tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69991742024-03-17T20:04:39.349-07:00The FamZoo BlogPractical tips and techniques to help families develop good money habits.Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.comBlogger401125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-49184747044031317362024-02-29T15:43:00.000-08:002024-02-29T16:03:00.558-08:006 Reasons To Review 529 Statements With Your Teen<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwOnzqc33sR_ZcE8iJFNPJBXzg4Q83QCcLrMAbneaJvQaMTqXEbo71FnIWbi5wTi6tqXCWKx8OXlqSnUtkGGmf9gQ9jLwYNOJK8hvFhV8nsrZ5_LUJo23Mb1HfE8DRVFiGIz6n3EO_QvgnsswyShdCev3t9gJePUY2nEm2CjOD83cJFjxAhReQw/s1503/GraduateOnAbstractStatementBackground.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="College graduate on abstract financial background." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwOnzqc33sR_ZcE8iJFNPJBXzg4Q83QCcLrMAbneaJvQaMTqXEbo71FnIWbi5wTi6tqXCWKx8OXlqSnUtkGGmf9gQ9jLwYNOJK8hvFhV8nsrZ5_LUJo23Mb1HfE8DRVFiGIz6n3EO_QvgnsswyShdCev3t9gJePUY2nEm2CjOD83cJFjxAhReQw/s600/GraduateOnAbstractStatementBackground.jpg"/></a></div>
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<p>How much does your teen know about the 529 account you opened for college savings?</p>
<p>Nothing?</p>
<p>That’s the norm. Pretty dry stuff for a teenager.</p>
<p>Here’s a radical suggestion.</p>
<p style="padding: 1ex; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">π Review your 529 statements with your teen.</p>
<p>And do it every quarter.</p>
<p>Yes, your initial sessions will be greeted with eyeball rolls, yawns, or worse. But keep up the good fight.</p>
<p>Through your consistent and repetitive efforts, your teen will gradually learn the following:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>How much college costs.</strong> Circle the ending balance on the latest statement. Your teen’s eyes may light up the first time. Now, ask your teen to name a favorite university. Google the annual tuition. Divide your current balance by the tuition figure. That’s how many years you can afford right now. Buzz kill.</li>
<li><strong>Where it makes sense to apply.</strong> Armed with the sobering perspective from step 1, your teen will naturally start thinking more carefully about where it makes sense to apply. Maybe starting in community college would be appropriate. Maybe it’s time to look into scholarships. Does your teen know there are scholarships for just about every interest? A past search even turned up one for drawing ducks! Who knew?</li>
<li><strong>How saving and investing works.</strong>This one will take some time to soak in, so be patient and start simple.
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li><strong>Contributions:</strong> Note how much money you’ve contributed to the account this period. Talk about how you’ve worked college savings into the family budget. If your contributions are automated, point out how that makes it easy to stay on track. If relevant, talk about how grandparents, aunts, or uncles have graciously contributed too.</li>
<li><strong>Investments:</strong> Now zero in on the <em>Investment Summary</em> section. Talk about how the 529 funds don’t just sit there. You’ve put the money to work through investing.</li>
<li><strong>Allocation:</strong> Talk about how, early on when college was still far off, you had a pretty decent percentage in a low cost stock market index fund. That gave you a good shot at growing the money over time, even if the market went up and down a bit along the way. Circle the <em>Total Portfolio Earnings</em> entry to highlight that growth to date. Explain that now, with college getting closer, you’re shifting funds out of the market to reduce risk.</li>
</ol>
<p>Over several 529 review sessions, you can communicate incredibly valuable lessons about basic investing principles in a relevant, tangible, repetitive way.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>What a tax-advantaged account is.</strong> When you circle the portfolio earnings, scribble the words “tax fee” nearby each time. That’s one of the special things about a 529. The investments grow tax free. This will remind your kid to always be on the lookout for tax-advantaged investment opportunities — like that Roth IRA account you helped your teen open with that first summer job. Right?! π</li>
<li><strong>What a qualified withdrawal is.</strong> Circle the <em>Withdrawals</em> line item. Explain that it may be zero now, but eventually you’ll be seeing how much is being pulled out each quarter to pay for school. Keep reiterating that the withdrawals are for <em>qualified expenses</em> only! Tuition? Yep. Books? Yep. Spring Break? Nope. Withdraw funds for the wrong thing, and you’ll be looking at some nasty penalties. Good to know.</li>
<li><strong>Gratitude.</strong> If you stick with your 529 reviews, this could be the biggest bonus of all. You might start hearing some crazy talk from your teen, like: “I need to take this college thing more seriously.” And, perhaps: “I really appreciate what you’re doing here.” Or, possibly even: “Maybe I should start putting part of my summer paycheck in the 529.” Stranger things have happened!</li>
</ol>
<p>That’s six valuable lessons your teen can learn from reviewing 529 statements for 15 minutes every 3 months. Tough to beat those quarterly returns.</p>
<p>Ready to make the investment?</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-8426832690905564392024-01-31T15:11:00.000-08:002024-01-31T15:11:24.858-08:00How To Decipher Purchase Locations In The Digital Era<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaai8SQuLGYkv8E9S-VZLuBOPxD6m0LaIEw_A-QT8NEm9Lk0c-2M2nSW0H2zpyvz4Nj6nFcYOSoy5VoKTfP6pQomDztS1vsNyoIozQdE2P-e3XUioEH4C6JZCbY9sePOxt7auDMi94yi9GWjdlTDGNx60WL2B7Rmh57J0Qdo6ZW_5XT8-ENyMYw/s1650/Uber%20Eats%20In%20SF%202.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="UberEats transaction in San Francisco" border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaai8SQuLGYkv8E9S-VZLuBOPxD6m0LaIEw_A-QT8NEm9Lk0c-2M2nSW0H2zpyvz4Nj6nFcYOSoy5VoKTfP6pQomDztS1vsNyoIozQdE2P-e3XUioEH4C6JZCbY9sePOxt7auDMi94yi9GWjdlTDGNx60WL2B7Rmh57J0Qdo6ZW_5XT8-ENyMYw/s600/Uber%20Eats%20In%20SF%202.jpg"/></a>
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<blockquote><em>“This Uber Eats charge must be fraud — we don’t live in SF!”</em></blockquote>
<p>Have you coached your child on what to expect when it comes to reviewing card transaction descriptions?</p>
<p>If not, they might think a transaction is fraudulent when it isn’t.</p>
<p><strong>A classic point of confusion:</strong> as more purchasing moves online or in-app, the city or state mentioned in a transaction description is increasingly unlikely to reflect the physical location where the purchase occurred. Instead, it often maps to the business headquarters of the merchant far away from the point of sale. That’s why, no matter where you use Uber Eats, you’ll see the following in your transaction history:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="padding: 1ex; background-color: #eff2f1;">UBER *EATS San Francisco CA</p>
<p>So, where do these descriptions come from?</p>
<p>When a merchant sets up a system to accept credit card payments, they provide information about their business, including their name and typically location and/or telephone number. This information is used to create the transaction descriptions for purchases from the merchant.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there’s no standard when it comes to these merchant descriptors. Some descriptions are straightforward and recognizable, while others might be abbreviated or formatted in a way that is confusing to the cardholder.</p>
<p>If you see an <strong>unrecognized</strong> transaction description:</p>
<ol>
<li>Google the description to see if you can decipher the merchant. For more clues, select the transaction status lozenge just beneath the transaction date in the left hand column of the FamZoo <em>Transactions</em> screen for the card. You’ll find more detailed information about the purchase, like the precise timing and the <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2023/07/category-codes-carry-clues-to-kids.html">merchant category</a>.</li>
<li>If you figure out the merchant but aren’t sure about the reason or amount, contact them to get clarification or to request a refund. When the merchant is an online site or an app where a family member has an account, sign into the account there and review the billing history. That may shed further light on the charge and solve the mystery quickly.
<p style="padding: 1ex; background-color: #FFFFCC;"><strong>Tip:</strong> we’ve seen many cases where a child’s card has been inadvertently added to the stored payment methods of a parent’s account, so be sure to check the transaction histories of all accounts in the family with the given merchant.</p>
</li>
<li>If the merchant is unreachable or unknown, contact us to get more detail on the charge and to file a dispute if appropriate.</li>
</ol>
<p>Here are three handy places to review transaction descriptions with your child:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>The Transactions screen</strong> — from the <em>Accounts</em> listing screen, click or tap on the balance amount for your child’s card to navigate to its transaction history.</li>
<li><strong>The weekly summary email</strong> — we send a summary of transactions each week to the email address on file for each family member (check your Promotions tab in GMail or spam folder). To review and add or update family member emails, see <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#edit-member">here</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Activity alerts</strong> — if you have <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">activity alerts</a> enabled (<em>highly recommended!</em>), you can scroll back through your FamZoo text message stream on your phone.</li>
</ol>
<p>My guess is you’re going to see a lot of Cupertino (Apple), San Francisco (Uber, Doordash, InstaCart, CashApp), Mountain View (Roblox, Google), San Mateo (Playstation), Los Gatos (Netflix), Seattle (Amazon), Redmond (Microsoft), New York (Spotify), and Kent (Shein).</p>
<p>What’s in your kid’s digital “neighborhood”?</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-7852608552319268332023-12-31T14:37:00.000-08:002023-12-31T14:37:12.232-08:00How to Conduct a Year-End Financial Review With Your Child<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-IiBomWVE4nR6tD06DSkGQhjAsktR4yS7mTPvH37lCv7VVRvz21sSu9yNUTLghG9xOdgf3DPpUwJWcPEPxEsAJCPkL_fVUPLmyOQUSVsl1NoSncSEYuqL2rDw5JW3tntPh9iThkx73EzqI6RQT9tQ3cPyhOWPxDdsbrHfdVJeZnOhwpE572R0A/s955/PrimeChargeMagnified.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Prime Charge Through Magnifying Glass" border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="955" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-IiBomWVE4nR6tD06DSkGQhjAsktR4yS7mTPvH37lCv7VVRvz21sSu9yNUTLghG9xOdgf3DPpUwJWcPEPxEsAJCPkL_fVUPLmyOQUSVsl1NoSncSEYuqL2rDw5JW3tntPh9iThkx73EzqI6RQT9tQ3cPyhOWPxDdsbrHfdVJeZnOhwpE572R0A/s600/PrimeChargeMagnified.jpg"/></a></div>
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<p>Now is the perfect time to sit down with your child and conduct a year-end review of their finances. If delivered diplomatically, a gentle audit will nudge them toward better fiscal habits in the year ahead.</p>
<p>To set the right tone for a candid exchange, I like to break the ice by confessing one or two boneheaded financial mistakes of my own. Like when I <a href="https://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2018/08/confess-your-money-mess-ups-to-your-kids.html">wasted a gazillion dollars on an unnecessary storage locker</a> — <strong>for 13 years</strong>! Hey, we all make financial mistakes, right?</p>
<p>As you browse through your kid’s transactions from the past year together, here are a few things to look for and discuss:</p>
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<p style="padding: 1ex; background-color: #ffc"><strong>Pro tip:</strong> You may want to <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#download-transactions">download the transactions</a> into a spreadsheet for easy searching, sorting, and analysis.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Unwanted subscriptions.</strong> See any recurring charges for subscriptions that are no longer used or valued? Cancel them.</li>
<li><strong>Unrecognized charges.</strong> First, check to see if any unexpected charges fall into one of these <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2023/04/five-flavors-of-faux-fraud.html">five categories of faux fraud</a>. A classic example: Amazon’s sneaky check-the-box-for-next-day-shipping trap. Check that box, and Voilà: your kid’s paying Prime membership fees 30 days later. For the faux fraud cases, seek refunds from merchants if appropriate. (We’ve found Amazon to be very accommodating when kids are involved.) For real fraud, <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">lock the card</a> and <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#order-replace">order a replacement</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Regrettable purchases.</strong> Does your child notice purchases they regret in retrospect? Perhaps purchases driven by impulse, deceptive marketing, FOMO, envy, or other social pressures. For big purchases, consider agreeing on a waiting period — like the <a href="https://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/02/teach-your-kids-48-hour-rule.html">48 Hour Rule</a>. For questionable purchases, consider <a href="https://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/06/make-kids-submit-written-proposals-for-questionable-purchases.html">requiring a written proposal</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Exorbitant purchases.</strong> You’ll probably find some expensive items that have more affordable alternatives. The alternatives may require a little extra legwork, planning, or research. DoorDash is super convenient, but it’s super expensive! How about biking to Chipotle instead? Costco offers high quality bargain alternatives to many items bought at the mall or online. Bulk store-bought sodas beat one-off vending machine sodas on price by a wide margin. (Not to mention the fact that vending machines are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/famzoo/posts/1925023134521637/">magnets for card skimming devices</a>. Beware!)</li>
<li><strong>Busted budget.</strong> Is your child struggling to stay within <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2023/11/how-to-manage-teen-clothing-budget.html">budget for clothing</a>, food, or some other category? Was last year’s budget realistic? If not, now’s the time to fine tune the <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#budget">budget worksheet</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Excessive declines.</strong> If your child is racking up scores of failed transactions, you’ll want to select the red <em style="color:#c00">Declined</em> lozenge next to each to see the reason and the remedy. Our card processor will eventually interpret excessive declines as suspicious activity and slap a lock on the card. More importantly, valuable financial lessons lurk within failed transactions — like the five lessons <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2023/06/mining-for-valuable-money-lessons.html">here</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Savings rate.</strong> What fraction of incoming dollars were squirreled away instead of spent? Consider automating savings with <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#add-allowance">splits</a> on allowance, chore, or one-off payments. Revisit percentage allocations on existing splits and adjust if appropriate. To cement saving habits, consider parental incentives like matching contributions or aggressive <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#interest">parent-paid compound interest</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Donation rate.</strong> What fraction of incoming dollars were donated? Are splits being used to earmark a fraction of incoming funds for charitable giving? Time for a year-end donation?</li>
<li><strong>Income opportunities.</strong> Discuss opportunities for earning more — like extra odd jobs around the house/neighborhood, part-time/summer jobs, or entrepreneurial efforts.</li>
</ul>
<p>If your kid is feeling defensive at this point, remind them that money mistakes are inevitable — even for parents. Consider how an audit of your own accounts would hold up to the scrutiny above. Humbling, isn’t it? π¬</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-56572041067498151332023-11-30T13:27:00.000-08:002023-11-30T13:30:40.643-08:00How To Manage A Teen Clothing Budget<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVerG1ZUQ1xHR_l9LGazH3DShA-Z1CpgIeBgj0eHljhjjPMyNlw0Eg6b3SNa2o8v8tvPlcSuWJ6je2-iLECFdgA6hfcTJq46B5PUxGe38fQQlZJ1hxqWyAqokLsjbW-H3DTTbDxPUkjUu0-VOLb-Bhc4nBXgHKuLFY_FG10sakSc6Ph4oOteREIw/s717/Clothing%20Expense%20Card.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVerG1ZUQ1xHR_l9LGazH3DShA-Z1CpgIeBgj0eHljhjjPMyNlw0Eg6b3SNa2o8v8tvPlcSuWJ6je2-iLECFdgA6hfcTJq46B5PUxGe38fQQlZJ1hxqWyAqokLsjbW-H3DTTbDxPUkjUu0-VOLb-Bhc4nBXgHKuLFY_FG10sakSc6Ph4oOteREIw/s600/Clothing%20Expense%20Card.jpg"/></a></div>
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<p>Parents often ask me how to teach teens budgeting basics. My favorite approach takes a page from the envelope budgeting system playbook, but with a digital twist.</p>
<p>In the traditional envelope system, each category of spending has its own labeled envelope stuffed with the budgeted allocation of cash for the month. Purchases must be funded with the cash from the appropriate envelope. So, all clothing purchases come out of the envelope labeled “clothing”. Super simple.</p>
<p>For the digital twist, replace cash-stuffed envelopes with automatically loaded FamZoo cards. So, all clothing purchases come out of the card labeled “clothing”. Still super simple. <em>And</em> it works in today’s online world where cash is no longer welcome.</p>
<p>When introducing teens to budgeting, I recommend keeping things narrowly focused. No need to overwhelm. Start by choosing just one envelope outside of everyday spending. Clothing is typically an excellent choice for teens.</p>
<p>Here’s how to get your system up and running:</p>
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<ol>
<li><strong>Set up a clothing envelope.</strong> Establish a dedicated subaccount for clothing purchases by <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#more-cards">adding an additional card for your teen</a> with “Clothing” on the label. A physical card just comes along for the ride with every prepaid subaccount. Your teen doesn’t have to use it directly (see step 3 below).
