The Oppositre of Spoiled by Ron Lieber

  

 It seems everyone is interested in money and how to keep it. Some have lots of money and it just slips through their fingers. Others don’t have so much but are able to leave an inheritance to the generation that follows.

   There has to be an easy way to understand how that is done.

   Ron Lieber offers a basic book on the proper use of money.

   Really every school should have a couple of courses offered to help young and old how to properly handle the coins and paper that pass through their hands. They haven’t in the past and that may be one reason we have so much debt and section 11’s today.

   How do you explain finances in a way that is understandable?  When is the best time to start the discussion?

   In the United States we are aware of the divide between the rich and the not so rich. And it doesn’t have to be in observable actions. Sometimes it is in ways we treat others.

   Our children are watching.

   They observe how we use our money. Do we spend more than we make or do we carefully handle what we have?

   This book helps a person think through the question.

    I enjoyed the idea of teaching giving. Start with three jars labeled give, save, and spend. Then explain to the child that a portion of each allowance is to be divided evenly between the three jars.

   They have the freedom to use the spending jar anyway they wish, but once it is gone it is gone until it is replenished.

   I found this easy to follow and it seems to be useful.

   When your child asks you a question like” are we rich?” you could just ask back, “why do you ask?” Find out why they are asking. And answer only what they are asking. But do have the conversation.

Don’t change the subject.

   This book will help firm you up to what needs to be covered. As I said above, it is easy to understand and I found it enjoyable.

   It is written more for the parent than the child.

   It is published by HarperCollins and 213 pages with notes, bibliography, and index adding 26 extra pages.

Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey

     I stated as the purpose of this blog that I was going to look at books that I thought were important. I didn't state that they were all going to have the copyright of the present year.
    This is a book worth revisiting. In fact, Dave Ramsey even has now put his seminars on video tape for organizations that want to buy the program and go through the nine weeks, now it is nine weeks, it used to be thirteen.
    The essence of the program is here.
     Ramsey takes you through the program in twenty two chapters and an appendix. The appendix has the paper work you will need to do to follow the program.
     You start with the budget. You should be aware of where your money is going. You need to know where you are to start with and just how much you are going to allocate to each area. He also suggests you use an envelope system where you label each envelope (Food, Gas, Education, etc) and put money in each. When you need food money look in the food envelope. When it is all gone you can spend no more on food.
     When he takes about savings I wonder what he is looking at. He seems to think you can put away money in an account giving you 12% return. I don't know of any bank that is giving 12% interest on my savings. Maybe .01%
      He does that in his seminars also.. saying if you put away money in a saving account that yields 12% over time you can make x amount over time. In this I feel he is a bit out of touch. But if he is using exaggeration to make a point, than that is different.
      Ramsey wants to help people and I think this is a good addition to the genre of financial planning. I would recommend this for all.