We’re constantly scouring the Internet looking for articles related to family finances and teaching kids good personal finance habits. You can visit the FamZoo delicious page to see our ever growing list of family finance bookmarks. We’re up to 821 now! Each week, we pick our favorite articles from the previous week and post them here.
This week, it’s all about saving your marshmallows, stopping the McNagging, and giving within your community (without getting scammed):
The Words Every Parent Longs to Hear
Teaching kids to delay gratification is a key element to ensuring their financial future. (Not sure about that? Read up on the famous Marshmallow Experiment.)
Based on the back and forth in this column, I’d say Stephen’s son passes the Marshmallow Test. Arguably, the son has a better handle on priorities than the dad. Witness the passage that elicits the quote “It’s only money, Dad, and this is family.” I love that.
I don’t think the key issue is so much exactly where you draw the gratification boundaries — your mileage may very. For example, we cave to the cell phone urge at middle school. That’s earlier than some parents, but later than many others. The key issue is establishing some gratification boundaries and sticking to them.
If you kids turn out like Levi — and I hope they do — they’ll thank you later. Read about Stephen and Levi’s experiences here.
Eight Ways to Thwart McNagging and Take Control of Fast-Food Spending
Speaking of delaying gratification and food (are marshmallows food?)... How about those Happy Meals? (Are Happy Meals food?) Anyway, MBHunter presents a wonderful little essay on why the proposed ban on Happy Meals misses the parenting point.
Whether you agree or disagree with MBHunter’s stance, you’ll find 8 outstanding tips on dealing properly with your kid’s “McNagging”. These tips extend well beyond the realm of Happy Meals. Keep them in mind as you mentor your child on good personal finance habits.
Read the commentary here.
In the Spirit of the Holidays: Donating to Charities and Avoiding Scams
Motherly Law serves up a thoughtful and thorough article with 12 excellent community giving suggestions for busy Moms and Dads (that’d be you!). Check’em out here.
Finally, I have a bonus video that pulls kids, delayed gratification, and charitable giving together in one nice Christmas package: Five year old Tenley Hollman forgoes her American Girl Doll for a wonderful holiday cause. Watch the video:
Maybe you’d like to contribute too?
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1 comment:
Doh! Noticed that my link to the Stanford Marshmallow experiment was broken. Fixed now.
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