The Family Groove | Money Matters | SpringTime and Saving

MONEY MATTERS
SPENCER D. SHERMAN, CEO OF ABACUS WEALTH PARTNERS AND AUTHOR OF
THE CURE FOR MONEY MADNESS, GIVES YOU THE TIPS YOU NEED TO CREATE
REAL AND LASTING FINANCIAL SUCCESS FOR YOUR WHOLE FAMILY

SPRINGTIME AND SAVING

I grew up in New York and spent many years in Boston and Philadelphia, so I know winter. And some
winters were so long and cold and barren, it seemed a miracle when spring arrived. Could things
actually grow in all that cold and frost? Yes. Each spring, crocuses poked their heads up through
(sometimes) still snowy beds. Spring rewards us for our patience throughout winter.

Spring Saving

Do you remember when you were a kid and wanted a bicycle or a new game? You saved your allowance and you felt the excitement grow as you got closer to your goal. It’s time to give our kids this experience of saving.

About nine months before we bought our new puppy, my wife and I told our 9-year-old son our plans. We involved him in the process of researching and selecting a breed, and we told him that if he contributed to the purchase of the dog, we could pick him up even sooner. So my son got to work. He saved his allowance and asked for extra chores so he could make the money faster. When we met the breeder, my son handed over his cash with such pride and delight. It was a defining moment of responsibility and maturity.

We all know that saving, like every other virtue from honesty to good manners, must be modeled for our kids. If we just use a credit card to buy things (often with money we don’t even have!), it’s hard to expect our kids to learn the money values we want them to have. And, even if you are very good at saving, chances are your kids don’t see you saving because you’re writing a check or it’s deducted automatically from your paycheck. Therefore, it’s invisible. Make it less abstract for them by collecting some shoe boxes or peanut butter jars or file folders. Then invite them to watch you actually place cash in these receptacles. They’re using four of their senses to record this experience of saving: seeing, touching and smelling the money as you put it into the boxes, and hearing you talk about it. What would you like to save for? Share your thoughts with your kids. When you’ve reached your goal, take your kids with you to make the purchase.

If we had all been modeling saving, we would not live in houses we can’t afford, we wouldn’t have rampant credit card debt and our nation would not find itself in the current economic crisis.

For the sake of our kids, we must help them to develop the muscle of saving. Even if we haven’t yet shown them by example how to save, it’s imperative that we begin now. Let’s use springtime and money as teaching tools to inspire them to be patient, delay gratification and start saving. The ironic benefit is that we’ll start to practice what we preach.

Spencer Sherman is the CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners and author of The Cure for Money Madness (Random House, 2009). He lives in Northern California with his wife, two kids and their puppy. For more info, visit www.curemoneymadness.com.