Book Review
Summary
In Raising Financially Confident Kids Hunt seeks to equip readers to prepare their children for the reality of managing money, and how to do so without getting into debt. American society, the credit card industry, and advertisers, all strive to turn children into materialistic consumers who spend money without a second thought. Hunt describes her own childhood and how she utilized money and products to feel better. Carrying this same idea into adulthood she spent more than she had to attempt to not only make herself happy, but her husband and kids. When Hunt and her husband were facing severe financial struggles because of this mentality, they chose to not only change their behavior, but make certain their children would not fall into the same trap (Hunt, 2012). After thinking back to an old family story about an Uncle Harvey, Hunt and her husband created a plan for their children. Starting at sixth grade, at …show more content…
Shielding children from overexposure to advertising, shopping, and seeing people using credit can help in the early years, but they will still be exposed to these concepts. To combat this parents must expose the truth beneath all the advertising. Walking a child through a credit card application, with all its terms, conditions, fees, and interest rate, explaining how these policies are designed to take advantage of the consumer is one important step. The same can be done with anything advertising a nothing down, no interest payment plan. By explaining how interest works, both in the favor of the saver, and to the detriment of the over spender, an important step is taken toward equipping a child practical financial knowledge. In addition, addressing credit reports and scores and what impacts is important as they are a tool any adult will need to utilize (Hunt,
Summary
In Raising Financially Confident Kids Hunt seeks to equip readers to prepare their children for the reality of managing money, and how to do so without getting into debt. American society, the credit card industry, and advertisers, all strive to turn children into materialistic consumers who spend money without a second thought. Hunt describes her own childhood and how she utilized money and products to feel better. Carrying this same idea into adulthood she spent more than she had to attempt to not only make herself happy, but her husband and kids. When Hunt and her husband were facing severe financial struggles because of this mentality, they chose to not only change their behavior, but make certain their children would not fall into the same trap (Hunt, 2012). After thinking back to an old family story about an Uncle Harvey, Hunt and her husband created a plan for their children. Starting at sixth grade, at …show more content…
Shielding children from overexposure to advertising, shopping, and seeing people using credit can help in the early years, but they will still be exposed to these concepts. To combat this parents must expose the truth beneath all the advertising. Walking a child through a credit card application, with all its terms, conditions, fees, and interest rate, explaining how these policies are designed to take advantage of the consumer is one important step. The same can be done with anything advertising a nothing down, no interest payment plan. By explaining how interest works, both in the favor of the saver, and to the detriment of the over spender, an important step is taken toward equipping a child practical financial knowledge. In addition, addressing credit reports and scores and what impacts is important as they are a tool any adult will need to utilize (Hunt,