<p><strong>Note:</strong> adding a card does not change your subscription fee. Your FamZoo subscription covers the whole family and any number of cards within your family.</p>
<p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/how-to-activate-your-famzoo-cards.html#more-cards">activate your additional card</a> immediately after ordering so you can see it right away within your online account and get started on the next step.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Set the budget.</strong> How big should the budget be? I recommend letting your teen do the initial math in a <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#budget">budget worksheet</a>. This step alone will be a valuable eye-opening experience for your teen. Who knew clothing could be so expensive? Iterate to arrive at a reasonable number. Swap designer brands for budget brands. Add overlooked necessities. Underwear anyone? π€£
<p>With the agreed-upon number in hand, <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#add-allowance">create a clothing allowance</a> that automatically delivers the right amount to the clothing card each week, month, or year.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Spend within the budget.</strong> The current balance on the clothing card represents the remaining budget available to spend.
<p>There are two ways your teen can spend against the budget:</p>
<ol>
<li>Use the clothing card directly for clothing purchases.</li>
<li>Use their everyday spending card for clothing purchases and <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">request transfers</a> from the clothing card to cover or reimburse budgeted expenses.</li>
</ol>
<p>I prefer the second. It:</p>
<ul>
<li>Reduces the number of cards in your teens wallet — no chance of losing an “envelope”.</li>
<li>Gracefully handles the case of a compound purchase where part is clothing (or within budget) and part isn’t — just reimburse the part that is.</li>
<li>Encourages your teen to maintain a healthy balance on their spending card — a good financial habit.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>So, what happens to any money left over in the envelope at the end of the month? Is it a <strong>bonus</strong> transferred to everyday spending? Does it stay in the envelope and <strong>roll over</strong> to the next month? Is it <strong>use-it-or-lose-it</strong> and pulled back to the parent card? Your call.</p>
<p>My vote? Rollover to the next month, but deliver a final balloon bonus if any remains upon FamZoo “graduation”. That’s what a teen deserves for earning their budgeting degree with honors.</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-28028025217593351252023-10-31T14:39:00.000-07:002023-10-31T14:39:02.608-07:007 Ways To Move Money To Kids<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3Mw11y13J_K0QWEkOfS87kUOv77Tm2LZ0IunCZg8cDuAWMfY4MG3NCqIrudo2WDnX6zqZvaIvLUlNsUOiyBErsnvFo7zQgJC8CnWCI8Tfj1PJuFqGNBzZ0C7u_huWA7mlNTNp32Cqm6kGI8A4JNzDqsg_3UmPbF1sQHbXvDj6WvecbrzcRzPdA/s1350/KidCatchingFlyingMoney.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Child catching flying money emojis" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3Mw11y13J_K0QWEkOfS87kUOv77Tm2LZ0IunCZg8cDuAWMfY4MG3NCqIrudo2WDnX6zqZvaIvLUlNsUOiyBErsnvFo7zQgJC8CnWCI8Tfj1PJuFqGNBzZ0C7u_huWA7mlNTNp32Cqm6kGI8A4JNzDqsg_3UmPbF1sQHbXvDj6WvecbrzcRzPdA/s600/KidCatchingFlyingMoney.jpg"/></a></div>
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<p>What’s the best way to move money to your kids?</p>
<p>Trick question. It depends. It depends on their ages and circumstances. It depends on your money values and the messages you want to deliver.</p>
<p>Here are seven options to consider:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Ad hoc credits</strong> — move money as needed. Whenever your kid needs money and you feel it’s appropriate, just open up FamZoo, hit the plus icon next to your kid’s card on the <em>Accounts</em> screen, enter the amount, enter a description like <em>“Lunch money”</em>, and select <em>Credit Account</em>. The money moves immediately to your child’s card. Easy-peasy.</li>
<li><strong>Allowance</strong> — move money on a regular schedule. <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#add-allowance">Create an allowance</a> to move a fixed or age-proportional amount to your child each day, week, month, or year. Think of an allowance as a very simple budget. The most common case is a modest weekly “pocket money” allowance delivered to a spending card to cover everyday incidentals. As kids get older, I like to add a monthly or annual allowance delivered to a separate card dedicated to a specific expense, like clothing. It’s a simple setup to hone the skill of managing a lump sum of funds over a longer timeframe.</li>
<li><strong>Checklist</strong> — move money as items are completed on a list. <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#checklists">Create checklists</a> to reward the completion of chores or odd jobs around the house. Many families combine a modest allowance with a checklist to provide occasional opportunities to earn extra money through extra work. Some families foster a little competition for those opportunities with a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#first-dibs">“first-dibs” setup</a>. The early bird gets the worm.</li>
<li><strong>Money request</strong> — move money in response to a request. Instead of doling out money, make your kid <strike>beg</strike> ask for it! Your child can launch a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#requesting">money request</a> by selecting the arrow icon next to their card in the <em>Accounts</em> screen. They’ll be prompted to fill out a short form with the amount and a compelling justification. When they do, you'll receive a text message. Select the embedded link to approve, partially approve, or deny the request. Some families like to use money requests as an entrepreneurial alternative to chore charts. “Hey kids, if you see work around the house to be done, do it. Then, negotiate payment with a money request.”</li>
<li><strong>Reimbursement request</strong> — move money in response to a request for the reimbursement of a specific purchase. A <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#reimbursing">reimbursement request</a> is just like a money request, but after the fact. Your child must purchase the item first, and then request payment from you to recoup the cost. To do so, your kid selects the little return arrow next to the transaction to launch the request. You receive a message with an embedded link to review the request and approve, partially approve, or deny the amount. I like to use the reimbursement technique liberally, even if I’m happy to foot the bill for most of my kid’s expenses. Why? Making the purchases themselves forces kids to (a) understand how much everyday items cost, and (b) maintain a healthy balance well north of zero (so they can purchase the items in the first place). Two good habits in one.</li>
<li><strong>Parent-paid compound interest</strong> — move an amount of money on a regular schedule that is calculated as a percentage of the current card balance. Reward kids for <em>not</em> spending. More balance, more money. <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#interest-setup">Set up aggressive, frequent parent-paid compound interest</a> so they can experience the magic of compounding with amounts and timeframes that a kid can actually appreciate. Once kids realize that their money can make money if they keep their paws off it, they’re well on their way to a lifelong habit of saving and investing.</li>
<li><strong>Direct deposit</strong> — move money from an employer. Time for the Bank of Mom/Dad to step aside. Your kid’s FamZoo card has its own <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#routing-account-nums">routing and account number</a>, so paychecks from a part time or summer job can be deposited directly into their card account.</li>
</ol>
<p>All but number 7 require you to have sufficient funds on your <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#funding-card">primary funding card</a>. If you don’t, FamZoo will record any shortfall as a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#auto-iou">card IOU</a>. As soon as you top off your primary funding card with enough funds, FamZoo will automatically repay any outstanding card IOUs.</p>
<p>Of course, the beauty of number 7 is that you don’t need any money at all on your primary funding card for Junior to get paid. You’re no longer footing the bill.</p>
<p>And, that’s ultimately the shift we want to see — from dependence to self-sufficiency.</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-88388634860157076662023-09-30T09:42:00.003-07:002023-09-30T10:34:07.635-07:00Hey Siri, Hey Google: "FamZoo Balance."<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcP016Iv7C5FtapgP8ZmSD6aHMN7Moy4OOi2KTllA5npf8NHb48VrVkacMZIZgYaW_q7qfveaeRVx1l-gqGTn3tD3R062xsfSN9GRRSKwdktpuLT4AyO6SVmUXpe1vkqDof20TnQgHu8b-rC2F2tliP9qsfYzmU_VfHRs2k5VLYpp72k2R-8hQGg/s1050/DirtyDishesVoiceCommand.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Woman talking to phone" border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="1050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcP016Iv7C5FtapgP8ZmSD6aHMN7Moy4OOi2KTllA5npf8NHb48VrVkacMZIZgYaW_q7qfveaeRVx1l-gqGTn3tD3R062xsfSN9GRRSKwdktpuLT4AyO6SVmUXpe1vkqDof20TnQgHu8b-rC2F2tliP9qsfYzmU_VfHRs2k5VLYpp72k2R-8hQGg/s600/DirtyDishesVoiceCommand.png"/></a>
</div>
</div>
<p>Wouldn’t it be cool and convenient to retrieve your card balance from your phone by just talking to it? A short, sweet voice command like:</p>
<blockquote>“Hey Siri, FamZoo balance.”</blockquote>
<p>on your iPhone.</p>
<p>Or:</p>
<blockquote>“Hey Google, FamZoo balance.”</blockquote>
<p>on your Android phone.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you need to keep things quiet, what if you could retrieve your balance with a single tap on a special home screen icon?</p>
<p>And what if you could quickly kick off other cool automated commands too, like:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ul>
<li>“spending balances” — retrieve the current balances for <em>all</em> the spending cards in the family.</li>
<li>“walked dog” — check off your daily dog walking chore.</li>
<li>“dirty dishes” — deduct 50 cents from your kid’s spending card for blowing off dish duty.</li>
<li>“spot bonus” — add a dollar to your kid’s spending card to reward a special achievement or a random act of kindness.</li>
</ul>
<p>You can do all of those things easily with the combination of:</p>
<ol>
<li>FamZoo Quick Commands, and</li>
<li>Apple Shortcuts (on the iPhone) or Google Assistant Routines (on Android phones).</li>
</ol>
<p>Start by learning FamZoo Quick Commands to perform common FamZoo operations with short command phrases sent by text or email to FamZoo.</p>
<p>For example, when I text the following to FamZoo:</p>
<blockquote>account balance coffee bill</blockquote>
<p>FamZoo responds with a text containing the current balance of my “Coffee Habit” card, like this:</p>
<blockquote>Bill’s “Coffee Habit”: $23.16</blockquote>
<p>With Quick Commands, you can retrieve balances, credit or debit accounts, check items off a list, add items to a list, and more.</p>
<p>To learn all about the Quick Commands we support and how to send them to FamZoo:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sign into FamZoo.</li>
<li>Navigate to the <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#desktop-ui">Desktop UI</a> if you’re on a mobile device.</li>
<li>Select the <em class="ui">Quick Commands > Reference</em> menu item to browse our detailed Quick Command reference guide.</li>
<li>Select the <em class="ui">Quick Commands > Simulator</em> menu item to experiment with quick commands as you learn them.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Important Note:</strong> FamZoo Quick Commands must be sent to a special phone number. You’ll find that number displayed in both the Quick Commands Reference and in the Simulator. Add the number to your contacts as “FamZoo” to simplify the steps below.</p>
<p>With Quick Commands under your belt, the next step is to set up your iPhone or Android phone to issue one or more commands in response to a spoken phrase or the tap of an icon.</p>
<h3>Automating Quick Commands on the iPhone</h3>
<p>To automate a Quick Command sequence on your iPhone:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shortcuts/id915249334">Shortcuts app</a>.</li>
<li>Tap the plus (<em class = "ui">+</em>) icon in the upper right corner.</li>
<li>Tap on the name of the new shortcut, select <em class = "ui">Rename</em>, and give your shortcut the name that you want to use when launching it.</li>
<li>Tap <em class = "ui">Add Action</em> and select the <em class = "ui">Send Message</em> action. You’ll see an action template of the form: Send “<em class = "ui">Message</em>” to <em class = "ui">Recipients</em>.</li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">Message</em> and enter your desired FamZoo Quick Command.</li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">Recipients</em> and select the FamZoo contact you created for the FamZoo Quick Commands phone number.</li>
<li>Tap the options button (<em class = "ui">></em>) at the lower right of the template and turn <em class = "ui">Show When Run</em> off. This permits the shortcut to run automatically with just a tap of an icon.</li>
<li>Note: you can add more actions if you would like to run multiple Quick Commands for this shortcut.</li>
<li>Tap on the name of the new shortcut, select <em class = "ui">Choose Icon</em>, and customize the icon color and symbol if desired.</li>
<li>Tap on the name of the new shortcut, select <em class = "ui">Add to Home Screen</em>.</li>
<li>Tap <em class = "ui">Done</em> in the upper right corner.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now you can run your new FamZoo shortcut by either tapping on its icon in the home screen or saying “Hey Siri’ followed by the name of your shortcut.</p>
<h3>Automating Quick Commands on an Android Phone</h3>
<p>To automate a Quick Command sequence on your Android phone:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googleassistant&hl=en_US&gl=US">Google Assistant app</a>.</li>
<li>Follow <a href="https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/7394306?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid">these instructions</a> to access Google Assistant with your voice.</li>
<li>Say “Hey Google, assistant settings.”</li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">Routines</em></li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">New</em> in the upper right corner.</li>
<li>Tap on the name to give your new routine the name that you want to use when launching it.</li>
