Customer Reviews

Capitate Your Kids: Teaching Your Teens Financial Independence

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Capitate in this book means a contractual arrangement whereby you pay to your child a specific sum of money each month to cover the cost of living that you would normally pay - clothes, food, entertainment, transportation, etc.

In mutual agreement, I actually tried this idea with one of my daughters many years ago, long before this concept was ever printed in a book. The "contract" was for four weeks. By week four, there were no new chic, trendy clothes coming from her favourite shop. While "all the other kids" spent Saturday night at the movies, she pumped up the volume on her stereo, had a stimulating conversation with her dog and the four walls (words which I shall never repeat) and drowned her sorrow in a pint of ice cream! She washed her hair with bubble bath because she ran out of shampoo. The charge to use the washer and dryer was $2, which she no longer had, so she washed her jeans and t-shirt by hand, also in bubble bath...and chipped a nail! About this time, she discovered fruit loops no longer look cute 'cause they float and cease to be comfort food after the the third meal of the day. I would have traded her for Oscar the Grouch in a heartbeat. One month was all it took to learn the value of money. Today, twenty years later, we can still sit down with coffee in hand and share a laugh over all that bubble bath we went through. Tough love, maybe, but a valuable life lesson was learned. Today, she is a married lady with her own personal finances, zero debt and can manage money like a pro.

While not all parents will agree with the approach in "Capitate Your Kids," it is an excellent book based on much the same principle I have just described. The book is a valuable tool in teaching children, especially teens, the value of a dollar and how to manage money - a realistic life lesson that, unfortunately, is not taught in schools.

Teaching children how to properly deal with money and financial planning is a fundamental parental responsibility. In Capitate Your Kids: Teaching Your Teens Financial Independence is an ideal blueprint for successfully caring out this parental fiscal/educational task. It also has the added benefit of helping to alleviate the financial burden of supporting an adolescent in today's consumer oriented society. "Capitation" mans to contract with a child for a fixed amount each month to care for their needs. Included in this written agreement are teen responsibilities for such things as shopping for the best price and keeping receipts. Parents agree not to interfere with teen choices. If the teen has money left over from the month, then he or she can keep it, saving it toward future purchases. If they run out of money before the end of the month, the must do without -- exactly as adults must in a similar situation. Capitate Your Kids is exceptionally well written, superbly presented, and highly recommended for children needing to acquire financial management skills and disciplines so necessary to succeed throughout life as an adult -- and eventually a parent with children of their own.

Whitcomb's ideas are generally intelligent. He signs contracts with his kids to teach them the value of money and his concept is sound. Learning to be frugal (not wasteful) at an early age makes it much easier to become a successful handler of money in your adult years. My only beef is the author's frequent suggestion that charity comes first. It is much more reasonable to put away part of your earnings as savings first, then live within your means, and finally give to charity, if you are able.

I purchased this book in 2001 after I heard an interview on the radio with the author. I followed it pretty much exactly as written with my oldest son starting when he was in 7th grade. I now have a college junior who is the epitome of fiscal responsibility. Yes, there are "assignments" that will make parents nervous, such as giving a 15 year old an ATM card and getting a credit card for your 17 year old! However the author outlines how to limit the damage if bad decisions are made (and there will be mistakes). Mistakes are good because it drives home the lessons when you have to live with the consequences. The pupil can remain financially "safe" while still messing-up. This is not a book you just hand to the kid and have them read. The parent is an active participant in the whole learning process. I have recommended this book to sooo many people and intend to use the method on my next three kids when they are ready. I wish my parents had done something like this for me as a young person!

I got this book at the library, looking for resources to teach my 6 & 7 year old about money. This was totally the wrong book for that, it is more for junior high and up. But I still read the book cover-to-cover because the author was so entertaining.
If you have the resources to do this, and can afford for your children to make mistakes, the ideas are great. (He does outline ways to limit your children's mistakes to a certain dollar limit, and by all means, these are cheaper than bailing a college student out of credit card debt later on.) However, if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck yourself, there's not a lot in here that you'll be able to implement.

Chapter 1: What Ideas Are We Working With Here?
Chapter 2: What Is the Right Age to Start and How Much?
Chapter 3: How Do You Calculate the First Budget?
Chapter 4: The First Clothing Contract: Getting "The Card"
Chapter 5: My ATM Card is Broken
Chapter 6: Stepping Up to the Next Level: A Global Budget
Chapter 7: Going to the Prom for a Buck
Chapter 8: Lunch Money
Chapter 9: Will You Cut My Hair. Dad?
Chapter 10: The Real Cost of a Trip to Walgreens
Chapter 11: What Do I Need a Checkbook For?
Chapter 12: Is There Any Extra Work Around Here?
Chapter 13: Be Kind
Chapter 14: Charity, Savings, IRAs, and College
Chapter 15: Insurance: Medical, Auto, Home, Life
Chapter 16: You Gotta Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk
Chapter 17: What's the Least I Can Do to Get the Most Effect?

One of the few things about the book I liked was the 4 sample contracts he has presented. The 4 contracts were basic clothing, budget, safe driving and car use.

Some of his ideas I didn't agree with were
He mentioned giving a 9th grader an ATM card
He doesn't say much on how you can teach young children/schoolage kids on how to save money
He mentioned giving a 6yr. old a $6.00 a wk. allowance
He mentioned giving a 11th grader a credit card