The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money

by Ron Lieber

Seattle copywriter Jake Johnson’s parents paid him to do chores. But when his 7-year-old son, Liam, started clamoring for a fourth football and the latest Beyblades and a regular allowance to pay for it all, Johnson stopped to consider what his own allowance experience had taught him. Upon reflection, he decided that he had learned two things: that he needed to rush to finish his everyday tasks so he could get paid and that working for money was no fun at all. What Johnson wanted for Liam, he wrote in an online essay that quickly went viral, was something different. He and his wife hope that their son will learn to think entrepreneurially and grow up to be someone who sells his ability to come up with creative ideas, not just his competence in performing tasks. They want him to know that there can be joy in a job well done. So while Liam earns no money for basic chores, he does get paid for recognizing problems and solving them. When he spotted all the fallen leaves in the backyard, he offered to rake them and negotiated a price. His grandparents’ dirty car inspired him to wash it to make some money. Later he wanted to wash other people’s vehicles on a regular basis, and Jake helped him write a simple business plan. “I see passion building in him as he looks at making money as a project that involves solving problems rather than as selling his time to hurry through tasks,” Jake wrote in his essay. “Every kid loves a good project, and so do I. I see him slowly turning into ...