<li>Tap <em class = "ui">Add starter</em>, tap <em class = "ui">When I say to Google Assistant</em>, and enter your routine name.</li>
<li>Tap <em class = "ui">Add action</em>, tap <em class = "ui">Communicate and announce</em>, and tap <em class = "ui">Edit action</em> under <em class = "ui">Send a text</em>.</li>
<li>Enter the FamZoo Quick Command phone number in the first field.</li>
<li>Enter your desired FamZoo Quick Command in the second field.</li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">Done</em> until you get back to the main Routine form. Note: you can enter additional actions if you would like to run multiple Quick Commands for this routine.</li>
<li>Tap on <em class = "ui">Save</em>.</li>
<li>Tap on your new routine.</li>
<li>Tap on the <em class = "ui">Add to home screen</em> icon in the upper right, and tap on <em class = "ui">Add</em>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now you can run your new FamZoo routine by either tapping on its icon in the home screen or saying “Hey Google’ followed by the name of your routine.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Automating a FamZoo Quick Command on your phone is a fun little productivity hack for everyone in the family. That said, we know it falls short of what every kid is <em>really</em> looking for:</p>
<blockquote>“Hey Siri, hey Google, do my chores for me!”</blockquote>
<p>Maybe someday...</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-71927578889681052352023-08-31T11:59:00.005-07:002023-08-31T12:17:41.473-07:00How To Raise Super-Saver Kids in 5 Simple Steps<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUHZm5uf5SIq-uIxD9PRMuxwFyvr-89wdthUyuc5xiOMaLeyGjwPvy2doWhvQhAv40CALLcYVUIjZssPuooW4GVsfh3al06L92AoQPWuQ_Y6xZuPsKqIeh9V7zQ9u6AIdMTdYLLpJ-qlF0LTKwCrn0rOEZAHBHnHSvsolPTjU3E11BfKRO_Re6w/s1987/SuperSaver.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Girl in superhero costume in front of savings chart." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="1987" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUHZm5uf5SIq-uIxD9PRMuxwFyvr-89wdthUyuc5xiOMaLeyGjwPvy2doWhvQhAv40CALLcYVUIjZssPuooW4GVsfh3al06L92AoQPWuQ_Y6xZuPsKqIeh9V7zQ9u6AIdMTdYLLpJ-qlF0LTKwCrn0rOEZAHBHnHSvsolPTjU3E11BfKRO_Re6w/s600/SuperSaver.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>George Samuel Clason’s 1926 classic, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Richest_Man_in_Babylon">The Richest Man in Babylon</a>, popularized the adage “pay yourself first” as a pillar of wealth building.</p>
<p>Easy to say. Hard to do. Particularly for kids.</p>
<p>How do we translate Clason’s undeniably sound principle into a lasting habit for our children?</p>
<p>Follow these five steps:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Start with separate subaccounts.</strong> Comingling funds complicates savings. Without partitioning, spending prevails. Your kids each need two purpose-driven accounts: one for spending, one for saving. If each kid only has one card currently, order up another one specifically for saving. That’s where the pay-yourself portion will go.
<p>Remember, your FamZoo <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#how-much">subscription fee</a> remains the same, no matter how many cards you have in your family.</p>
<p>To order separate savings cards, see <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#more-cards">here</a>.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Allocate earnings.</strong> Carve out some savings from every bit of “income” your children earn. Then, they’ll be paying themselves a fraction on every payday. Split allowance, chore rewards, and ad hoc credits percentage-wise between spending and savings.
<p>Learn more about automatically splitting payments <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#allowances">here</a></p>
<p>Teens earning a real paycheck can often request a split between accounts when setting up direct deposit with their employer. Each FamZoo card account has its own routing and account number visible on its <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#routing-account-nums">Card Information screen</a>. If the employer won’t split deposits (or if you want the flexibility of easily changing the allocation), consider directing the full deposit to the savings card first. You can sweep the spending allocation over to the spending card right after each payday.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Stifle the savings siphon.</strong> FamZoo imposes natural friction to the free flow of funds from your child’s savings to spending. Kids must initiate transfer requests to justify moving money over. Parents can tap on the notification, review the rationale, and either approve, partially approve, or deny the request. This makes it a lot tougher for kids to “unpay” themselves on a whim by liquidating savings on spurious stuff.
<p>Learn more about transfer requests <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">here</a>.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Encourage saving with incentives.</strong> Kids should see frequent, obvious rewards from saving. That’s the magic to making the pay-yourself habit stick. And nothing is more magical or sticky than experiencing the power of compound growth firsthand. Compounding rewards are easy to automate with FamZoo’s parent-paid interest. Pay an aggressive rate every week or month. <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">Turn on activity alerts</a> for the savings card to automatically remind kids of the compounding interest rolling in every cycle.
<p>Learn how to set up parent-paid compound interest <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#interest">here</a>.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Discourage unsaving with deductions.</strong> Dampen the urge to dip into savings with early withdrawal penalties — like clawing back any parent-paid interest delivered within the last week or month. Waive penalties for withdrawals backed by a planned <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#create-goal">savings goal</a>, since there’s nothing wrong with a well-considered purchase! We just want to make unplanned “unsaving” unattractive.</li>
</ol>
<p>Follow those five simple steps and getting your kids to pay themselves first will be easy peasy.</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-43016247222339365112023-07-31T16:22:00.024-07:002023-08-02T16:49:13.419-07:00Category Codes Carry Clues to Kids' Transactions<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_pWrRkJjua00rM5ujdg7wIp_PJBVKlLCOP0H6_fe6e5yltqzNSUSQgIAMVSkCLSCdxu3xZrvtjtfVLYkZrfuAb7HB6vi88RQqdUs3C_7PWbHs6IgYgsFa6oiEhPaBxvZcBxjXA27GiUdi_WwN9XQGQ7at7mAghzOty5Nnm3kk94SZuJSVlwTNw/s845/MCCDetective.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="845" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_pWrRkJjua00rM5ujdg7wIp_PJBVKlLCOP0H6_fe6e5yltqzNSUSQgIAMVSkCLSCdxu3xZrvtjtfVLYkZrfuAb7HB6vi88RQqdUs3C_7PWbHs6IgYgsFa6oiEhPaBxvZcBxjXA27GiUdi_WwN9XQGQ7at7mAghzOty5Nnm3kk94SZuJSVlwTNw/s600/MCCDetective.png"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Where did that transaction come from?</p>
<p>Between kids just learning the financial ropes, teens pushing boundaries, merchants deploying <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern" target="_blank">dark patterns</a>, and fraudsters pouncing on vulnerabilities, parents routinely have to don their detective hats to track down the source of “mystery” charges. Occasionally it’s fraud. Most times it isn’t (see <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2023/04/five-flavors-of-faux-fraud.html">Five Flavors of Faux Fraud</a>).</p>
<p>This month, we added a new tool to the FamZoo transaction tracking toolbox: <strong>merchant category codes</strong>, or <strong>MCC</strong>s for short. MCCs are defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and used to classify merchants by the type of goods or services provided. When the transaction description fails to unlock the mystery of a purchase’s origin, the MCC description just might do the trick.</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>ISO currently defines 898 MCCs. For example, a classic category loved by teens everywhere is: "Fast food restaurants."</p>
<p>MCCs are grouped into 15 supercategories known as ranges. Examples of supercategories include: Miscellaneous outlets, Amusement and entertainment, and Transportation.</p>
<p>In FamZoo, we show the supercategory name followed by the category name. For example, each Chipotle purchase has the following MCC description:</p>
<blockquote>Miscellaneous outlets > Fast food restaurants</blockquote>
<p>You’ll find the MCC description in the <em>Transaction Detail</em> screen for a purchase transaction as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Visit the Transactions screen for one of your cards by selecting its balance.</li>
<li>Scroll through the transaction history to locate the desired purchase.</li>
<li>Select the little status lozenge (PENDING, SETTLED, DECLINED, etc) just beneath the date to reveal the transaction’s detailed information — which includes the MCC description.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, what did I discover when analyzing the aggregate anonymous MCC data for our child cardholders over the past 7 days?</p>
<p><strong>Kids eat a lot!</strong> 4 of the top 10 categories are food related and make up a combined 63.1% of purchases in the top 10 MCCs. Kids also play a lot of online games (shocker!) and fill up the gas tank. Here are the top ten most popular merchant categories from last week:</p>
<ol>
<li>Fast food restaurants: <strong>29.5%</strong> of the purchases from the top 10 MCCs.</li>
<li>Eating places and restaurants: <strong>15.5%</strong>.</li>
<li>Groceries and supermarkets: <strong>14.8%</strong>.</li>
<li>Service stations (with or without ancillary services): <strong>9.6%</strong>.</li>
<li>Digital Goods — Games: <strong>7.5%</strong>.</li>
<li>Digital Goods — Large Digital Goods Merchant: <strong>6.2%</strong>.</li>
<li>Wire transfers and money orders: <strong>5.3%</strong>.</li>
<li>Automated fuel dispensers: <strong>4.3%</strong>.</li>
<li>Bookshops: <strong>4.1%</strong>.</li>
<li>Miscellaneous food shops — convenience and speciality retail outlets: <strong>3.3%</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ummm... what’s with the wire transfers and money orders? Seems sketchy. Fortunately, not. It turns out that’s mostly peer-to-peer payments through Venmo, Cash App, and Apple Pay. Very popular among teens!</p>
<p>And what’s with bookshops in the top 10? So retro! Nope. It turns out it’s all pretty much one massive “Bookshop”. Anyone? <a href="https://youtu.be/f4zyjLyBp64">Beuller? Beuller?</a> That’s right. Amazon. Anyone else remember when they were just books? OK, Boomer.</p>
<p>As you can see, MCC descriptions aren’t just handy tools for inspectors, they’re also trivia fodder for anyone who’s just plain curious.</p>
<p>In fact, MCCs are a very simple way to share some breezy spending banter with your child. “I wonder what the merchant category for Spotify is? Let’s check it out.”</p>
<p><strong>But there is something deeper going on here:</strong> seemingly <em>mindless</em> MCC conversations with your child can lead to more <em>mindful</em> spending. Those sessions also set the table for more transparent money management dialog going forward.</p>
<p>And that’s what we’re all about.</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-28378359678468193002023-06-30T18:43:00.000-07:002023-06-30T18:43:04.966-07:00Mining Declines for Valuable Money Lessons<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGR-yfHgKGgtBRTkILAZ65ohEHIv-rT0THmkoe0ytetB3lacbebG2oErtnTeCTOsAMlVVBS2vGyVk2pCXvsvI5xKf7LvVae2wNoFvKhEKJLD5XjnPqRx9WJwhwrq9qTY8QzVWU6d3udFq-eCAN6pWQQh7a6j_nSXiBeqpQwL-OtPL1c6-gDgQUA/s1000/MineDeclines.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Mining lamp shining on a decline." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGR-yfHgKGgtBRTkILAZ65ohEHIv-rT0THmkoe0ytetB3lacbebG2oErtnTeCTOsAMlVVBS2vGyVk2pCXvsvI5xKf7LvVae2wNoFvKhEKJLD5XjnPqRx9WJwhwrq9qTY8QzVWU6d3udFq-eCAN6pWQQh7a6j_nSXiBeqpQwL-OtPL1c6-gDgQUA/s600/MineDeclines.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Most card providers sugar coat their transaction histories. If you open up their apps, you’ll only see the successful or pending transactions listed — no failed ones.</p>
<p>Not so with FamZoo. We show everything: successful transactions, unsuccessful attempts, and even fraudulent hits. It’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why show the latter two? <strong>We believe a valuable lesson lurks in every failed transaction.</strong></p>
<p>You can spot a failed transaction in the history by looking for a red <em style="color:red">DECLINED</em> lozenge just beneath the transaction’s date in the left hand column.</p>
<p>Click or tap on the lozenge to reveal the details behind the failure.</p>
<p>Here’s a sampling of five common failures and some important lessons to be gleaned:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Purchase amount exceeds card balance.</strong> Except for <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#negative-balance">rare cases</a>, purchase attempts on a FamZoo card that exceed the current balance will fail.
<p>Money lessons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Know your current balance.</strong> Show kids how to check their card balances online, in the app, with a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2022/06/notifications-quick-commands-new-number.html">Quick Command</a> text message, or via the 800 number on the back of the card. Then, turn on <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">activity alerts</a> so they’ll be reminded of the remaining balance after every purchase.</li>
<li><strong>Beware bundled charges.</strong> Let kids know that some services, like iTunes, defer billing until the total reaches a critical mass. At some point, they’ll have to pay the piper. Without some mental accounting along the way, they could get in over their heads.</li>
<li><strong>Manage subscriptions.</strong> Services like Amazon Prime are notorious for hoodwinking kids into recurring billing arrangements. Mentor your kids on how to detect <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/09/ftc-report-shows-rise-sophisticated-dark-patterns-designed-trick-trap-consumers">subscription dark patterns</a>, cancel unwanted services, and plan ahead for legitimate recurring bills. Many failed transactions map to mismanaged subscriptions.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Invalid Security Code.</strong> If the wrong card security code is entered for an online transaction, the attempt will fail.
