. To show them where the Bible teaches us to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). 

A lemonade stand can do much to teach Johnny important lessons about business—about the cost of materials, how to price your product to make a profit, how to market and interact with customers. But it can also do much to teach him about about the bigger picture, like how running a small business can be about seeking the welfare of his neighborhood.

It isn’t too early

Some might think it’s too much for a young child to understand such a perspective. But it’s been my experience that kids are capable of understanding more about God and money at a young age than we might assume. 

The money-related perspectives and practices our kids develop when they are young and don’t have access to much money are extremely important because they will be magnified when then are older and have access to more. 

The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

So let’s be intentional in training up our kids in the way they should go financially, including how they work. Let’s teach them how to finish what they start, to do their work well, and to work without complaining. But let’s connect all of that to the bigger picture, helping them see that the excellence with which they do their work can show others who God is. Let’s do that for their joy and God’s glory.

For more on teaching children a biblical approach to money, pick up a copy of my new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management.

Profitable Ideas: Bank Safety, Financial Decisions You’ll Regret, and More

Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web.

About half in U.S. worry about their money’s safety in banks. (Gallup). The banking crisis is weighing on a lot of people’s minds. See also, Is Your Money Safe? (Sound Mind Investing).  

You’re about to pay $300,000 for college. What’s another $3,000 in campus swag? (Wall Street Journal). Our consumer culture knows no bounds.

Why the power of brands is getting more tribal (Fast Company). I always find it fascinating to get inside the mind of a marketer. “Cultures of consumption,” “tribal marks,” and how to “activate a tribe of people who see the world they way [brands] do.” Oh my.

Biblical wisdom on saving (Good Sense Movement). Saving money is about so much more than saving money.

The confusing fallout of dying without a will (Wall Street Journal). You can save your heirs a lot of time, money, and heartache by getting this paperwork in order.

10 financial decisions you’ll regret 10 years from now (Becoming Minimalist). Some pretty safe bets of what not to do now.

The 7 types of people you need in your life to be resilient (Ted). Resiliency is important in our careers, our investing, and so much more. But we can’t build it on our own.

Money can’t buy happiness… or can it? (Of Dollars and Data). Well, which is it? It’s complicated.

To weigh in on any of the above, just leave a comment below. And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free subscription to this blog.

Teaching Your Kids How to Plan Their Use of Money

People who don’t use a budget often cringe at the mere mention of the word. They think of a budget as something you go on, like a diet. “We can’t go skiing this winter—we’re on a budget.” They think of a budget as being about less—less freedom less spending, and less fun. 

But a budget isn’t something you go on. It’s a tool you use to proactively manage money. And it isn’t about less. It’s about more—having more knowledge about where your money is going so you can be more intentional in how you use it and have more for what matters most. 

A budget, or as I prefer to call it, a cash-flow plan, is the single most powerful tool anyone can use to manage money well. Teaching your kids how to budget is one of the most important ways to equip them to manage money effectively.

Raising the Next Generation of Cash-Flow Managers 

As soon as your kids have any money flowing into their lives, teach them that being intentional about how they use money is part of what it means to be a good steward (or manager). We don’t want to be reckless with God’s resources. We want to plan how to best use them. 

Every Dollar Gets a Job 

Even when your kids are pretty young, there are two essential budgeting lessons they can learn. The first is how to allocate portions of every dollar they receive toward different priorities. Initially, focus on three of the five main outgo categories: giving, saving, and spending. Teach them to give the first portion, save the second portion, and use the rest for spending. That’s a beginner’s budget. 

To make this easy, there are piggy banks and other containers on the market that have separate slots for these three categories. You could also use Mason jars or envelopes. 

You’ve probably heard about the 10-10-80 framework: give 10 percent, save 10 percent, and spend 80 percent. I prefer 10-15-75, but that’s for us adults. For kids, I think something like 10-50-40 makes more sense. There are so many expenses kids don’t have that they will have when they’re older (a mortgage or rent payment, taxes, insurance, groceries, etc.), that if they get in the habit of spending 75 to 80 percent of all they receive right now, that’ll be unsustainable later on. Plus, our kids have a huge opportunity to save, so let’s encourage them to make the most of that opportunity. 

When your kids are really young and are receiving a very small amount of money, 10-10-80 is fine. But as they start receiving more, make some adjustments. Move them to 10-20-70, and then to 10-30-60, and on from there. 

