The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money [Paperback]

David Owen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2007

Every parent wants to raise financially responsible children, but often, any efforts to teach kids about money are doomed from the start. As David Owen learned with his own daughter and son, parents who take a traditional approach to talking about money will find that their children learn all the fiscal restraint of an Enron executive.

So Owen devised a novel approach: he established the Bank of Dad, offering simple terms and generous incentives for saving, and then stepped aside and gave his young children the freedom to use their money as they wanted. Instead of blowing it all on candy and toys, they developed a strong sense of financial discipline and responsibility. As they grew older, he added a stock exchange to the Bank of Dad to broaden their understanding of investing.

It sounds complicated, but it's not. His kids will have to work for a living someday, but they are well armed to meet their financial needs and responsibilities. They are avid savers; they know how to balance their checkbooks; they understand the principles of investing in stocks and bonds.

The First National Bank of Dad is a highly accessible guide that offers excellent financial tips for any family and shows readers just how to implement this unusual and innovative plan in their own households.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lively and entertaining, filled with self-deprecating humor, anecdotes, insights, and clear explanations." -- USA Today

"Saving money . . . should be the child's choice. For an idea that might get your kids to a nest egg voluntarily, take a look at David Owen's book The First National Bank of Dad." -- Jane Bryant Quin, Newsweek

"When your children grow up, few things will affect their lives as much as the presence or absence of money. Unfortunately, most teachers and parents devote little systematic attention to teaching them how to live their economic lives. Start with this enjoyable book for some excellent suggestions." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"This is a terrific little book that could completely change the way many parents think about children and money." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

David Owen plays in a weekly foursome, takes mulligans off the first tee, practices intermittently at best, wore a copper wristband because Steve Ballesteros said so, and struggles for consistency even though his swing is consistent -- just mediocre. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a contributing editor to Golf Digest, and a frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly. His other books include The First National Bank of Dad, The Chosen One, The Making of the Masters, and My Usual Game. He lives in Washington, Connecticut.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416534253
• ISBN-13: 978-1416534259
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Owen is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a contributing editor of Golf Digest, and he is the author of a dozen books. He lives in northwest Connecticut with his wife, the writer Ann Hodgman. Learn more at www.davidowen.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I expected, November 14, 2007

By 

Dan McConkie "beansmalls" (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money (Paperback)

I bought this book because I saw it recommended on a finance website. I was hoping for different ideas dealing with how to teach kids about money.

The first half of this book was great and talked about the author's experience teaching his kids and how he was able to motivate them to save because they wanted to (not because he thought it was the "right thing to do"). He also talks about giving them a safe environment where they can have good and bad experiences with money while they are young and the consequences are still limited. I like his philosophy and his explanations. The first half did a great job offering a new perspective on teaching kids.

The second half was simply too basic for what I wanted. Very basic explanations on "what is a stock" and "what is a mutual fund". This would be helpful if you didn't know anything about these and had to explain it to kids but the explanations were extremely basic.

I couldn't put the book down during the first half but then I couldn't stay awake during the second half.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I plan on implementing the author's advice with my daughter, April 6, 2008

By 

Jason Seagraves (Saginaw, Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money (Paperback)

The author's most illuminating insight is this: Children's perception of time is radically different from adults', and thus, their "time preference" is different. When you're eight years old, a year represents 1/8 of your life. Holding on to $20 to earn $0.60 in interest (if you're lucky) is completely undesirable, and parents who force their children to do so are imparting bad money values. In doing this, what they're teaching is that money received should be spent as quickly as possible, before parents can expropriate the cash and put it into "savings" -- a black hole in the eyes of youngsters.

What the author did was create savings accounts for his children that conformed to their perceptions of time. Instead of offering 2-3% a year in interest, he offered 5% PER MONTH interest. This made saving more attractive and taught spending restraint. Additionally, the author and his wife gradually gave more and more financial responsibility to their children as they grew older. One example stands out: While on vacation, the author watched another child beg and plead and throw a fit until his father agreed to buy a $5 tomahawk at a souvenir shop -- the cheap tomahawk was broken before the pair even made it to their car. The author's child, by contrast, since he was spending his own money, and since he had an incentive to save rather than consume, bought a $0.30 item (after negotiating with the shopkeeper). People, including children, make much wiser decisions when they're spending their OWN money.

Additionally, the author talks about how he established a virtual stock exchange (using real money) when his children were interested in stocks. And finally, the book closes with more general (and good) parenting advice, suggesting that parents read even more to their children than they already do now.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything in this book, and intend to implement these ideas with my daughter, who is 19 months at the time I'm writing this review. The book's only weakness is its rudimentary explanation of stocks, mutual funds, and other financial instruments. This is unnecessary since the majority of the audience already understands these concepts, while those who don't need more information than the author is able to provide. No matter, I still strongly recommend this book and endorse the concepts championed by the author.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars considering giving your kid an allowance?, March 12, 2008

By 

bktw (san francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First National Bank of Dad: A Foolproof Method for Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money (Paperback)

This is a great book when trying to figure out how you feel about giving your kids an allowance. I read it several years back and recommend it to many preschool/kindergarten age parents. It definitely gets you thinking about your kid and how you want to have them think about money. It was a fast and fairly entertaining read - so much so that my husband decided to check out other books by the author (and wasn't nearly as amused by the other books). I don't bother giving my kids interest as he suggests as they are able to save fine when they have a goal in mind but I did put their allowance on Quicken as it was the only way any of us remembered to track it weekly.