<p>Money lessons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Know where to find your security code.</strong> Show kids how to locate the 3 digit card security code printed on the signature panel on the back of each card.</li>
<li><strong>Know what is on your card and how to protect it.</strong> While you’re at it, show kids the <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/07/11-numbers-kids-with-prepaid-cards-need.html">10 other numbers they need to know</a> on their prepaid cards and the appropriate security precautions to take with each.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Incorrect PIN entered.</strong> If the wrong PIN is entered for a debit or ATM transaction, the attempt will fail.
<p>Money lessons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Know your PIN.</strong> FamZoo cards come with a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#default-pin">default PIN</a>. Teach kids what a PIN is, and how to <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#update-pin">change the PIN</a> to a secure value.</li>
<li><strong>Pick memorable yet secure PINs.</strong> Your kid’s birth year or birth month plus day is not a secure PIN. Teach kids how to select a PIN that isn’t easily guessed. Try the <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/10/teach-kids-simple-secure-pin-strategy.html">four word phrase mnemonic trick</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Incorrect PIN block.</strong> Entering the wrong PIN too many times in a row locks up the card. Subsequent transactions will fail. It’s three strikes you’re out.
<p>Money lessons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Know how to reset your PIN.</strong> Show kids how to locate the 800 number for our card processor, Transcard, on the back of the card. The cardholder can call Transcard to reset a forgotten PIN.</li>
<li><strong>Memorize your SSN.</strong> Train teens to remember their social security numbers. Cardholders are expected to know the last 4 digits of their SSN when calling the 800 number. It’s a standard card processor security protocol for identity verification. Get it wrong, and they’ll lock your account until you call back with the right info.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Failed address verification.</strong> If a merchant sends an address or zip code that doesn’t match what we have on file for the card, the transaction will fail.
<p>Money lessons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Know how address verification works.</strong> Teach kids how to <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2018/08/train-kids-card-address-verification.html">connect the address verification dots</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Distinguish between billing and shipping.</strong> Show kids how to enter a shipping address that differs from the billing address on file for the card.</li>
<li><strong>Update stale billing profiles.</strong> Remind kids to update old billing info stored with merchants when their address changes. To update the billing address on file for a FamZoo card, see <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#change-address">here</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Phew! That’s a lot to learn!</p>
<p>Who knew so many valuable money lessons lurked behind that little red lozenge?</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-67907738541733266982023-05-31T15:43:00.003-07:002023-05-31T15:43:58.561-07:00Three Signs Kids Grok Compound Interest<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQU3j6Ibi6hHVVSAdRjDfd1djBxRyK4b0EBnepaKjLocDJMjuWAxdqppkTwZJmwtG72yhEgSeCQumiEgzSgWlUpWAzmgsoqKY3WkbjVqL7LR8veem3oFE8mr2Bt_JCY353AaO0j3XmmERWoiLfKq4vKa6Q3rlc_ldx93n2ljHqt37NWUpBEi0/s2000/Groking%20Compound%20Interest.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Child looking at compound interest chart." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQU3j6Ibi6hHVVSAdRjDfd1djBxRyK4b0EBnepaKjLocDJMjuWAxdqppkTwZJmwtG72yhEgSeCQumiEgzSgWlUpWAzmgsoqKY3WkbjVqL7LR8veem3oFE8mr2Bt_JCY353AaO0j3XmmERWoiLfKq4vKa6Q3rlc_ldx93n2ljHqt37NWUpBEi0/s600/Groking%20Compound%20Interest.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>If you “grok” something, you really “get it.” It’s a term coined by the Sci Fi author, Robert Heinlein. It subsequently flourished in computer nerd circles — of which I have been a member since the early 80s. π€</p>
<p><strong>How do you know if your kid groks the incredible power of compound interest?</strong></p>
<p><em>Wait, let’s pause for a second...</em></p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>You <em>are</em> rewarding your kid with parent-paid compound interest, right? If not, stop. See the setup instructions <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#interest-setup">here</a>.</p>
<p>If you need convincing first, read this classic article from the archives: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2015/07/why-savings-accounts-do-not-teach-kids-to-save.html">Why a Traditional Bank Savings Account Doesn’t Teach Your Kid How to Save</a>.</p>
<p>Need even more cajoling? Let’s try peer pressure and some numbers. <strong>22.4% percent of FamZoo parents are already issuing parent-paid interest.</strong> For the record, my favorite delivery timeframe is weekly. The rapid frequency tends to maximize impact. Need a benchmark to help settle on a rate? <strong>The average weekly rate that FamZoo parents are paying right now is 1.11%.</strong> Pro tip: drive the point home with <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">card activity alerts</a>. That way, kids are constantly reminded that compound interest is working its magic in the background — week in and week out.</p>
<p>Why the hard sell? Some kids grow up never even knowing that compound interest is a thing. <strong>That’s a financial tragedy.</strong> This fundamental knowledge hole yields adults who are either late to the saving and investing party or miss it altogether. No bueno. Our mission is to get kids to that compounding party as early as possible — and never leave. It’s the only party I know where the earlier you arrive and the longer you stay, the better it gets. π₯³</p>
<p><em>Unpause...</em></p>
<p>Now that we’re all on board the parent-paid interest train, how do we know when kids are truly getting the message on the life-changing power of compounding?</p>
<p>Eventually, every compound interest earning kid has an epiphany: “My money is making money! I'm not even lifting a finger! Sweet!”</p>
<p>Assuming your kid doesn’t simply blurt that out to your face — likely for fear of you shutting down the Bank of Mom/Dad gravy train — here are three telltale signs that little Johnny or Suzy gets it:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Transfer requests reverse direction.</strong> Before the epiphany, <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">transfer requests</a> invariably involve moving funds from saving to spending. It’s spend, spend, spend! But eventually, if the interest rate is aggressive enough, kids put two and two together. “Hmmm. The higher my balance, the greater the reward. I’ll make more if I leave more in there!” That’s when the tide reverses. Kids start asking to move dollars from spending to saving instead of vice versa. Before long, it's save, save, save!</li>
<li><strong>Interest payments exceed principal additions.</strong> Lauren from the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) community calls this inflection point “<a href="https://twitter.com/cFIREsim/status/1662831901772509186" target="_blank">Childhood FIRE</a>” — the moment when her “youngest (almost 8) now has so much in the Bank of Mom that the interest being kicked off monthly is now equal to his monthly allowance.”
<p>Lauren observes: “We <strong>talk</strong> about FIRE, savings, and investments enough in the house... but once they started <strong>SEEING</strong> how compounding worked, it made them excited.”</p>
<p>That said, if the idea of your FIRE youngster retiring from their weekly chore duties because they have achieved early financial independence scares (or annoys) you, I recommend setting up a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#chore-fail">Chore Fail Chart</a> as a deterrent.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>You’re capping your interest payments.</strong> Houston, we have a problem. Once your kid’s really killing it on the compounding front, your Bank of Mom/Dad might just blow up. To avoid insolvency from your little saver-on-steroids, you’ll want to impose a cap on payouts or renegotiate the rate.
<p>You can also sweep funds into a traditional banking or brokerage account when appropriate. Once he turned 18, my son linked his savings card account to Robinhood so he could periodically pull funds out and make some of the investments we had been discussing. That’s when he grokked just how insanely great my Bank of Dad guaranteed return was! π€£</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Johnny and Suzy now know that money makes more money all by itself when it compounds over time. Genius!</p>
<p>You can talk about the magic of compound interest all you want, but kids need to see it and live it to really grok it.</p>
<p>Grok on!</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-85290023905016464012023-04-30T11:27:00.001-07:002023-04-30T11:27:32.167-07:00Five Flavors of Faux Fraud<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ed4HOZJq7XyfuyS7sjhZ4YgfFwxljxPz4haEaEFnDGUG3Py0DhRfLYuAzK-aQqC6CBcTeAWw0hYd1T7jN0TJA6lel0WG-x3xogaww39RTd2BUc-gzeVr7U2kZE6_wXg6aO7I5dIZ0S6wXWUKbNI7WuGK-KVtfkvkFe0-fkLljTf4IRsfZxU/s958/RaccoonPointingToSneakyCheckout.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Raccoon pointing to sneaky checkout option." border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="958" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ed4HOZJq7XyfuyS7sjhZ4YgfFwxljxPz4haEaEFnDGUG3Py0DhRfLYuAzK-aQqC6CBcTeAWw0hYd1T7jN0TJA6lel0WG-x3xogaww39RTd2BUc-gzeVr7U2kZE6_wXg6aO7I5dIZ0S6wXWUKbNI7WuGK-KVtfkvkFe0-fkLljTf4IRsfZxU/s600/RaccoonPointingToSneakyCheckout.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Things aren’t always as they initially appear — like unauthorized transactions.</p>
<p>Upon closer inspection, sometimes they aren’t unauthorized after all.</p>
<p>Since we’re laser focused on (a) teaching kids the financial ropes, and (b) thwarting fraudsters on our platform, we investigate all unauthorized transaction reports very carefully. With your help, extra due diligence can yield a valuable lesson for a child or an important clue to cracking a new fraudster scheme. Or, sometimes, both.</p>
<p>With over a decade of researching fraudulent transactions under our belt, we’ve compiled a list of classic faux fraud flavors — transactions that look like fraud, but aren’t. Here are five of the most common patterns we see and some tips for identifying them:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>The Sibling Sniper:</strong> one sibling “borrows” another sibling’s card. If you have multiple kids using cards and see an unexpected charge on one card, scan the transaction histories of the other cards for similar purchases or attempts. It might be a case of “friendly fire” with one sibling raiding the funds of the other.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>The Wayward Wallet:</strong> a child’s card wanders into the digital wallet or online account owned by somebody else. See if anyone in the family uses the service or merchant identified by the unexpected transaction. If so, check the account histories to see if the charges line up.
<p>We’ve run into several cases where the child’s card has been added as a payment method to the parent’s account (like Amazon) for a one-off purchase, but inadvertently winds up becoming the default payment method for future purchases.</p>
<p>We’ve also seen cases where kids add their cards to their friends’ apps — like Chipotle and Chick-fil-A. That can be a lot trickier to track down. Look for the first instance of the charge and click or tap on the <em>Settled</em> lozenge to see the precise time of the transaction. That might jog your child’s memory about coordinating a purchase with a friend.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>The Memory Lapse:</strong> a child “forgets” they made a purchase. Kids are particularly “forgetful” when the purchase is, how shall we say, embarrassing or off limits π¬. Look to see if your child has the corresponding app on their phone. Or, locate the corresponding web site and try the <em>Forgot Password</em> link with your child’s email address to see if something lands in their inbox. For an in-store purchase, finding the precise time of the transaction (see above) may improve your child’s recall.
<p>Remember, kids’ frontal lobes are still developing, and teens are wired to test boundaries. Such episodes are normal. Just inform them you’ll be turning on <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">activity alerts</a> so you’ll both receive text messages whenever purchases occur. That tends to head any future shenanigans off at the pass.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>The Subscription Sucker Punch:</strong> an initial purchase or free trial offer coaxes a kid into agreeing to fine print at checkout that results in further charges down the line.