If You Don’t Have It, You Can’t Spend It 

The second essential budgeting lesson young kids can learn is the importance of living within their means. That may seem kind of silly since we’re talking about 40 to 80 percent of small amounts of money. But keep in mind that habits established early will be magnified later. 

Let your kids experience the excitement of using their own money to buy candy or stickers, but make sure they learn to adhere to limits. If they use up all their spending money and then see something else they want to buy, don’t come to their rescue. Don’t give them an advance on next week’s allowance, and don’t buy the item for them. Let them feel the pain of regret over having so quickly spent all that they had. 

Save Some for Later 

The next time they receive some money, maybe (with a gentle reminder from you) they’ll think more intentionally about how to use their spending money. As you get set to take them to the store, maybe they’ll decide to leave some of it at home. Sometimes, maybe they’ll decide to leave it all at home so they’ll have more to spend on something more expensive later. 

As they get older and receive more money, teach them to put their spending money into different envelopes for different purposes. Maybe some is for candy and some is for books. When your kids begin choosing to hang on to more of their spending allocation for more expensive things they want to buy, they will be naturally transitioning themselves from 10-10-80 to 10-20-70 and beyond. This is a very good thing.

Talking the Talk 

When John and Joan were raising their four children, they were very intentional about how they spoke to their kids about money. John said, “We tried not to say, ‘We can’t afford that.’ That’s just a really negative story to tell a child. It’s an easy answer when they ask for something, but I think it imparts too many negative emotions. ‘We couldn’t afford this; we couldn’t afford that.’ How are those words going to play in their head later on?” 

Instead of saying, “We can’t afford it,” John and Joan would say, “It’s not in our plan right now” or “We’ll save up for that.” 

That’s another reason why it’s so important to have a plan. 

 The rest of the story

This article was adapted from my new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for. Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management. Why not pick up a copy, either for your own family if you have kids at home, or for another family? One of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is some early, intentional training in managing money from a biblical perspective.

Profitable Ideas: The Heart of Generosity, Raising Savers, and More

Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web.

Giving from the heart really matters (Eternal Perspective Ministries). I love this article. There’s something very inspiring about young kids who develop hearts of compassion and put that compassion into action.

Three ways to teach your kids to save money (Kiplinger). Some good examples of the gatekeeper and teacher roles that are so important for parents to embrace when teaching their kids about money.

10 benefits of living in a smaller home ( No Sidebar). The culture tells us bigger is better, but there are big benefits to going small.

Some things I think (Collaborative Fund). Morgan Housel always delivers helpful insights.

Gratitude changes our desires (Christianity Today). Regularly and authentically giving thanks is a game-changer.

How to use money to make you happier (The Long Game). Three questions that have become classics for learning how to align our use money with what matters most.

10 smart ways to teach kids about money through the years (CNBC). Helpful age-specific guidance.

The heartwarming story behind Carol Burnett’s favorite Bible verse (Daily Citizen). How the kindness of strangers can change a life. Great stuff.

To weigh in on any of the above, just leave a comment below. And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free subscription to this blog.

Raising the Next Generation of Diligent Workers

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:23-24

I once heard the late Habitat for Humanity ministry founder Millard Fuller tell a moving story about former president Jimmy Carter. After leaving office, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, spent countless hours volunteering with the ministry, helping build houses for needy families. At one such house, Fuller asked a little boy who was part of the family who lived there if he knew who built his house. Expecting him to credit President Carter, the little boy happily surprised him by exclaiming, “Jesus built my house!” 

Doesn’t that paint a great picture of the work of a Christian? Whether it’s the job we do for a living or the work we do as a volunteer, wouldn’t it be wonderful if the world caught a glimpse of Jesus in the way we work? And wouldn’t it be great if we could instill such habits, attitudes, and motivations in our children? 

Everyone Works 

In the first parenting class my wife, Jude, and I participated in, led by Keith, the associate pastor at our church at that time, and his wife, “Cag” (Caroline), they explained that they gave each of their four kids jobs to do around the house just as soon as they were physically able to work. “We wanted to instill in them the idea that we have to pull together as a team,” Cag said. “You have to do your part and serve others in the family.” At first, that meant helping with the laundry, pairing up socks of the same pattern or color. Soon enough, they were setting the table and helping with the dishes. 

