Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM [Hardcover]

Nathan Dungan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471250694 | ISBN-13: 978-0471250692 | Publication Date: May 2, 2003 | Edition: 1

In today’s society many young people have lost sight of the value of money and seem to believe that money really does "grow on trees." Part expose and part survival guide, Prodigal Sons and Material Girls addresses the nagging issue faced by many parents today – why do their children have such unrealistic expectations about money?

The book is divided into two comprehensive parts. Part I outlines the disturbing facts about America’s possession-crazed youth and the society that has distorted their views. You’ll be introduced to everything from the "three-headed monster"—a high-powered triumvirate of consumer products companies, media conglomerates, and advertising agencies that has tremendous influence over your children—to the distorted view of the American Dream as shaped by principles known as "The Teen Commandments." In learning what you’re up against you can teach financial responsibility from a position of strength.

In Part II, Dungan offers creative and convincing examples on how to leverage his highly successful "Share-Save-Spend" approach to money – critical elements for you to help your children break free from the materialism that has become ingrained in our society. Through insightful anecdotes and simple exercises, you will learn how to:

• Talk to your children about money
• Understand the difference between financial wants and needs
• Increase the probability of your children having a prosperous life
• Raise your children’s marketing IQ
• Maintain healthy financial boundaries
• Set a healthy example for your children to follow

The "Share–Save–Spend" methodology will help your children establish healthy financial habits and will undoubtedly become their foundation for making a lifetime of responsible financial decisions.

Nathan Dungan is an innovative leader in the financial services industry. Over the past 15 years, he has been a top-performing financial advisor outside of Philadelphia, PA and most recently served as Vice President of Marketing for Lutheran Brotherhood (now Thrivent Financial for Lutherans), a $57 billion member-owned financial services company with nearly 3 million members. Dungan is a frequent speaker and workshop leader and has been widely quoted on this subject in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and has appeared on CNN and PBS.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Financial advisor Dungan has written an informative guide to dealing with possession-crazed kids. Sure, young people are wooed by advertisers-those 18 and under spend $150 billion in the U.S. annually-but they can still be "savvy consumers who make decisions based on their values." Part one of Dungan's book paints a scary picture of the current state of affairs (e.g., the fastest-growing segment of those filing for bankruptcy are people under 25), while part two explains what to do about it, including having financial discussions with kids, learning to say "no" and teaching them how to save. Dungan's advice is sound, and he supports it with eyebrow-raising facts on everything from how kids value money (he cites a survey that found that 58% of young people aged 12 to 17 "wouldn't bother to pick up off the sidewalk anything less than a dollar") to how they deal with financial woes (more than 63% of American college students "know someone who dropped out or reduced their class load so they could earn more money to resolve financial problems").
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

"I want it, and I want it now!"
"But, Mom, everyone else has one!"
"Dad, can I please have it? It will make me so happy!"

If these phrases sound familiar, don’t fret; you’re not alone. In today’s possession-crazed society, the average child has unrealistic expectations about money, and expensive taste! From the preschooler who begs for another toy to the college student who graduates buried in $10,000 of credit card debt, today’s youth lack a sense of financial responsibility. The old-time values of sacrifice, thrift, and satisfaction have been swept aside, replaced by a need for more and pricier possessions.

Luckily, as a parent, you’re in a position to influence and shape your child’s financial habits, and Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child’s ATM has been written to help you on this long and sometimes arduous journey. Within this book, author Nathan Dungan–an expert on family finances and the effects of mass marketing on young people–shares the numerous lessons he’s learned as a long-time financial advisor on this topic. By blending real-world stories with the tools and techniques needed to teach your children the real value of money, Dungan offers a practical road map for instilling within your children a sense of financial responsibility that will last a lifetime.

Prodigal Sons and Material Girls is divided into two comprehensive parts. Part I outlines the disturbing facts about America’s possession-crazed youth and the consumer-oriented society that has distorted their views. You’ll be introduced to everything from the "three-headed monster"–a high-powered triumvirate of consumer product companies, media conglomerates, and advertising agencies that has a tremendous influence over your children–to the distorted view of the American Dream as shaped by principles known as "The Teen Commandments." In learning what you’re up against, you can teach financial responsibility from a position of strength.