<p>Amazon Prime is the classic culprit. Want next day delivery? Sure! Check the box. 30 days later — boom! The first “unauthorized” Amazon Prime subscription charge hits. Similarly, a dizzying array of subscription services sucker countless kids into surrendering their card numbers knowing they’ll forget to cancel before the first charge hits.</p>
<p>Look for an initial related charge in the transaction history a month earlier. This isn’t always obvious: some shady subscription sites even bill for the subscription under multiple different names.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>The Bundled Billing Bomb:</strong> delayed billing for a bundle of small purchases shows up as an unrecognized bulk charge later. iTunes is the most common example. Apple won’t bill until the charges surpass a certain threshold. Then, they’ll bill for the lump sum at a later date. Since the billed amount and the billing timing is disconnected from the individual downloads, the eventual charge often feels fraudulent. Sign into your child’s account for the service in question. Inspect the purchase history. The billing detail should show how the amounts have been bundled into a lump sum.</li>
</ol>
<p>Whether a mystery charge winds up being fake fraud or real fraud, the very first step in every investigation is to <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">lock the card</a>. That will prevent additional charges from going through while you check things out. If you have trouble tracing the source of the charges, contact us and we'll jump on the case.</p>
<p>Don’t delay. A cold case is always harder to crack.</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-41323992570822457762023-03-29T14:23:00.004-07:002023-03-29T14:26:49.687-07:00Hey Kids, It's Payback Time<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpg2WG-nD-kZDSf_Wz5D0iturOixbLO0nyyKxPhJzcddpcrHmRvXNsD0xpDVplABA2L_XHGDZXGVqjLtfSyCnVYlFrELPn7pvrP-jcXmTjNxZdgsAIrPVqEWhPjXGpWidTT8WwRL3Ivke4qpJvwGqo_w9zLngWimUbL6kLMUpotCMB4F756t4/s960/MouseBorrower.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpg2WG-nD-kZDSf_Wz5D0iturOixbLO0nyyKxPhJzcddpcrHmRvXNsD0xpDVplABA2L_XHGDZXGVqjLtfSyCnVYlFrELPn7pvrP-jcXmTjNxZdgsAIrPVqEWhPjXGpWidTT8WwRL3Ivke4qpJvwGqo_w9zLngWimUbL6kLMUpotCMB4F756t4/s600/MouseBorrower.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Parents aren’t the only ones who need to fork over funds. Sometimes, kids need to make payments to parents and siblings. Here are some classic cases where kids need to pay up:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Pay off a family bet.</strong> <em>Colby bet Dad $2 that the Tigers wouldn’t win. They did. Pay back time.</em></li>
<li><strong>Pay a family member for covering a chore.</strong> <em>Ellie fed the dog yesterday, which is Colby’s job. Pay back time.</em></li>
<li><strong>Reimburse a family member for a purchase.</strong> <em>Ellie picked up In-N-Out for Colby. Pay back time.</em></li>
<li><strong>Pay back a family debt.</strong> <em>Ellie borrowed a dollar from Colby at the county fair. Pay back time.</em></li>
</ul>
<p>But, wait. Kids can’t initiate transfers to other family members in FamZoo. They can only request transfers between their own accounts or request funds from the primary funding card (via <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-moneyreq-work">money requests</a> and <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-reimburse-work">reimbursements</a>), right?</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>Well, it turns out there is a special family-level setting that loosens that restriction. It’s called <em class="ui">Allow Money Requests Between Members</em>. See how to enable it <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#edit-family">here</a>. With that option enabled, kids can request a transfer to or from any account in the family.</p>
<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbL_eiLYLaz1CbnYXiZrJMUU0E3ChzFNcew3rTE1I-BTHPbslHiAQQZugLp4kGVFzZsa7heSk0iDV4qoxzQFT8NfiS3JEAo-_l7X85tZ7GStk7WfzjrFZp7USM1ouUS-06dpybiuK7IOp3L4BGZwzaI9zFQODM_PbxIs9ew6KK4_BSZnYLro/s1139/TigerBetPayback.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="992" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbL_eiLYLaz1CbnYXiZrJMUU0E3ChzFNcew3rTE1I-BTHPbslHiAQQZugLp4kGVFzZsa7heSk0iDV4qoxzQFT8NfiS3JEAo-_l7X85tZ7GStk7WfzjrFZp7USM1ouUS-06dpybiuK7IOp3L4BGZwzaI9zFQODM_PbxIs9ew6KK4_BSZnYLro/s600/TigerBetPayback.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>It’s no free-for-all though: any such transfers still require parent approval. Also, for privacy purposes, we don’t show the balances of the other family member’s accounts. Children can only see their own account balances.</p>
<p>Once the child initiates the transfer request, the selected parent receives email and text notifications. The embedded link in the notification launches the <em class="ui">Transfer Approval</em> form where the parent can approve or deny the transfer. When approving, the parent can also adjust the amount up or down — which is handy when monitoring for benign mistakes or not-so-innocent sibling price gouging. π€</p>
<p>Family members can see a history of transfer requests by selecting the <em class="ui">Money Requests</em> menu item on the <em class="ui">Bank</em> menu (or on the mobile menu in the app). Parents see all requests from all family members and can respond to any pending requests. Kids see just their own requests and can delete any pending ones if they have a change of heart.</p>
<p>Everybody owes somebody a little money once in a while. That somebody deserves to be repaid promptly without asking. Enabling the <em class="ui">Allow Money Requests Between Members</em> option is a good way to let your kids practice prompt, proactive payback behavior.</p>
<p>A simple mnemonic for the kids: <em>If you’re going to borrow, pay it back tomorrow!</em></p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-64432984616039538912023-02-25T12:00:00.002-08:002023-02-25T12:00:22.966-08:003 Roads To A Rock Solid Balance: Bribe, Badger, Barter.<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZwfseHYwo8Sv657o9PQFRT83P9v4MW8oO4fSIAetuPsI_aY17zQtDDSh8Z99xsBqrjc6mETBXud8JoInGqt71r8Ep5Ylr3YhTAqZmkOHkUAdpjLzTE1z-uOT6fZKY4684wHYHXLDwYeAlVPusGpI9ISIDdYzEvJEYbgyq_ehm1dQpNaWvzM/s1024/Piggybank%20Made%20Of%20Steel.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Piggy bank made of steel." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZwfseHYwo8Sv657o9PQFRT83P9v4MW8oO4fSIAetuPsI_aY17zQtDDSh8Z99xsBqrjc6mETBXud8JoInGqt71r8Ep5Ylr3YhTAqZmkOHkUAdpjLzTE1z-uOT6fZKY4684wHYHXLDwYeAlVPusGpI9ISIDdYzEvJEYbgyq_ehm1dQpNaWvzM/s600/Piggybank%20Made%20Of%20Steel.jpg"/></a>
</div>
</div>
<p>Keeping a bank account balance well north of zero is a healthy financial habit.</p>
<p>Why? Margin for money errors.</p>
<p>With a generous balance in place, you can:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Prevent predatory overdraft fees or embarrassing declines.</strong> Sometimes an expense is more than expected. No worries. The extra balance will cover it.</li>
<li><strong>Avoid money anxiety.</strong> Life is full of little financial emergencies. An extra balance acts like a mini emergency fund. One less thing to worry about.</li>
<li><strong>Automate billing with confidence.</strong> Putting bills on auto-pilot saves time and avoids late fees. But, what if a bill hits sooner or harder than expected? No need to sweat the precise timing or amount when you have plenty of cushion in your balance.</li>
</ul>
<p>The bottom line: a bigger balance is better.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2022/08/find-out-why-card-not-working.html">our data shows this habit does not come easily to kids</a>. The last time I dug up our decline data, “insufficient balance” was far and away the most common decline reason at 62%. (That’s almost three times more common than the second most popular reason, “invalid billing address.”)</p>
<p>So how can you nudge your kids into maintaining healthier balances?</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>Here are three effective techniques — the carrot, the stick, and the handshake:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Reward kids with parent-paid interest.</strong> As any economist will tell you, incentives matter. Pay kids a meaningful bounty for a growing balance, and they’ll keep more on their cards to reap the rewards. They’ll also <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2015/07/why-savings-accounts-do-not-teach-kids-to-save.html">experience the magical power of compound interest</a> in a memorable way. See how to set up parent-paid compound interest <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#interest-setup">here</a>. (I recommend paying weekly.)</li>
<li><strong>Assess a parental overdraft fee.</strong> That same economist will tell you that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion">loss aversion</a> is a powerful deterrent. If you want to harness its power, fine your kid with fake overdraft fees as described <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2022/12/fine-kids-with-fake-overdraft-fees.html">here</a>. A few pokes of the parental overdraft stick will drive that balance up to a safer level.</li>
<li><strong>Negotiate a reimbursement arrangement.</strong> Make your child pay for everyday items, but agree to reimburse the (appropriate) expenses after the fact. That way, your child needs to maintain a healthy balance just to buy the items in the first place, even though you’re still footing the bill in the end. See how to use reimbursements <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-reimburse-work">here</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Bribe, badger, barter. Do whatever it takes to build a big balance habit. Your kids will thank you later.</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-80363789365576377682023-01-03T12:20:00.011-08:002023-02-01T12:24:44.703-08:00A New Look for FamZoo in 2023<div class="post-pic-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufP6f0pj-tNAJxzMYFiRNUOMAmSXc3OhFpRdKRzHftNFna0JUk7i-ROgcVhhsrgEJLg04qb5nN6aBiE1AaA-Im3bGJi_uqQdfCmRSgtHf65PwIT876uh3NHh-VhKf_B5S9xwhnSqK721GKa16tYRPDkl7Isk-pRpBa4adxslRBCO9DHHX2bs/s1571/TransitionToNewFamZooUI2023b.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Transition to FamZoo new UI 2023" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1571" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufP6f0pj-tNAJxzMYFiRNUOMAmSXc3OhFpRdKRzHftNFna0JUk7i-ROgcVhhsrgEJLg04qb5nN6aBiE1AaA-Im3bGJi_uqQdfCmRSgtHf65PwIT876uh3NHh-VhKf_B5S9xwhnSqK721GKa16tYRPDkl7Isk-pRpBa4adxslRBCO9DHHX2bs/s600/TransitionToNewFamZooUI2023b.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>FamZoo rolled out a fresh new user interface at 4AM on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.</p>
<p>The new design delivers:</p>
<ul>
<li>A more intuitive, streamlined navigation scheme.</li>
<li>A more attractive, clean, and modern look.</li>
<li>A more suitable experience for family members of <em>all</em> ages.</li>
<li>A more consistent, refined color palette.</li>
<li>A customizable color architecture that facilitates co-branding by our growing number of banking partners.</li>
</ul>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>See the details <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/new-ui-2023.html">here</a></p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-39169974096090900762022-12-31T17:22:00.059-08:002023-01-01T21:47:28.295-08:00Fine Kids With Fake Overdraft Fees<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jxEFesFG-xf-uBYD3cDUXw8VZvP0X55Tk16Lh1JELOpjRQJal7R8LsYUWEaDjsw9MH5Kjbcjzssl36go414MXTfa678LLtOQDFYAJtq8JIUDNb_5_no0vHx4BBqdS78MP_-P9oGES8I0wyWjRaLOsYq6mW3yc8uCscgZP43SrJgUmb5_BpU/s883/KidCardFee.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="883" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jxEFesFG-xf-uBYD3cDUXw8VZvP0X55Tk16Lh1JELOpjRQJal7R8LsYUWEaDjsw9MH5Kjbcjzssl36go414MXTfa678LLtOQDFYAJtq8JIUDNb_5_no0vHx4BBqdS78MP_-P9oGES8I0wyWjRaLOsYq6mW3yc8uCscgZP43SrJgUmb5_BpU/s600/KidCardFee.png"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Real world overdraft fees are awful. They’re predatory, excessive, and sneaky. The average overdraft fee in 2022 is almost $30. Banks make <em>billions</em> on overdrafts.</p>
<p>Bogus!</p>
<p>That’s why FamZoo never charges overdraft fees. When your child tries to make a purchase using a FamZoo card that exceeds the current balance, the transaction simply declines. No fee. No harm. No foul.</p>
<p>Great, right?</p>
<p>Well, maybe not...</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>Our lack of overdraft fees can inadvertently encourage a bad habit. The absence of repercussions makes kids cavalier about checking their balance before purchases.</p>
<p>We see kids routinely racking up declines right and left. Last time I measured, over 60% of declines were due to insufficient funds. That habit turns toxic when your child graduates to the adult banking world.</p>
<p>So, how do you nip the overdraft habit in the bud? Parent-assessed overdraft fees.</p>
<p>Since you run the virtual bank at FamZoo, you can set the overdraft policy however you like — but, presumably it’ll be a bit more child friendly than the predatory banks!</p>
<p>For example, you might charge $1 for each <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#declined">insufficient funds decline</a> after a first-time warning. Or, you could ratchet the amount up with successive violations, starting at 25 cents for the first overdraft decline and doubling it on each additional one up to a max of, say, $16 by the seventh violation.</p>
<p>Whatever your policy, <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">turn on activity alerts</a> for your kids’ cards. That way, you’ll know immediately whenever a card is declined due to an overdraft and can take the appropriate action.</p>
<p>To assess the fee, just click the minus icon next to your child’s account, include a description like “Mom/Dad Overdraft Fee”, enter the fee amount, and click/tap the Debit button. The funds will flow back to your parent card.</p>
<p>But, what if your kid’s card is sitting at a zero balance? How do you assess a fee to an empty card?</p>
<p>That’s where the magic of FamZoo’s unique <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/12/running-short-on-kiddie-payday-card.html">card IOU feature</a> kicks in. Go ahead and assess the fee to the empty card. It will be recorded as a negative card IOU displayed beneath the cardβs balance. A negative card IOU tracks how much money your child owes you, the parent.</p>
<p>The next time you credit the card — either manually via the credit button or automatically through an allowance, chore, or interest payment — the FamZoo system will pay off the card IOU first before delivering any actual money.</p>
<p>For example, suppose your kid’s card has a balance of zero and a negative card IOU of $5 due to parent-assessed fees. Then, suppose a scheduled $10 allowance payment hits. The negative $5 card IOU will be eliminated, and the card balance will end up at $5 instead of $10. That’s because $5 of allowance was clawed back to pay off the outstanding $5 in fees</p>
<p>The bottom line: FamZoo automatically enforces your parental fees on empty cards unless you <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#cancel-iou">reset the card IOUs</a> explicitly to let your kid off the hook.</p>
<p>If you don’t like the idea of assessing a monetary overdraft penalty, there are other options. You could impose a “financial timeout” instead by locking the card for a specified period. Or, you could reduce screen time or some other appropriate privilege for the week by the agreed-upon amount.</p>
<p>Do what makes sense for your family. It’s <em>your</em> bank.</p>
<p>As long as there are meaningful repercussions, your faux overdraft penalties will help prevent real overdraft fees in the future.</p>
<p>Bummer for banks...</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-21253857647377248352022-11-15T15:35:00.002-08:002022-11-15T15:35:54.765-08:003 Clever Ways Parents Curb Halloween Candy Consumption<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8y_DasVFjH-Q3wCejGW9f5LDfGXS-uKoJ-gIV5Omq8qAWyjNM4I2bIWfTvbt4QwiBAAWf_lk-T7p2nXU5umjRBHel14CTX9XwJ7GpyVp8e3eu1ij5Al3iOiMkVOshEVDynIzE9kPUgJ0C5EjVOQ7Qvbeg6Bbcx8quV__s-lWC8N9Xj9R3r7Q/s1024/DollarSignJackOLantern.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Jack-o-lantern with dollar sign" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8y_DasVFjH-Q3wCejGW9f5LDfGXS-uKoJ-gIV5Omq8qAWyjNM4I2bIWfTvbt4QwiBAAWf_lk-T7p2nXU5umjRBHel14CTX9XwJ7GpyVp8e3eu1ij5Al3iOiMkVOshEVDynIzE9kPUgJ0C5EjVOQ7Qvbeg6Bbcx8quV__s-lWC8N9Xj9R3r7Q/s600/DollarSignJackOLantern.png"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Looking for tricks to curb your kid’s candy consumption in the wake of Halloween?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">I browsed anonymous FamZoo transaction data containing the keyword “candy” from the 30 days following Halloween last year. Here are 3 clever candy compensation schemes I found fellow FamZoo parents using:
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Parent buyback program.</strong> Offer to buy your kid’s excess Halloween candy. You could buy everything beyond a certain limit. Or you could buy specific items — like things they shouldn’t eat, or can’t eat, or things that are your personal favorites.