If you’re not sure what work a child could do, Focus on the Family offers a helpful list of chores kids can handle at various ages. For example, children ages two or three are capable of taking their dirty clothes to the laundry basket. Somewhere between ages eight and eleven, they can learn to use the washer and dryer on their own. 

Chores are not just essential in managing all the work of a household—they are essential to a child’s development. A University of Minnesota study found a clear connection between a child’s early work habits and how their lives will turn out. According to the study’s authors, a child “who does chores has a greater chance of success in life” and the most successful people began doing chores at three to four years of age. 

The work our kids do around the house can be a great way to cultivate the traits of a good work ethic, such as owning the work, which can be learned when they have some ongoing responsibility, such as cleaning a bathroom weekly; doing the work well (because there’s a difference between completing a job and completing it with excellence); doing the work without grumbling about it (“In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing . . .”; Philippians 2:14, TLB), and completing what they start. 

Finish the Work 

Extracurricular activities can also be a good training ground for building a strong work ethic and more. In fact, Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, says, “There are countless research studies showing that kids who are more involved in extracurriculars fare better on just about every conceivable metric—they earn better grades, have higher self- esteem, are less likely to get in trouble, and so forth.” 

When our kids express an interest in a particular activity, if we help instill in them the discipline to stay with it, it will be a foundational learning opportunity for them.

That’s what Zach experienced. Now an adult, he vividly remembers the summer after his sixth-grade year when, having never played football, he joined his middle school team at the encouragement of a friend. From the start, things did not go well. One night after telling his parents he wanted to quit, they told him warmly but firmly, “We finish what we start.” The next morning, as he reluctantly prepared for practice, Zach found this note from his dad on the breakfast table. 

Zach, Read the following Scriptures this morning: Philippians 4:13 (strength); 1 Peter 4:10-11 (strength); 1 Peter 1:6-7 (perseverance); 2 Samuel 22:33 (strength); Psalm 46:1; Hebrews 11:32-34 . We are proud of you, and I am very confident you can see this through. Have a great practice. Love, Dad 

With that encouragement, Zach finished out the season. Married now and with a young child of his own, Zach has kept his dad’s note all these years. It’s a life lesson he has leaned on several times since that summer after sixth grade, and he’s intent on passing it down to his son when he gets older. 

Work away from Home 

There is much value to having our kids work outside the home as well. In Grit, Angela Duckworth tells the story of a girl who was late to school “almost every day.” Then one summer, the girl got a job at a clothing retailer. On her first day, the store manager said, “Oh, by the way, the first time you’re late, you’re fired.” The girl was stunned. No second chances? All her life, there had been patience, understanding, and second chances. 

So what happened? Duckworth reports that the girl’s father was amazed by the change she made. “Quite literally, it was the most immediate behavior change I’ve ever seen her make,” he said. Suddenly his daughter was setting two alarms to make sure she was on time, or early, to a job where being late was simply not tolerated.

As our kids work, whether in our homes or for others, keep connecting their work to God’s Word. Remind them to work “as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23-24), that through their work they can be a blessing to their community (Jeremiah 29:7), and that in the way they do their work, they can even show others who God is (1 Corinthians 12:7, MSG). 

Just part of the story

You’ve been reading an excerpt from my new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management. If you’ve already purchased a copy, thank you. You helped it launch as the number one new release in Christian stewardship. To keep the momentum going, I’d be grateful if you took a few minutes to post a review on Amazon. If you haven’t purchased a copy, please let me encourage you to do so—either for your own family if you have kids at home or for someone else’s family.

There are two reasons why I’m stepping out of my comfort zone to ask you directly to buy a copy of the book and to tell others about it—two reasons why I feel such a strong sense of mission with this book. First, if we don’t teach our kids about money, it isn’t that they won’t learn. They will learn, but the consumer culture will be their teacher, with its destructive messages, “You don’t have enough” and “You’re not enough.”

And second, there’s so much potential here. The exponential returns God could generate through kids who get on a good, God-honoring path with money early in life are impossible to quantify. Doing so will positively impact their relationship with Christ, contribute mightily to the quality and joy of their future marriage, and free them to make the difference with their lives they were designed to make. I would love to see that happen for as many kids as possible!

Thank you for your partnership!