Your Kids and Money

Saving money is good; being downright cheap is usually frowned upon. The management of money affects all of us, whether we have the resources of a CEO or of a pro baseball player, or the $5.00 allowance of a ten-year-old.

Most of us in North America have rather modest incomes to manage, and somehow it always seems like we're spending more than we make. Two recent books offer some great advice on managing money, especially in a family context.

The first, called Capitate Your Kids (Dr. John E. Whitcomb, Penguin 2002) might make you think they're talking about cutting off your child's head (sometimes we feel that angry with our children, such as when it comes to how they handle money). But the author is talking about capitate in the sense of a "contract" where a fixed amount of money is paid or offered for a product or service. He holds that the best way to train your kids to use money well is to give them a certain amount of money (put capital in) and expect them to use it to cover certain kinds of needs, like their clothing or spending money.

"Your children need to learn how to handle money," Whitcomb writes. "They are eager to do it. Capitation leaves you out of the conflicts that arise" over money. He started a program called "The Sink or Swim Money Program" (and in his day job he is a medical doctor), which gives concrete tools and lesson plans to work through to help teens become responsible money managers. We want our children to grow up being good stewards of all the gifts God has given them. Kids leave home after high school without much, if any, financial learning. They may enter college and get further and further in debt each year, both with student loans and credit card debt. Whitcomb says you need to think of credit cards as "expensive loans."

The author of another recently released book on managing money in the family, titled Getting a Grip on Your Money (by William C. Wood, Intervarsity Press, 2002) says you should think of credit cards as a checking account: just as you don't write a check if there isn't money in the account, you shouldn't use your credit card unless you have the money to pay for it. Student loans are a different kind of debt entirely, because they usually have a lower interest rate, and they are an investment in a better paying job for the long term.

Wood, a professor of economics at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va., helps all of us think through how to get along on less, and adds in spiritual perspectives on giving and stewardship. I found his book comforting in that he tells people not to worry about handling their money perfectly. Many people despair ever doing anything concrete to bring their finances in line because they know they won't be able to pull it off. Instead, concentrate on doing a better job of managing money, not a perfect job or even the best possible job. He quotes the old Russian proverb, "The perfect is the enemy of the good." See Wood's website, www.plainmoney.com

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org