"Raising Financially Confident Kids" Review

Real-World Guide to Debt-Proof Your Kids

About the Book: Our children are being groomed to become world-class consumers, and they are well on their way to becoming future debtors. The next generation is being manipulated by the advertising and consumer-credit industries who tell them they are entitled to whatever they want, when they want it, but with little thought on how to pay for it. Unless parents intervene, statistics indicate that the majority of kids will lead a life severely impacted by consumer debt.

In Raising Financially Confident Kids, Hunt takes on the nuts and bolts of debt-proofing your kids and gives practical advice for parents. Hunt systematically lays out her proven method, which is tailored for preschoolers through high school and designed to help parents:

• Transform their children into effective money managers.
• Educate their children and steer them away from consumer debt to protect their future.
• Gradually turn over the money required for their care and support to their children.
• Trust their children to be good stewards of a portion of the family’s resources.
• Engrain money management skills in their children so the lessons will last a lifetime.

About the Author: Hunt was not always a personal finance expert, but lived through financial crisis, and her family emerged with a healthier view on the value of money and the danger of debt. It took them 13 years to pay off over $100,000 in unsecured debt, and Hunt is on a mission to help other families learn from her mistakes.

Hunt is an award-winning and bestselling author, syndicated columnist and sought-after motivational speaker, who created a global platform that is making strides to help men and women battle the epidemic impact of consumer debt. She is founder and publisher of the interactive website Debt-Proof Living, which features financial tools, resources and information for her online members. Her books have sold more than a million copies and her daily newspaper column is nationally syndicated through Creators Syndicate, where it is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Everyday Cheapskate readers. Hunt speaks widely on personal finance and has appeared on shows such as Good Morning America, Oprah, Dr. Phil and Focus on the Family. She and her husband live in California.

For more information visit www.debtproofliving.com and follow Hunt on Twitter @debtproofliving.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books for everyday life. For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

My Take:

There are, of course, many things that I want to teach my daughter throughout her life. At the top of the list is how she can have a personal relationship with Christ, her Savior. Along with that comes learning to live her life according to the Bible, which includes learning about money and what God says about our stewardship.

My husband and I admittedly are not doing as well in this area of our lives as we should be. We need to be more disciplined as well and be good examples to our daughter. I will actually be taking a financial class at our church this fall. It is something we really want to take control of in our lives.

I was intrigued when I saw this book for review. I wanted to see how the author was able to practically incorporate a money-management system into her family that would help her kids be on the path to a life free of debt. I thought the book was very good, especially when it came to teaching older kids (around 10 and up) how to deal with money. Her ‘salary’ plan is interesting, and my husband and I had actually talked about implementing something similar with our family in the future.

I was a bit disappointed, however, at the lack of biblical principles in this book. The author talks a lot about values but almost nothing about where those values come from. I especially thought this was true when the author used an example of teaching kids about lying. She said that different kids would need different reasons or motivations in order to not lie. I agree that different kids sometimes need to have different motivations – my motivation for things definitely differs from my husband’s – but not once does the author say that the reason we shouldn’t lie is because God says not to. Maybe I am being picky, but ultimately, my money does not belong to me. It belongs to God. And I was disappointed that a Christian-published book did not emphasize that more. It was rather vague.

I also would have liked to have a few more ideas about how to teach money principles to preschoolers. There was a chapter devoted to this, but most of the ideas were for ages 6 and up. This is good to help us think about the future, but I really wanted to start doing some concrete things for my 3-year-old now. Maybe I am just not experienced with older kids and am being over-ambitious, but I think the earlier, the better.

That being said, this book definitely gives tons of practical advice, and this is what most people (including me) crave when it comes to these types of topics. After reading this book, my husband and I plan to implement several of her suggestions and will more than likely start a plan similar to the salary plan for our daughter when she is older.

I was especially struck by this quote: "People with huge consumer debt have to make twice as much to live half as well as families or individuals who live debt-free." The way that was phrased was really eye-opening to me.

It is also very obvious in this book that the author is very passionate about her work and about warning others of the harms of consumer debt. The statistics presented were frightening and very sobering. I definitely want to do whatever I can to teach my daughter how to handle her money in a wise and God-honoring way.

I will give Raising Financially Confident Kids … 3 ½ BookWorms.

Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."