| Acknowledgments | xi |
| Introduction: What We Want for Our Children | 1 |
Part I | Preparing to Mentor Your Kids | |
1. | Hope for the Financially Flawed: Your Kids Can Learn from Your Mistakes | 11 |
2. | Money Management and Godly Character: Winning at the Game of Life | 19 |
3. | Each Kid Is Different: Take Advantage of Your Child's Unique Bent | 27 |
4. | I Am Justin's College Fund: The Sooner You Start, the Less Scary It Will Be | 32 |
Part II | Principle 1: Work Hard | |
5. | "Work" Isn't a Dirty Word: Finding Its Meaning and Value | 41 |
6. | A Wealth of Chores: Why Everyone Needs to Pitch In | 47 |
7. | Baby-Sitting and Lawn Care: Your Child's Home-Based Business Ventures | 53 |
8. | "But I Want a Real Job!": When Your Child Becomes a Part-Time Employee | 60 |
Part III | Principle 2: Give Generously | |
9. | Generosity Begins in the Sandbox: It's Never Too Early to Teach Openhandedness | 69 |
10. | Teaching Joyful Giving: Adding a Smile to Openhandedness | 77 |
11. | The Lesson of Allowances: A Little Cash Can Be the Key to Independent Giving | 84 |
12. | The Teenage Philanthropist: Helping Your Adolescent Cultivate Generosity | 91 |
Part IV | Principle 3: Save Wisely | |
13. | The Power of Deferred Gratification: The Best Answer to "I Want It Now!" | 99 |
14. | The Trouble with the Piggy Bank: Break It Now! Go Ahead | 107 |
15. | Getting Chummy with Numbers: Don't Let a Fear of Math Get in the Way | 113 |
16. | Investment Basics for Third Graders: Help for Parents Who Get Nervous Around Mutual Funds | 119 |
17. | I Am Justin's Investment Portfolio: Help Your Child Grow with the Market | 126 |
Part V | Principle 4: Spend Carefully | |
18. | A Positive View of Consequences: Choices Lead to Results--Both Good and Bad | 135 |
19. | What's Great About Allowances: Four Principles That Make Allowances Work | |
20. | I Am Justin's Checkbook: Bookkeeping 101 for Kids | 148 |
21. | A Practice Run for Adulthood: From Rug Rat to Rat Race | 154 |
Part VI | Surviving Financial Disasters | |
22. | The Driver's License: Turn Driver's Ed into Character Ed | 163 |
23. | Cars and College: It Doesn't Have to Be One or the Other | 169 |
24. | If a Teen Goes Bad: How You Can Limit the Damage | 174 |
25. | The Hot-Stove Principle: Teaching a Healthy Fear of Debt | 180 |
Part VII | Cutting the Apron Strings | |
26. | Kids in College: Your "Semiadults" Still Need Parents | 191 |
27. | Emptying the Nest: Without Chucking Out the Kids | 199 |
| Notes | 207 |