Shaila Dani, AP Money & Markets Writer, provides a wonderful, concise set of recommendations to help develop children’s “money-smarts” from the very youngest ages (how about beginning at three years old?).

Among her suggestions:

Under 4 years old Display a savings jar and put coins in it. Teach children to delay gratification by not immediately buying them what they ask for.

4, 5, 6 years old When your children ask for something, don’t give in right away. Instead, have them create a list of gifts for the future even using pictures.

Around 8 years Start an allowance but nominate one expense like candy or another treat your children want to spend money on. Then make a “contract” and sign it together. Also have them earmark some money for saving. Choose a share of a well-known company–Walt Disney, perhaps–and give your children pretend “stock certificates.” Have them track the stock’s performance to teach them about the market. . . .

Read more on Yahoo! News.

World magazine’s March 28 issue includes an interview with Roberta Green Ahmanson, a journalist and wife of Howard Ahmanson, Jr., a multimillionaire philanthropist.

At one point, the interviewer asks, “What have you learned about grantmaking?”

Her reply: Read the rest of this entry »

Boy! Was I naive!

Kind of like my thinking with respect to estate planning ten years ago, I thought writing an Investment Policy Statement should be pretty straightforward. All I needed, I thought, was some professional help to give me the right words.

But I’ve discovered that is not the case at all–a discovery that is both frustrating (because it means I have a lot more work to do!) and happy at the same time (because I made the discovery; I haven’t made any more foolish or irrevocable mistakes in this area . . . yet).

Way beyond getting the “right words” on paper, Sarita and I need to answer some very fundamental questions–questions far deeper than the average investment advisor is likely to ask or help us answer. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I posted a proposed draft copy of an IPS (Investment Policy Statement) our legacy planners gave me. I said I didn’t feel comfortable signing the document without further input . . . from our investment advisor himself and, perhaps, one or two other similar advisors.

Today I thought I would share some of the things I wrote to our investment advisor about the document. So here’s the cover letter I sent him: Read the rest of this entry »

Our legacy planners have urged us to create an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that would enable outside onlookers (like my wife and me and/or our legacy planners, for instance) to say, “Yes, [our investment advisor] is living up to the requirements of our IPS. He or she is investing according to policy.” Or, “No. He has violated this parameter. He needs to come back into line.”

Right now, we have no such statement and, as a result, we can’t really be sure whether and to what extent our investment advisor is pursuing a particular plan or simply “going with the flow” of whatever happens to cross his mind at the moment.

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Originally, our legacy planners asked our investment advisor to give them copies of his current investment policies for our various accounts.

And our investment advisor objected to what looked like an attempt on their part to “butt in” on his area of expertise. “Why do they need to know about my investment policies? What does that have to do with legacy planning?” he asked.

Part of his concern arose from the fact that our legacy planners work for a firm that, in addition to legacy planning, offers investment advisory services. He was concerned they were “simply” going to attempt to second-guess him and, with 20-20 hindsight, demonstrate what a bad job he has done in the last year in the midst of our rather unprecedentedly awful market performance.

Our legacy planners were able to put that fear to rest. “We are not looking to steal your business. We charge the high fees we do so that we have absolutely no need to sell other services. Our services are completely separate from the ‘other side’ of the company. . . .”

Still, the question remained: “What does an investment policy have to do with legacy planning?” Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve written before about charity that may make the giver “feel good” but actually does harm.

I’m afraid I’ve been offered an opportunity to participate in just such a “ministry” in the last 24 hours. Read the rest of this entry »

Charitable giving comes in many forms. Cash donations and hands-on volunteerism are only two.

I have mentioned before the Sonlight Rice Bag Project. The repercussions of that project continue to reverberate in my mind and heart.

This morning, I woke up with the idea that I should write to some people with whom our family business competes. Not about our business, per se, but, rather, about opportunities we–both they and we–have to influence our customers for good.

This is a slightly edited version of the letter I sent. Read the rest of this entry »

In “The Surprising Truth About American Generosity,” the editors of Trends magazine provide a more positive perspective than I have been inclined to adopt, warn about government policies that may damage Americans’ charitable urge, and suggest some unusual reasons to give if you’re not giving now: Read the rest of this entry »