Money Doesn't Grow On Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children

by Neale S. Godfrey

At a time when kids have more debt and temptation than ever comes a completely revised and updated edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller on teaching children aged three to twenty about money

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees is the book that parents turn to when it comes to teaching their children about money. With 180,000 young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four declaring bankruptcy last year and college students graduating with an average of $28,000 in debt, Neale S. Godfrey is the definitive expert on the subject and her time-tested advice is more important than ever.

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees offers exercises and concrete examples on everything from responsible budgeting to understanding the difference between "want" and "need" for children of every age. This revised edition includes entirely new sections that discuss



Godfrey's years of experience as a mother and a financial expert make Money Doesn't Grow on Trees a book no responsible parent can afford to pass up.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Personal Finance, Finance, Money, Family

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Neale started her career at The Chase Manhattan Bank, in 1972 and became one of the first female bankers in the industry. She than became President of The First Women’s Bank. While there, she noticed that her own small children thought “money grew on trees” and she then looked for books to teach them about money. There were none. So, Neale opened up a real bank for kids at FAO Schwarz in New York City and worked as a founding member to open up the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship, in Harlem teaching underserved kids how to start a business. Both were a huge success.

The next step was to start writing books for kids and their parents to teach them to become money savvy. But since it wasn’t a topic that existed, the publishing companies were not willing to take a risk. So, Neale marshaled a leverage buy-out of a publishing company under the proviso that they would publish her first book. They did (of course, she was Chairman of the Board, so it wasn’t a stretch!). Neale created the Green$treets kids cartoon characters in order to entertain and educate kids. That first book, The Kids’ Money Book, was a success and that paved the way for Simon & Schuster to sign her up for her first adult book. With help from Oprah (Neale has appeared 13 times on Oprah), Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees: A Parent’s Guide To Raising Financially Responsible Children, soared to #1 on The New York Times, Best Seller’s List.

Today Neale has 26 books and financial literacy and ecological lessons for pre-school through high school. Neale reaches app. 2,000,000 parents and their kids via her programs. She is proud to be working with about 200,000 youth of military personnel, 110,000 youth of the National Urban League, 25,000 youth in the YWCA, and countless others. Neale also has STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs via the ECO-Effect™: The Greening of Money, book and web site. Visit www.ECO-Effect.net to teach your kids to save money and resources…and plant trees!!

Neale sits on the Board of the US Committee for UN Women. She has been honored with such awards as: “Woman of the Year”, “Banker of the Year”, “Child Advocate of the Year”, 50 Best Women in Business. She is also proud to assist our Wounded Warriors and their families and Vets, who have served our country through: EBV – Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, V-Wise – Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, Give-An-Hour and the Community Blueprint. She is a member of YPO/WPO and is the proud mother of two amazing children and 2 even more amazing grandchildren.

Reviews

[Elise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is outdated. The premise is strong: Educate your children about money, but the information is at least 10 years behind the times. I chose not to finish it because it was so boring and irrelevant.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the material was pretty dated, and at times it felt like the author was teaching financial concepts to the reader instead of how to teach them to the kids, but overall it was a great starting point for how to navigate money conversations with kids. I particularly liked the strategy surrounding an allowance system.

[Wrensmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems pretty helpful. I intend to try to implement her strategies with my children. My parents were really spazzy about this kind of thing in raising me, and I would like to do better for my kids in this regard.

[Cmswright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great guide for helping children to understand money and how to use it wisely. I tried several of these things with my kids. I found some of the things were a little hard for me to maintain - like paying allowance in a way that let the children separate it into categories. With 5 children, it was always hard to make it to the bank and get the correct denominations. However, it definitely taught me how to talk about money with my children.

[Arturo Mijangos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with some of the reviews that the info is a bit dated, but the premise of being intentional about teaching children about finance is explained very well. I enjoyed thinking about how I would teach my children about finances. I liked her jar system and the bank concepts. I also liked her charts and have purchased a paperback of the book for reference.

[Thảo Duyên · Rating 5 out of 5]

An useful book.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this book is quite dated and could use another edition. However, when you overlook things such as the fact that "passbook savings accounts" are almost as extinct as dinosaurs, there is a lot of great information here. Godfrey (who, by the way, is a woman), presents teaching financial management very positively. She gives you a lot to think about, many ideas for exercises/games to teach money management, and also provides her own ideas for structuring the learning process.
Some of the things I liked best about her approach are: her support for the parent as the authority (too many books seem to promote the idea that you give your kid an allowance and free rein), her suggestion that you use a budget as a base for setting your child's allowance (rather than a cute but financially meaningless idea like your child's age in dollars), and the way she encourages you to think about how your values are reflected in your finances. She had great ideas even for a simple-living, anti-capitalist family like mine.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book has some has some outdated references, the basic ideas are timeless. I only wish that my parents would have used the S.O.S. system with me. It would have saved me so much wasted time and money as an adult. I am doing this with my own kids now even though they are older children. It is never too late to learn. I also love the games for young children. You just don't get those opportunities at school. Last of all, the author addresses more serious topics such as stock markets, life insurance, and wills. She suggests appropriate ways to have discussions about these topics with your children at the appropriate age. She stresses the importance of well-rounded money knowledge for children and teens. It is too serious a topic to wait until the start of a career to begin learning.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. This book gets so much good word but there is not very much practical advice here. Nothing I hadn't already figured out myself or that anyone with common sense couldn't. Also, philosophically, I don't agree with some of the books unspoken premises:I just don't believe in paying for chores and no one buys in actual money anymore.And yes the nature of transactions and financial institutions have evolved since. People will glare at your child in line for buying with coins yes of course passbooks are not in fashion anymore. I guess if this is a topic you've never thought of, sure it does have something but if you already have your financial education semi started and what you need is motivational ideas then this won't be it.

[Novac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very useful tool to help parents teach their children financial habits that should help them throughout life. The chapter on allowances sheds light on how to properly distribute money to your children (as early as three years old) and ensure that they use their money wisely by giving to charity and saving for medium- and long-term goals. The book also helps you explain to children how banks function and the confusing financial customs such as tipping and taxes. If you have children ages 3-18, you would be well advised to read this book and help your kids gain a mature view of money and finances — you will probably learn a few things about your own finances while you're at it!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is alright. It's pretty outdated and so the figures and bank workings don't really apply. The intro is good. Finding ways to introduce your children to money and how to make learning about money fun with games and stuff. I found myself skipping the last half because it had to do with teenagers and adult children living in your home. Good basis but need to find a more updated book that talks about the available options today for kids. One example is passbook accounts which haven't been around for quite awhile.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to give your kids a financial education.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for any parent who wants to teach their kids to be financially responsible. We started using the tips in this book when our kids were very young. I'd recommend it highly.

[Kristjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of practical advice on teaching kids about money and money management.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every parent!

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked many ideas in this book. I plan to re-read it as children in our home grow up and refresh myself of the ideas put forward.