Class helps grow kids' money sense

CLASS HELPS GROW KIDS’ MONEY SENSE
BY BILL REED THE GAZETTE

Saturday, June 15, 2008

    Kristan Leatherman wants to help parents have “the talk” with their kids.
    No, not that talk; the other talk, the one about money.
    When the economy tanks, it’s good to know how to stretch your dollars, she said.
    But by most measures, a majority of young people lack basic financial literacy or discipline. A recent survey by Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of student loans, found that more than half of college students racked up more than $5,000 in credit card debt during school, and 80 percent accumulated some debt.
    “Many kids feel entitled,” Leatherman said, “and what’s missing is perseverance, determination, understanding they need to earn money, and it takes effort.”
    Leatherman is a Montessori teacher in California who also teaches Love and Logic parenting classes. In those classes she discovered that many parents crave guidance on how to teach money smarts to their kids, so she co-wrote a book, “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats,” with Love and Logic guru Jim Fay.
    Leatherman and Fay will speak on the subject in Colorado Springs on Monday. The free one-hour talk is part of a larger conference on the Love and Logic parenting method.
    Leatherman said they’ll cover the topics of allowance, chores and setting limits — for little kids, for teens wanting cars and dates, and for older children who should be more financially independent than they are.
    “We can teach kids much earlier than we think,” Leatherman said. “Financial professionals tune in to us around the teenage years when kids start to make money, but to me that’s a day late and a dollar short.”
    She suggests starting kids on allowances when they’re young (maybe a weekly sum equal to their age) so they learn the value of money and how to prioritize their wants, when the price tag for mistakes is small.
    “I consider allowance a training wheel for your child’s financial education,” she said. “And when it’s gone, it’s gone. That’s the way money works in the real world.”
    She tells parents to separate chores and good behavior from the allowance, because allowance is for education while chores give a child a sense of value and belonging in the family.
    Fay wrote in the book that we give kids pencils to learn writing and books to learn reading, and we must give them practice money to learn financial savvy.
    The goal is to stop kids from begging and manipulating for money, Leatherman said, but also to establish a foundation for a successful financial future.
    “When we set external limits, kids learn how to set internal limits,” she said. “We want them to say, ‘I have limited resources so I need to spend it wisely.’”
IF YOU GO
What: “How to Bubble Proof Your Kids in a Bubble Economy”
Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel ballroom, 2886 Circle Drive, 576-5900
When: 4-5 p.m. Monday Cost: Free and open to the public

Bill Reed, reporter
The Gazette, Colorado Springs
719.636.0226
30 S. Prospect St., Colorado Springs , CO 80903