<p>Kids can issue <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-moneyreq-work">money requests</a> to negotiate their buyback terms. Parents can approve the request at a price above, at, or below the child’s bid, or just decline the request altogether.</p>
<p>The biggest payout I noticed in the data was $40 — cha-ching!</p>
<p>So, what are you going to do with all the extra candy? You could save it for future birthday party favors, foist it on your office mates, or <a href="https://soldiersangels.org/volunteer/special-campaigns/treats-for-troops/">donate it</a> — after eating all your favorites first, of course. π</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Sibling sales.</strong> If one kid has an unusually large haul, allow that kid to sell off the excess to the other kids.
<p>Kids can issue <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">transfer requests</a> to negotiate their deals. Since you must approve the requests, you can monitor for price gouging and intervene when necessary.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Paid candy duty.</strong> Preempt candy collection by older kids altogether by paying them to stay home and hand out candy at your door instead of trick-or-treating themselves.
<p>Eyeballing candy duty transactions, it looks like the going rate is about $30 or so.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Too expensive you say? Think of it this way: you can pay your kid a little bit now, or pay your dentist a lot more later.
</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-18109479192899858712022-10-21T22:33:00.004-07:002022-10-21T22:39:33.480-07:0010 Mistakes Kids Make With Prepaid Cards<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-qDfVW6NjlYkUQw7vqq5PKMRwSs9rqzBM783tNvDCatqEUSP19NtqL3NgPq6XlU6JPrLBzgx_F7IjR66grwlzqWBmCwXnnmHFYBTG66-nFVgUI7qC54h7IqaH0C5HtjEehgNAtUHjUbi2M-qiZb5tai9agsaUi0rpobhh_SH3vqQxrrAwNU/s939/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-09-24%2017.13.30%20cropped.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Prepaid card on fire" border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="939" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-qDfVW6NjlYkUQw7vqq5PKMRwSs9rqzBM783tNvDCatqEUSP19NtqL3NgPq6XlU6JPrLBzgx_F7IjR66grwlzqWBmCwXnnmHFYBTG66-nFVgUI7qC54h7IqaH0C5HtjEehgNAtUHjUbi2M-qiZb5tai9agsaUi0rpobhh_SH3vqQxrrAwNU/s600/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-09-24%2017.13.30%20cropped.png"/></a></div>
</div>
<p>Ow! Hot!</p>
<p>Sometimes kids just have to learn what not to do the hard way. Think of it as touching the financial hot stove. Better a minor burn now than going down in flames later.</p>
<p>Here are 10 typical mistakes kids make with cards:</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Making regrettable purchases.</strong> Every kid does it. As my own son said in <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2012/12/a-teen-reflects-on-decade-of-spending.html">his reflections on using FamZoo</a>: “That pair of Heelys roller shoes is undoubtedly my most recognizable purchase, not only because it drained all my funds in one fell swoop, but because it was simply a dumb and impulsive act of squander. Sure, they were enjoyable for a little while, but it was a foolish purchase in the long run considering the cost.”
<p>So what do you do if you see your kid gearing up to buy something obviously poorly made, faddish, or just plain dumb?</p>
<p>I say, let’em do it. A bad purchase can be a great teacher.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Getting suckered into subscriptions.</strong> We see this constantly. Amazon Prime and Doordash are two common culprits. Kids get snookered into ticking a box at checkout that kicks off a recurring subscription.
<p>Want free, fast shipping? Why, yes I do! Check. Oops. Here come the “mystery” charges.</p>
<p>When this happens, help your child contact the merchant to cancel the subscription. Often, they’ll even provide a refund. It never hurts to ask.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Sharing cards with friends.</strong> A typical scenario is a kid entering the card on a friend’s Playstation, XBox, Doordash app, Chipotle app, etc. At the time, the kid is thinking it’s going to be a one-time purchase. No harm. No foul. But once the card is stored as the friendβs payment method, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
<p>These cases can be hard for parents to track down, because the card is entered in someone else’s app or service. <strong>Pro tip:</strong> locate the first transaction for the merchant in the Transaction history page. Click on the green settled box to get detailed time of day info. That will often help jog your child’s memory about who they were with and when they added the card to the friend’s app or service.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Coughing up card numbers at sketchy sites.</strong> The Internet is rife with dubious sites pulling scams on the unsuspecting and the vulnerable. Make sure you <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">turn on activity alerts</a> for your kid’s card, so you’ll know right away when it has been used somewhere unexpected. If you believe a sketchy site has your child’s card info, <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">lock the card</a> and <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#order-replace">order a replacement</a>.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Sending money to sketchy people.</strong> We’ll often see this on social media or in gaming communities. “Send a payment to @ImaFraudster and I’ll send you a name-your-favorite-bright-shiny-object.” Payment sent. Poof! Ghosted. No bright, shiny object delivered. It’s a tough, but important lesson. Only transact through reputable merchants and platforms.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Posting pictures of cards.</strong> Kids forget that cards have sensitive numbers on them. Posting card pics on social media is a no-no. Be sure to review the <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/07/11-numbers-kids-with-prepaid-cards-need.html">11 numbers kids with cards need to know</a> and how to keep them safe.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Picking bad PINs.</strong> Choosing an obvious PIN or leaving it at the default setting makes a card vulnerable. Review this tip for <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/10/teach-kids-simple-secure-pin-strategy.html">picking a secure, memorable PIN</a>.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Entering incorrect PINs. Repeatedly.</strong> Kids need to know it’s three strikes and you’re out when entering incorrect PINs. After the third whiff, the card will be automatically blocked as a protection against fraudulent use. Subsequent purchase attempts will <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#declined">decline</a>. If that happens, contact us to reset the PIN and lift the security block.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Entering incorrect addresses, security codes, or expiration dates.</strong> As adults, we often forget how many little details go into making a successful purchase. Declines can be very embarrassing and intimidating for young card users. I recommend reviewing <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2022/08/find-out-why-card-not-working.html">all the different ways a card can fail</a> with your young cardholder ahead of time.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 1em;"><strong>Losing cards.</strong> Oh, the dog-ate-my-card stories we’ve heard over the decade — sometimes quite literally! πΆ Tell your kid to notify you right away if a card goes missing, so you can <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">lock the card</a> before it gets drained. If losing cards becomes a habit, consider a parent-assessed replacement penalty. A little skin in the game does wonders.</li>
</ol>
<p>Embrace the inevitable mistakes.</p>
<p>Few things focus the young mind more than economic loss or the embarrassment of a declined purchase. Fortunately, you can spare your kid the parental lecture. Let experience do the talking. Just empathize.</p>
<p>For once, you get to be the good cop.</p>
<p>Cool.</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-89736440744348858582022-09-19T16:58:00.003-07:002022-09-19T16:59:24.141-07:00How To Set Up The Ideal Teen Budget<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZxybUzMiUCc_bw9uRBxECP_qgF08NDI6oE5fk8a-Yo6aEjG6ZlO6Cd2Y85VvRjmS4LTIDAXw4WA04mHOhZGMS8EBYzNgdbVQBCf405vQh_lfwJ0MuHH5l_1l5lQWdpNyODykUNDwqm4eJzR5wfOZIgh-MOeKZLaRhw97xqdly9s4NbFZ83o/s1024/AnnualTeenClothingBudget.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Annual Teen Clothing Budget" border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZxybUzMiUCc_bw9uRBxECP_qgF08NDI6oE5fk8a-Yo6aEjG6ZlO6Cd2Y85VvRjmS4LTIDAXw4WA04mHOhZGMS8EBYzNgdbVQBCf405vQh_lfwJ0MuHH5l_1l5lQWdpNyODykUNDwqm4eJzR5wfOZIgh-MOeKZLaRhw97xqdly9s4NbFZ83o/s600/AnnualTeenClothingBudget.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">You’re looking for just the right financial setup for your teen.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Not too simplistic:</strong> learning is the goal. You want your teen to master critical money management skills before leaving the nest.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Not too sophisticated:</strong> no need to boil the ocean here. Donβt create a monster your teen hates and you canβt manage. Youβre a busy parent. Having helped raise 5 teens, I get it.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">For the sweet spot, I recommend a 4 bucket system with card accounts for:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Everyday expenses</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Saving</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Charitable giving</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Clothing expenses</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">(Note: if your teen could care less about clothing, pick some other budget category that they really care about: sports, music, art, gaming, whatever.)
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">When <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-prepaid-cards.html">ordering cards</a>, click/tap <em>Add Card</em> next to your teen’s entry to add each of the four cards. Fill in the custom label line with the corresponding short description above (or similar) and select the appropriate spend / save / give category for each.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">When the cards arrive:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/how-to-activate-your-famzoo-cards.html">Activate</a> the cards.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#update-pin">Set a memorable but secure PIN</a> for each.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#add-allowance">Create a modest weekly allowance</a>that splits the amount between the first three accounts.
<p>I recommend discussing the split percentages with your teen to come up with a reasonable allocation, but 80% / 10% / 10% is a good place to start. You can always adjust the ratios later.</p>
<p>How much is a modest amount? That varies by family, but America&rquo;s favorite formula is age-in-years times a dollar. You can tune this as you go too, so a little trial and error is fine. If your teen can buy whatever they want, whenever they want, it&rquo;s too much. If it takes “forever” (teen-speak for a few weeks) to accumulate enough to go to Chipotle or Whataburger with friends every once in a while, it’s too little.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#interest-setup">Add an aggressive parent-paid weekly interest rate</a> to the savings card. FamZoo parents are paying an average weekly rate of 1.5% right now. Cha-ching! Note that you can cap the total amount paid out each time — for example, never more than $3. That way, the rewards don’t get out of control once your teen finally figures out what an insane deal you’re offering.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#add-allowance">Create a monthly or annual clothing allowance</a> that goes 100% to the clothing expense account. You can use a FamZoo <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#budget">budget worksheet</a> to negotiate the appropriate amount with your teen.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">Set up activity alerts</a> on all cards. Let your teen know you’ll be getting a text for every transaction too. That’s a great way to head off potential shenanigans at the pass. It’s also an easy way for your teen to stay on budget since the notifications include the resulting balance.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Review this article with your teen: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/07/11-numbers-kids-with-prepaid-cards-need.html">11 Numbers Kids With Prepaid Cards Need To Know</a>.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Review this article with your teen: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/11/6-ways-to-guard-your-kids-prepaid-card.html">6 Ways To Guard Your Kid’s Prepaid Card</a>.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">If your teen will be pumping gas, review this FAQ entry: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#buying-gas">What’s the best way to pay for gas?</a></li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Decide what expenses you are willing to pick up on your teen’s behalf (books, half the gas expenses, school day lunches, etc.). Then, show your teen <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-reimburse-work">how reimbursement requests work</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Your teen will learn many critical money lessons with this setup over the years. Here’s a lucky seven sampling off the top of my head:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to handle a card responsibly.</strong> If things go south, you can always impose a little “financial timeout” by <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">locking</a> the everyday expense card.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to monitor for unexpected or unauthorized charges</strong> using card <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">alerts</a>.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to give every dollar a mission</strong> by splitting incoming funds between multiple purpose-driven accounts.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to pay themselves first</strong> by saving <em>before</em> spending.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to harness the power of compound interest.</strong>Your teen will eventually realize that money — if left alone in the right place — can make more money through compounding. You’ll know your teen has figured it out when you start seeing <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">transfer requests</a> from spending to savings.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to create and manage a budget</strong> over a relatively long timeframe. Your teen is also likely to learn how to handle the consequences of blowing through a budget right out of the gates — just like my daughter did with her clothing account.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>How to appreciate the value of a dollar</strong> and the humbling cost of everyday items.</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">That sounds just about right for flying the financial coop.π₯
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-92182441279029523172022-08-14T12:52:00.002-07:002022-08-14T12:52:54.010-07:00How To Find Out Why Your Kid's Card Isn't Working<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div>
<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38HdZGzIOz1ARvTiYtVInYrfTHPcVUTuajHQUmp15-BCAmpD8wWwJw6NF4Vvvvm_kNMHIeiWqxw9l3SLYRbucfFtsg8ljxiTUlwkdtBqNhBENV9jY4Zcah8lmTK44V2ye83__fzUhviHGoEgX1okrYBkSNDyHWzFgwHzuz2nAw43iflCrL78/s1600/DeclineFeeToMom.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Declined card transaction" border="0" data-original- data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38HdZGzIOz1ARvTiYtVInYrfTHPcVUTuajHQUmp15-BCAmpD8wWwJw6NF4Vvvvm_kNMHIeiWqxw9l3SLYRbucfFtsg8ljxiTUlwkdtBqNhBENV9jY4Zcah8lmTK44V2ye83__fzUhviHGoEgX1okrYBkSNDyHWzFgwHzuz2nAw43iflCrL78/s600/DeclineFeeToMom.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Declines on kids’ cards are embarrassing, frustrating, inconvenient, and ... most of the time, easily avoided.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">How do I know?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">I just looked at our decline data for the last week.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The overwhelming majority of declines — 62% — are due to <strong>insufficient balance</strong> on the card. The fix?
