More About "The Money Godmother"

Stock Market Pie and Entrepreneur Extraordinaire were showcased at both Book Expo America in New York City and the American Library Association meeting in Chicago. That's me at the IBPA booth in Chicago, when I did a demo on duct tape wallets. Promoting books is the hardest part of publishing. But it's also a lot of fun meeting people and sharing ideas.

My journey into financial education started before I was a teenager. As the oldest child in a large family, my siblings and I had a ringside seat when my parents made financial decisions. Because of a tight budget, our parents taught us to be frugal and resourceful. We were encouraged to find part-time jobs. My mother taught us how to cook, garden and sew. Finding the best coupons became a game. Above all, we learned to stash plenty in savings and toss a few coins into the Sunday collection basket.

This early education was a big influence on my financial education philosophy. I know first-hand the importance of starting early when it comes to teaching children about money. Listening to my parents discuss wants and needs taught me about priorities and delayed gratification. The resourcefulness and can-do attitude learned during my childhood gave me confidence to be an entrepreneur. And, finally, I benefited enormously from a routine saving and investing mentality.

Financial Education From A Mother's Viewpoint.

As my own children grew, I sought books and ideas to help us teach important money and business lessons. While there are many great books for adults, only a few items had any appeal to kids. And so, true to my entrepreneurial attitude, I created my own.

My financial education philosophy is based on my experiences as a mother. My goal? To help parents and educators recognize age-appropriate learning moments to deliver content. Consider these important concepts:

• Start early - 2 or 3 years old! (Hey, advertisers start their messages this early)
• Make learning fun. (click on the Teacher's tab for some ideas)
• Model good money behavior yourself. (monkey see, monkey do you know)
• Invest in your child's financial education - buy books, add money elements to family vacations (take time to teach)
• Encourage regular saving, investing and philanthropy.

Yes, these concepts are basic. The difficult part is how they are implemented in the home or classroom. That's what this site is all about.

Here I am standing next to the "bull" on Wall Street. I was one of a small group of financial educators invited to a weeklong training program at the New York Stock Exchange. I learned a lot from both the NYSE presenters and other educators trying to sharpen their skills.

Why the Money Godmother label?
You remember the story of the fairy godmother who mentored Cinderella? That encouragement, along with a dose of wisdom and magic, helped Cinderella find confidence and happiness. My role as The Money Godmother is much the same...to provide information, insights, encouragement and confidence in the financial world.

When I visit with you students, it can be useful (and makes an impact) to dress as The Money Godmother. I bring along my treasure chest of "gold", thousands of real dollars (too bad it's shredded), and other tools. It's all designed to make the visit engaging and fun to learn money skills.

If you are interested in learning more about what's going on in financial education, check out my blog at www.moneygodmotherblog.com.

What Else Do I Do?

Today, I spend most of my business time as a financial educator. This includes running seminars, giving speeches, going into classrooms, writing books, and developing games. I also serve on several national and regional financial education initiatives, such as Money Smart Week, the JumpStart Coalition, and community foundations. My entrepreneurial husband, Chuck, and I also run our 31-year-old marketing communication company.

Ben Franklin recently toured Iowa classrooms with me as part of Money Smart Week, a program of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. That's me on Ben's left, while a middle school student holds the "Be Money Smart" comic book I authored. Ben's visit was a fantastic way to raise financial awareness in schools, and the comic book has been a big hit, too. The point is this...Today's youth are hungry for the right kind of financial education.

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