In Part II, Dungan offers creative and convincing examples on how to leverage his highly successful "Share-Save-Spend" approach to money–critical elements for you to help your children break free from the materialism that has become ingrained in our society. Through insightful anecdotes and simple exercises, you will learn how to:

• Talk to your children about money
• Understand the difference between wants and needs
• Increase the probability of your children having a prosperous life
• Raise your children’s marketing IQ
• Maintain healthy financial boundaries
• Set a positive example for your children to follow

The "Share-Save-Spend" method will help your children establish healthy financial habits and will undoubtedly become their foundation for making a lifetime of responsible financial decisions.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471250694
• ISBN-13: 978-0471250692
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #831,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nathan Dungan is the founder and president of Share Save Spend®. For more than 20 years, he has interacted with thousands of families to help them align their values with their money decisions. 



Nathan speaks and consults nationally with organizations and families on the topic of money and the effects of the consumer culture on money habits.



His latest book, Money Sanity Solutions: Linking Money + Meaning was released in the fall of 2010. Nathan's previous books include Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM and a textbook for high school students, Personal Finance: A Lifetime Responsibility which he co-authored.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little dissappointing considering everyone else gave it 5 stars, November 15, 2005

By 

Mike D (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM (Hardcover)

While Nathan Dungan makes a good case that our culture is becoming more and more materialistic and there is more and more pressure on kids to conspicuously consume, I think that he spends too much time making the case. I bought the book precisely because I was concerned about instilling sound financial values in my own children, so I think he didn't need to spend well over half the book convincing me that it's something to be concerned about.

His share/save/spend philosophy is a good one from a 50,000 foot view, but I would have appreciated more concrete actionable plans. Don't get me wrong, there are specific suggestions and exercises (some of which I plan on impleenting), and discussion topics for dialogs with your kids, just not to the level I was expecting. There are also plenty of anecdotes about what other families have done, both good and bad, but I'm always a little uncomfortable with "advice by anecdote" vs. advice by research. There are plenty of citations, and I may be wrong, but it seemed to me that most of the citations regarded the impact of our materialistic society and the current state of affairs with young people getting into financial trouble, rather than studies regarding specific advice and how kids react to the peer pressure and financial environment. Also, a lot was said about peer pressure, and a lot was said about not caving in to it, but not a lot was said about helping kids cope with it in their daily lives.

In the end, I suppose this is a very difficult subject to write about. Every family situation is different, with different levels of income and affluence. Even if I can afford to buy certain things for my kids, where do I draw the line? The world is certainly different than the world I grew up in, but I think it's unrealistic to say "this was how it is when I grew up, so you should live in that world too.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sage & Insightful Advice for Rasing Responsible Children, June 15, 2003

By 

George Z. Lopuch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM (Hardcover)

A brilliant review of what we/society have done to "drug" our children in a spending stupor and what we need to do to stem this cultural tide and raise responsible & healthy children when it comes to managing money/spending.

Let me be the first to say I too am part of the problem; I've indulged my child and mis-taught my son with illusions that spending is happiness. Mr. Dugan describes how I/culture are misleading our children, if not selling them out, for the sake of marketing gain: business profit over our children's happiness. We're allowing business advertising to be the stewards of our children's spending/financial health. Mr. Dungan shows us how to take back that stewardship and how not to abdicate our child-rearing responsibility (about spending) and what to do to raise wise-spending young adults.

I have a few years to try to undo whatever harm I may have wrought. Of course, it's hard to rectify a bad habit once started, so I envy those of you who get to Nathan's book early. For those of us who can't, I advise we buy a copy for each child, tell them upfront what we intend to do & why, and then go about the task of raising spending responsible children, and in doing so, healthier, happier young people.

Thank you Mr. Dungan for writing such a sage, concise prescription for our self-inflicted woes: Share, Save, Spend.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teach your kids to Share, Spend and Save, April 15, 2004

By 

Marsha Wood Wirtel (Philly's Western 'Burbs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not to Be Your Child's ATM (Hardcover)

Nathan Dungan's philosophy for teaching children to be responsible with money has its roots in a church program he designed at the behest of a friend. Dumbfounded that the kids in Sunday School hadn't thought about the possibility that money could be shared, he developed an approach to financial literacy focused on Sharing, Spending and Saving.

Many parents will identify with the profiles and stories of kids who ask for and are given too much. These same parents will likely be depressed by the evidence Dungan presents surrounding the influence of advertising, promotion and media on kids' inability to distinguish between wants and needs. Dungan offers solutions to these problems, providing parents with the ammunition to stop the madness and, not only to teach, but to lead by example.

Dungan acknowledges that its difficult for any parent to run counter to prevailing cultural imperatives to buy more, more, MORE. The tools he offers in this book should help make the job much easier for the committed parent.