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Coach kids to:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Check their balances in FamZoo before purchasing.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Stop signing up for subscriptions and services they can’t afford. Note that services like iTunes will keep re-billing for unpaid purchases and racking up declines until they can collect what is rightfully owed.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2017/08/teach-kids-to-read-free-trial-fine-print.html">Read the free trial fine print</a>, and cancel unwanted services by the deadline. Kids get snared by unwanted upgrades. All. The. Time. Amazon Prime, Uber Pass, Instacart+, you name it. Help them identify and resist the sneaky upsell traps set by merchants.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#buying-gas">Avoid hefty unexpected preauthorizations at the pump</a> ($75 or more!) when buying gas by paying ahead at the cashier.</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The second most common cause of declines (23.1%) is entering an <strong>invalid billing address</strong>. The solution? <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2018/08/train-kids-card-address-verification.html">Teach your kids how address verification works</a>. If you can’t figure out an address verification issue, be sure to contact us so we can look up the mismatch details in our card processor’s system.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The remaining decline reasons are all in the single digit percentage range. Most are all about the numbers: wrong PIN, wrong expiration date, wrong security code. Be sure to <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/07/11-numbers-kids-with-prepaid-cards-need.html">review all the numbers on the cards</a> with your kids before turning them loose for their first purchases.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Other miscellaneous decline reasons include:
</p>
<ul style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">trying to use a <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#lock-card">locked card</a>,</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">using an <strong>old replaced card</strong> instead of the new one (often by forgetting to update a billing profile stored online), or</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">trying to use a card with a <strong>PIN security block in place</strong> due to 3 or more incorrect PIN entries in the past.</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">For all of these cases, <strong>you and your kids can see the reason for declined transactions right in FamZoo</strong>. Here’s how:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Click or tap on the balance for the declining card to get to its <em>Transactions</em> listing</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Locate the declined transaction in the listing.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Click or tap on the <em>Why?</em> link under the red status box next to the declined transaction to launch the <strong>Transaction History</strong> screen.</li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCpuLlD4sCJAPDXzkIjFUtVsyXbhWpLdJq8mjO9uQY92AELzoGxY8hAyPf9H-rQfVcpdDZXyXPSHCXQxUBuBGJMn1JtA21ot_w2ZSBMlzcn6m6uEdthk3BJODZvjIPaCYVnoVI3zCaRVQFdF0-Br5WT6uooqcz0C7tPJ-QIwRVxzLBLtXRlk/s797/TransactionHistoryScreen.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Transaction History Screen" border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="797" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCpuLlD4sCJAPDXzkIjFUtVsyXbhWpLdJq8mjO9uQY92AELzoGxY8hAyPf9H-rQfVcpdDZXyXPSHCXQxUBuBGJMn1JtA21ot_w2ZSBMlzcn6m6uEdthk3BJODZvjIPaCYVnoVI3zCaRVQFdF0-Br5WT6uooqcz0C7tPJ-QIwRVxzLBLtXRlk/s600/TransactionHistoryScreen.jpg"/></a></div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The screen includes the reason for the decline, how to address the problem, and the attempted amount.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">What if no declined transaction appears in the listing, even several minutes after the attempt? It could be an issue with the merchant’s Point Of Sale device, a rare network outage (consult our <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/current-system-status.html">System Status page</a>), or a physical problem with the card.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">If you think the card’s chip might be damaged, try polishing it lightly with a cloth. As odd as that sounds, sometimes it does the trick. If not, <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#order-replace">contact us for a replacement</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">To guard against the unusual situations where there’s no quick fix, coach your kids to always have a plan B for payment — an emergency stash of cash, a backup card, a digital wallet like Apple Pay, or a buddy who can be reimbursed later π.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Here are a few final tips for how you can help your kids eliminate unnecessary declines:
</p>
<ul style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">Turn on activity alerts</a> to stay on top of declines and provide coaching in real-time.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2017/06/stop-tolerating-fs-on-your-kids-card-report.html">Give bonuses for decline-free streaks</a>. π₯</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/09/train-kids-to-avoid-overdraft-fees-using-prepaid-cards.html">Assess a parent-imposed overdraft penalty</a>. π</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/08/make-teens-pass-no-decline-prepaid-challenge-before-checking.html">Make teens pass the 6 month Zero-Decline Challenge</a> before graduating to a traditional bank account or a credit card.</li>
</ul>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-4084948428919574072022-07-15T18:55:00.001-07:002022-07-15T18:55:20.920-07:00Automate Teen Payroll Deductions to Boost Summer Savings<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGIJaVztfNSKI0pmtu5-UTBBYCJ-3Vc0L0_876WB0uZgv3Fa6bh0PzSc5VLVX7EaTGY2QXY9iKZzjZPBOaYzvDm5yOzRCk778zJ5VDsLEEV4aWfRkw2vW5MYFcfPGTdMMn68v_4lNiSbv2T6G1_cOLIx1ohqz36XEA1je_5mt9zIo8x3JI2U/s1600/WillRickshaw.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Teen summer intern in bag factory." border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGIJaVztfNSKI0pmtu5-UTBBYCJ-3Vc0L0_876WB0uZgv3Fa6bh0PzSc5VLVX7EaTGY2QXY9iKZzjZPBOaYzvDm5yOzRCk778zJ5VDsLEEV4aWfRkw2vW5MYFcfPGTdMMn68v_4lNiSbv2T6G1_cOLIx1ohqz36XEA1je_5mt9zIo8x3JI2U/s600/WillRickshaw.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">It’s summertime, and one of my favorite customer service questions is back in vogue:
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0;">“Can my teen get paychecks directly deposited to their FamZoo card?”
</blockquote>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Yes! Look for the routing and account numbers on your teen’s <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#routing-account-nums">Card Information screen</a>. Have your teen submit those numbers to an employer, and paychecks will go straight to their card.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">So, what does a typical teen do with all that extra summer cash?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Spend it. Duh.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Summer paychecks have a way of melting away like ice cream in the hot sun. iTunes here, Starbucks there. By the time fall rolls around — poof! The summer earnings are gone.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Time for a little “pay yourself first” parental intervention.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Tell your teen how a portion of your own paycheck automatically goes right to savings — like your 401(k) or TSP — and how they’d be smart to do the same.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Getting the classic teen eyeball roll response?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Try the dream-big angle. Ask your teen if they have any epic items they’ve been pining for. A guitar? A used car? Travel afar? Promote the payroll deduction as a great way to accelerate the goal.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or, try the bribe angle. Consider kicking in some <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#interest-setup">aggressive parent-paid compound interest</a> to juice up their savings. Even better: if your teen promises to plunk some of the savings into a Roth IRA, offer a healthy match. It’s called a “Family 401(k)” arrangement, and I describe it in detail <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/04/pave-road-to-retirement-for-your.html">here</a>. It’s one of the smartest financial moves I ever made for all five of my (now grown) kids.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or, there’s always the nuclear because-I-said-so option. You just want to <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/09/add-emergency-fund-to-kids-money-buckets.html">teach your teen the virtues of having an emergency fund</a>, whether they like it or not. (Surely they’ll thank you later!) Mandated summer savings is a quick way to get that fund in place.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Once you’ve persuaded (or bribed or forced) your teen to accept your wise counsel, you can automate the savings “payroll deduction” in FamZoo as follows:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li><strong>Order a savings card</strong> for your teen to hold the accumulating deductions. Follow the steps <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#more-cards">here</a>. (Tip: you can <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/how-to-activate-your-famzoo-cards.html#more-cards">activate the card</a> right away.)</li>
<li><strong>Set up an automated transfer</strong> from spending to the new savings account that slightly trails the timing of your teen’s paychecks. Use recurring checklist items to schedule the deductions as described <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2017/07/automate-transfers-between-accounts.html">here</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Create a savings goal</strong> to show progress along the way. See the steps <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#create-goal">here</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">By the time fall rolls around, your teen will have a sweet summer stash and, hopefully, a payroll practice that persists throughout adulthood.
</p>
Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-1766949697945367832022-06-17T14:48:00.002-07:002022-06-17T14:51:59.353-07:00Notifications and Quick Commands on a New Unified Number<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfW8v272wx-n0Opw5rL9T1QvfYbaurZnl3yYh2hEoFxvJB7GMh7QSJrtkMymxe4JZ-cVViOelvQ5ZJkRv01k4VwStQt6C_fieqVLug7okq5DL7BgdecBh5mqBG_H8d6BwGVDG9kqUQpLTcV_tZoPytXkyMlS6c6v7MIhcDqj5xJYktNGBsldc/s1485/DadBalQuickCommand.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Screenshot of a FamZoo quick command." border="0" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="1485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfW8v272wx-n0Opw5rL9T1QvfYbaurZnl3yYh2hEoFxvJB7GMh7QSJrtkMymxe4JZ-cVViOelvQ5ZJkRv01k4VwStQt6C_fieqVLug7okq5DL7BgdecBh5mqBG_H8d6BwGVDG9kqUQpLTcV_tZoPytXkyMlS6c6v7MIhcDqj5xJYktNGBsldc/s600/DadBalQuickCommand.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Until now, we’ve been sending you text messages (<a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">card activity alerts</a>, <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#checklist-alerts">checklist alerts</a>, <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/06/how-to-create-online-chore-chart-in.html#step9">chore reminders</a>, service notifications, etc.) through a hodgepodge of delivery mechanisms. The sending number often varied by carrier. Sometimes, you’d even receive messages from multiple numbers. And our <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#texting-access">quick commands</a> (which allow you to text us to retrieve your balance and perform other handy operations) often used a different number altogether.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">No longer. United we stand!
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">As of May 31st, we have consolidated all of our text message handling onto one industry leading platform, <a href="https://www.twilio.com/">Twilio</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Going forward, FamZoo text messages come from a new 10 digit number. You should have received a welcome notification that reads:
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0;">“FamZoo card and service alerts now come from this number. Reply with STOP to opt out of FamZoo alerts. You can opt back in later if desired.”
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">If you opt out, you can opt back in later by texting START to our number.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">You can also send your FamZoo <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#texting-access">Quick Commands</a> to that same number. Better yet, you no longer need to preface quick commands with the “famzoo” keyword when texting. Just get right into the command.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">For example, to get the current balance on my “Bank of Dad” card, I text the following to the new number:
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0; font-family: monospace;">account balance bank bill
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">As before, you can abbreviate the quick command keywords and parameters to cut down on typing:
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0; font-family: monospace;">acc bal ba bi
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Pro Tip:</strong> to cut way back on typing, you can even create your own shortcut commands on the <em>Mobile</em> tab in our Desktop UI. For example, I created a shortcut that allows me to simply tap out one word — “dadbal” — to get my balance. Short and sweet!
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">In fact, often quick commands are more convenient than pulling up the app.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">If you want to quickly test to see whether our texts are getting through to a phone in your family, you can use the <em>Send Text</em> action link on the <em>Family</em> tab in our desktop UI. If you only have a phone handy, see <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#desktop-ui">here</a> for getting in and out of the desktop screens on your mobile device.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">If you need to update phone numbers for family members, see the <em>Settings</em> action link on the <em>Family</em> tab. Be sure to leave the carrier setting on <em>Twilio</em>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Having trouble receiving text messages? <a href="https://famzoo.com/contactus">Contact us</a>. We’ve seen some cases where carriers are blocking our new messages, so some families may need to use a workaround while we iron out the kinks.
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-32875566528534642222022-05-16T19:00:00.003-07:002022-05-16T19:03:16.474-07:00Take Your Swear Jar To The Cloud<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb22-8kO_nYHpdx4WDY9SO1dPNOKuTyqcJyI74l3CsZZSZ4LtF0Qplnk5SM6FzkPBvn5jt8v4wBUgzb4JG8-_ZRTrzpUotlRbHMdEKwCLmWfIzz8PWeCsETRdB1nCN3A39eAX01c3GnA-iuLCALeaG-dmugYnx338L5qkvkP-CvxVjkp2fQGU/s1600/SwearJarInTheCloud.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Swear Jar" border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1486" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb22-8kO_nYHpdx4WDY9SO1dPNOKuTyqcJyI74l3CsZZSZ4LtF0Qplnk5SM6FzkPBvn5jt8v4wBUgzb4JG8-_ZRTrzpUotlRbHMdEKwCLmWfIzz8PWeCsETRdB1nCN3A39eAX01c3GnA-iuLCALeaG-dmugYnx338L5qkvkP-CvxVjkp2fQGU/s1600/SwearJarInTheCloud.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The swear jar is a time honored family tradition for breaking bad habits.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Letting loose with a four letter word around the house used to mean coughing up some coins for the family jar.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">But now, like everything else payment related, the penalty pot is going online.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Clever FamZoo families have figured out how to use an online checklist to replace the brick and mortar cursing container.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Hear a transgression, and, boom, the penalty payment is just one tap away in the FamZoo app. No more chasing down the offender to extract cash or coins.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Here’s how you can set one up:
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#more-cards">Order an extra parent card</a> to hold the penalty funds. You can put “Family Swear Jar” on the custom label.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#create-chore-chart">Create a checklist</a> named “Family Swear Jar”. Set the list sharing to <em>Family</em>. Enable rewards and penalties.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/06/how-to-create-online-chore-chart-in.html#step7">Add repeating items for each family member</a> to assess the penalties. Include the family member’s name in the item’s description — like “Colby: busted for swearing.” A frequency of <em>Daily</em> should be sufficient. But, if your family has prolific offenders, you could add more than one daily repeating item per family member.π¬ Set an <em>Expires</em> timeframe of 3 days or so. Fill in the <em>Rewards and Penalties</em> as follows:
<ul>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">When the checklist item is for the parent holding the primary funding card (yes, parents can get dinged too!), add a single <em>Credit</em> of the penalty amount to the swear jar card account that fires when checked off.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">For each of the other family members, add a <em>Debit</em> from their card account along with a matching <em>Credit</em> to the swear jar card account. That little two-step will indirectly transfer the funds from the offender’s card to the swear jar card.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Want to rub it in a bit whenever someone gets busted? You can broadcast an alert to everyone in the family by either adding a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#checklist-alerts">checklist alert</a> on the swear jar list or turning on <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">activity alerts</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Of course, swear jars aren’t just for swearing. Any bad habit will do. Here are just a few infractions (gathered anonymously) that have racked up demerits within FamZoo families:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Biting a sibling.</li>
<li>Being home late.</li>
<li>Blowing off expected chores.</li>
<li>Screeching.</li>
<li>Backtalk (A teen classic that includes muttering under your breath. And, yes, mom/dad can hear you.)</li>
<li>Slamming doors. (Another teen classic.)</li>
<li>Attitude. (The teen catch-all.)</li>
<li>Lying. (Future politicians anyone?)</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">What should families do with their overflowing swear jar accounts? Periodically spending the proceeds on a family outing or donating to charity are two good options.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">So do family swear jars really curb bad behavior?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Who gives a shiitake!π At minimum, theyβre just good clean family fun.
