How to Teach Your Children about Money

Cara Peterman was a librarian from Peterborough, Ontario.

Not every parent has to contend with an eight-year-old child who is buying General Motors stock, as Conrad Black did. But most parents would welcome this book, which provides many useful suggestions and alternatives for teaching children of all ages about the importance of money and its management. This book covers all aspects of the subject from a brief history of money and early economics, through tips about family budget management, children’s allowances, consumer wisdom, and potentially sound investments for the child who wishes to turn youthful earnings into solid profits.

In many ways it is a model “how to” book. It is well written and extensively researched, but not made boring by an overuse of details. It is loaded with useful examples and suggestions for teaching what it preaches, and it is laid out in a format that allows easy access to the major points. This shouldn’t be surprising, since Chris Snyder is also the author of two highly successful adult titles related to money management: How to Be Sure You Have the Right RRSP (or RHOSP or DPSP or MA) and It’s Your Money. Canada’s Bestselling Guide to Personal Financial Planning. Obviously his experience in the genre of books related to financial advice for the layman has stood him in good stead. The author surveyed 450 children from Grenville and Leeds Counties in Ontario, and relied on his own experiences as a parent as well as drawing on the ideas of many experts in this field. There is a useful five-page bibliography at the end of the book. Each chapter includes an interesting list of games to play and activities or books to read, which should help parents and teachers communicate skills related to money matters to children.

The author provides information on when and how much allowance should be given to children (complete with a current range table divided by age); how to keep a weekly budget; how much information parents should provide to their children about their own finances (especially in the case of a family economic crisis); which investments make the most sense for young entrepreneurs; and how and when children should find or create jobs for themselves. They are all important topics in an age of economic crises where the proliferation of plastic credit is made attractive by sophisticated media to which children are constantly exposed. As a parent and an experienced financial advisor the author is well in command of his subject. Both the concise text and the appealing layout of the book will make this a highly useful book for parents and teachers seeking suggestions for increasing a child’s awareness of the complex financial world in which he will someday become an active participant.