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-13185836683002638672022-04-15T15:35:00.006-07:002022-04-15T15:35:50.268-07:00How to Offer the Kids Odd Jobs for Extra Bucks<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt4dI9kUA6kz9FxR2iwwUsOksQTWrQspxFNqb7gg9YctpqfQ3tt79P4EVKHuB-5l56ygl5X3lpUD6HmEbawhMxuY9cdWVXEO-n00DSB4hV3awOsYJtKpOyYXtwxH0CH-0DF9cmRIoY7XSRr3Oo6SPUs_ayZiXZqNdYpB5ogDktIDZPfq9mhI/s1010/OddJobCowPies.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Odd Job Reward Form" border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt4dI9kUA6kz9FxR2iwwUsOksQTWrQspxFNqb7gg9YctpqfQ3tt79P4EVKHuB-5l56ygl5X3lpUD6HmEbawhMxuY9cdWVXEO-n00DSB4hV3awOsYJtKpOyYXtwxH0CH-0DF9cmRIoY7XSRr3Oo6SPUs_ayZiXZqNdYpB5ogDktIDZPfq9mhI/s600/OddJobCowPies.jpg"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Few things stir up a room full of parents more than the great kiddie compensation debate: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2014/02/positively-parenting-personal-finance-kids.html#allowance">Should kids get paid for chores</a>?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">No, never!
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Yes, of course!
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Maybe — it depends on the task.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or the age.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or the child.
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or your family tradition.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or as long as you call it a “<a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2014/04/connecting-money-and-work-for-kids.html">commission</a>”.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Or if you live on a farm.<br />
Or have one long arm.<br />
Is that bad?<br />
I don’t know, go ask your dad!<br />
<em>(Oops — veered off into Dr. Seuss mode for a moment...)</em>
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">My point is: there are as many opinions on paying-for-chores as there are parents.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">But there is one thing I find most parents agree on when it comes to this topic: <strong>odd jobs are cool</strong>. Parents rarely raise an eyebrow when it comes to offering occasional extra paid opportunities for tasks that are out of the ordinary. It has to be something that’s above and beyond everyday expected chores — often stuff you would happily pay someone outside the family to do.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">If you fall in the same camp, you can use our checklists to advertise what’s available.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">In the simplest case, odd jobs are one-offs and can be set up as follows:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#create-chore-chart">Create a checklist</a> that is owned by your child, shared with the parents, and has rewards enabled.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#checklist-alerts">Add a checklist alert</a> that notifies your child whenever an item is added.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">As each opportunity arises, <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/06/how-to-create-online-chore-chart-in.html#step5">add an item</a> to the list with a description, a reward amount, and a target account.
</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>If the work needs to be reviewed before payment</strong>, you can deliver the proceeds to an IOU holding account first, and only sweep the funds to the target account <em>after</em> inspection. To set up such a system, see the article: <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2017/08/approve-chore-earnings-before-payment.html">How to Approve Chore Earnings Before Handing Over the Cash</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>If an odd job opportunity is recurring</strong> — like “wash the car (but no more than once a month)” — then add a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/06/how-to-create-online-chore-chart-in.html#step7">repeating item</a> with the maximum allowable frequency. Be sure to include an <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/06/how-to-create-online-chore-chart-in.html#step8">expiration timeframe</a> so missed opportunities fall off the list and reduce clutter.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>If you want multiple kids to compete</strong> for the same paid opportunities, you can set up a <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/2019/08/default-accounts-first-dibs-chore-chart.html">“first dibs” chore chart</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">And finally, <strong>if you want your kids to know just how much money they’re leaving on the table</strong> by missing opportunities, you can set up a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2016/07/motivate-your-kid-to-work-with-coulda-account.html">money-you-could-have earned account</a> to drive home the point. That rubbing-it-in-with-a-text-message part always make me snicker a bit.π€£
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">As Thomas Edison said:
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0;">“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Once you set up your Odd Job chart, those opportunities will be even harder for the kids to miss.
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-75045959160029840122022-03-15T17:54:00.001-07:002022-03-15T17:54:38.935-07:00Send Money To Your FamZoo Card In Minutes With PayPal's Xoom<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggrGa3ydf23ULEgesmlWeuVoeYpIQaLoUOEwPv96q-LonYloqLMjX0Bku4oZC5oOtowdQBhzWhWt1EY7nsTgYwfD1FEXM8WCIa-hh8jLzXnQpRZw-2eZCO8z-NKJA0aXSI0qhqM3iyjMrnDQPT7ZAluSgnYATpeDpVVB4jnxbBy2kQL05dfT8" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" alt="Xoom Send to Bank Account" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggrGa3ydf23ULEgesmlWeuVoeYpIQaLoUOEwPv96q-LonYloqLMjX0Bku4oZC5oOtowdQBhzWhWt1EY7nsTgYwfD1FEXM8WCIa-hh8jLzXnQpRZw-2eZCO8z-NKJA0aXSI0qhqM3iyjMrnDQPT7ZAluSgnYATpeDpVVB4jnxbBy2kQL05dfT8"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Diana R. was getting frustrated.
</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0;">“[I’ve been] going around in circles trying to find an efficient way to transfer money to Bank of Mom & Dad without having to trick Apple Cash, create a second Venmo account, get permissions from the bank etc.”
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">I’m sure many of you can relate.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Diana finally found what she was looking for: <a href="https://www.xoom.com/">Xoom</a>.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">She explained:
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<blockquote style="margin: 1em 0;">“PayPal now uses Xoom which instantly transfers money from one of your PayPal accounts (even credit cards) to any debit card (i.e. no checking and routing numbers). It will show you which of your accounts have $0 fees and which have fees — the highest I saw was $1.99 I didn’t see any %. I got my money visible in my FamZoo account in less than 1 minute.”
</blockquote>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">I noticed a few families reloading via Xoom in the past, but I never dove in to figure out how it worked, how much it cost, and which options were supported. Diana’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/famzoo/posts/1609167082773912/">step-by-step screenshots</a> spurred me to finally check it out myself.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>I used Xoom to send $100 from my Wells Fargo Bank account to my FamZoo card.</strong>
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Try it yourself:
</p>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Sign into PayPal.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Choose the <em>Send and Request</em> tab up top.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Click <em>Send to a bank account</em> in the right hand sidebar.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Agree to the Xoom user agreement.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Choose the United States.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Specify the amount.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Choose the <em>Debit Card Deposit</em> receiving option.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Enter the number on the face of your receiving FamZoo card.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Enter your contact info.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Choose the source of your funds, like your bank account or bank debit card linked to PayPal.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">You may have to confirm your bank account for the transfer to complete swiftly. I skipped the confirmation because I don’t like giving up my bank credentials.
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Answer a few questions: Reason for transfer? I selected “Financial support, family maintenance.” How often? I selected “Occasionally.” Who are you sending to? I selected “Spouse, partner, children.”
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;">Review the amount, fee, source, and destination. Click <em>Send</em>.
</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">The funds arrived on my card within minutes, and I paid a $1 fee. Very convenient!
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Xoom is a nice addition to our <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/09/instant-card-reload.html">other instant reload options</a>. And with Xoom, there’s no need for the digital wallet two-step of (1) transferring funds to your Apple Pay, Venmo, or PayPal wallet, and then (2) transferring the funds from your wallet to your card. Instead, it’s a direct transfer to your card.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Xoom is an excellent <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/load.html#bank-account">bank transfer</a> alternative for those parents with banks or credit unions that do not support external transfers.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Xoom is also a handy solution for grandparents and other <em>trusted</em> relatives who want to send funds directly to the kids’ cards for birthdays and special occasions.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Happy Xooming! And many thanks to Diana for the tip. π
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999174.post-51175006315398898162022-02-15T15:37:00.001-08:002022-02-15T17:24:58.015-08:00Try These 10 Features Before Teens Are Grown And Flown<div class="post-pic-c">
<div class="img-c"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitIn_uqse662tHO-jGAELaKwip_QHeYV-SiI6oeamRDujnLkyMyQoad0GANgTx_V_VMTXyZifqY7GZnKkXu96ESpqIO113XKb63qqNGwourhuzrpIufOZy-pmrfuMFJx3jmeXBIsETNM5OXeARnLwrhd7sRdiPlyGleZl-QejNo_Fa5yBRWfw" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="Teen with prepaid debit card" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" border="0" data-original-height="1429" data-original-width="2230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitIn_uqse662tHO-jGAELaKwip_QHeYV-SiI6oeamRDujnLkyMyQoad0GANgTx_V_VMTXyZifqY7GZnKkXu96ESpqIO113XKb63qqNGwourhuzrpIufOZy-pmrfuMFJx3jmeXBIsETNM5OXeARnLwrhd7sRdiPlyGleZl-QejNo_Fa5yBRWfw"/></a></div>
</div>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">So your teen is getting older — heading off to college before you know it, or perhaps already there. Time to move on from the FamZoo card, right?
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Not so fast!
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">FamZoo cards aren’t just for youngsters. 43% of our FamZoo card carrying kids are in the high school and college age range of 15 to 22.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Here are my top ten FamZoo features to try with your older teens:
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<ol style="margin: 1em 0;">
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Direct deposit</strong> — teendom is the time to start transitioning from chore and allowance payments from ParentCo to a real paycheck: <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/03/your-teen-needs-sucky-summer-job.html">summer jobs</a>, part-time jobs, online gigs. My son scored an internship last summer and had his paycheck deposited directly to his FamZoo card — very convenient!
<p>You’ll find the routing and account numbers for direct deposit to your teen’s card on the <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#routing-account-nums">Card Information screen</a>.</p>
<p>Pro tip: as soon as your teen earns some W-2 income, consider setting up a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2011/04/pave-road-to-retirement-for-your.html">Family 401(k)</a> arrangement. I did for all five of our kids, and it’s among the smartest financial parenting moves I’ve ever made.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>External account linking</strong> — For better or worse, meme stocks and crypto have captured the rapt attention of many teens. Neither can be purchased directly within the FamZoo platform. However, older teens can link their FamZoo card accounts with their investment accounts to shuttle funds between the two. My 19 year old has added his FamZoo account as an external account to both Robinhood and Coinbase. Suffice it to say, the recent rollercoaster market has been a quick education on volatility and risk tolerance. π¬ Hello <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2016/12/stock-versus-index-competition-kids-investing.html">index funds</a>!</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Digital wallet linking</strong> — digital wallets like Venmo, CashApp, and Apple Pay are all the rage with older teens. Even the less-hip PayPal is a good way to get paid by neighborhood parents for odd jobs like mowing lawns and babysitting.
<p>See a summary of our digital wallet linking options <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/load.html#digital-wallet">here</a>.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Additional cards</strong> — A backup card always comes in handy for older kids who are traveling or away at school. You never know when their everyday card will get lost, stolen, damaged, or compromised.
<p>Setting up a savings card is a great way to teach teens to pay themselves first. Encourage your teen to sock away some savings every payday into a separate card that isn’t tied to their regular spending.</p>
<p>See <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#more-cards">here</a> for how to order additional cards.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Parent-paid interest </strong> — OK, I confess. I find bribery to be the best encouragement when it comes to building a savings habit. The more you shell out in <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-faqs.html#interest">parent-paid interest</a>, the more dollars your teen will tuck away on that separate savings card. Pay them to pay themselves first. With a little luck, the life-changing habit will persist long after the parental bribery ends.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Transfer requests</strong> — You’ll know your bribes are big enough when your teens start issuing <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#kid-transfer">transfer requests</a> to move money from spending to savings just to cash in on your sweet interest offer.
<p>Transfer requests also create useful friction in the opposite direction — moving money from savings to spending requires a little extra effort, a rationale, and parental approval. Often, that’s just enough hoop-jumping to inhibit impulsive spending.</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Money requests</strong> — unforeseen expenses increase as teens roam further from home base. Who knew you had to buy your own shampoo when you’re on your own? Forcing your teen to fill out a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-moneyreq-work">money request</a> with a short justification and a negotiable amount filters out frivolity and favors frugality. It’s like a teeny-tiny budgeting lesson each time.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Reimbursement requests</strong> — Reimbursement requests are similar to money requests, but they’re submitted after the purchase has already been made.
<p>For example, I make my 19 year old pay the rent and utilities for his college apartment each month. He submits a <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#how-reimburse-work">reimbursement request</a> for each payment to recoup the costs from me. The arrangement requires him to maintain a hefty account balance to cover the end-of-month payments — a healthy financial habit. Furthermore, experiencing the harsh reality of the eye-opening amounts each month seems like a good subliminal reminder to take college seriously. π</p>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Activity alerts</strong> — making sure your teens know their balances immediately after each purchase makes <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#activity-alerts">activity alerts</a> more than worth turning on. Alerts are the simplest, yet still effective, budgeting tool there is: just knowing where your funds stand at all times. Beyond that, see four more compelling reasons to use activity alerts <a href="http://www.familyfinancefavs.com/2017/09/prepaid-card-activity-alerts-for-kids.html">here</a>.</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0;"><strong>Decline details</strong> — no more coming to mom or dad when the card won’t work. Teens need to triage card failures on their own. Fortunately, FamZoo shows <a href="http://blog.famzoo.com/p/famzoo-card-faqs.html#declined">declined transaction details and remedies</a> right in the app: incorrect PIN, security block, wrong billing address, insufficient funds, locked account, and more.
<p>Some require contacting customer service to resolve. Make sure your teen knows these <a href="https://blog.famzoo.com/2021/07/11-numbers-kids-with-prepaid-cards-need.html">11 critical card numbers</a> before contacting us.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="margin: 1em 0;">Now, if you can just check off a gaggle of those ten financial flight safety tips, your teen should soar from the nest. π¦
</p>Bill Dwighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111536057225186993noreply@blogger.com0