Is your child a spendthrift? A hoarder? Or maybe, downright oblivious? Are there family money dramas you can do without? In RAISING FINANCIALLY FIT KIDS, Joline Godfrey, one of the country’s leading experts on kids, parents, and money, gives parents the secrets and knowledge she has gleaned from a decade of working with kids on financial literacy and business. At the heart of the book lies a defined set of values:Money is a tool for achieving and maintaining independence. Saving is good; accumulation for its own sake is not. Spending is best done wisely and within one’s means (though a bold purchase or investment may also be an act of wisdom). Greed is not good. Giving generously is part of one’s responsibility to the human family; shepherding wealth is an act of respect—to the past and the future. Money is an energy (not a commodity) that can be used for evil or for good.Designed for adults—parents, grandparents, mentors, advisors, and educators—concerned about raising children ages 5 to 18, RAISING FINANCIALLY FIT KIDS is centered around a developmental map covering ten specific money skills each child can master by the age of 18 to become a financially secure adult. This map gives parents a step-by-step approach to helping their kids become habitual savers, smart money mangers, and responsible decision makers. More than just a money book, RAISING FINANCIALLY FIT KIDS will help parents send their children into the world as balanced, financially stable individuals and contributing members of both their family and community.
Since 1992, Joline Godfrey has been a pioneer in the movement to increase financial intelligence among young people. Developer of a unique developmental approach to financial education, Godfrey's introduction of the financial apprenticeship stage of life has given parents and community leaders revolutionary tools for becoming better money mentors for kids.
In addition to being the CEO of Independent Means Inc, Godfrey's standing as an expert is buttressed by her research and writing on the subject. She is the author of Our Wildest Dreams: Women Making Money, Having Fun, Doing Good; No More Frogs to Kiss: 99 Ways to Give Economic Power to Girls; and Twenty $ecrets to Money and Independence: The DollarDiva's Guide to Life and most recently, Raising Financially Fit Kids, published by TenSpeed Press and is a contributor to a number of books and magazines.
Recognized in features for the Today Show, Oprah, Fortune, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, etc., she is a frequent speaker worldwide. Prior to founding Independent Means Inc, Godfrey spent ten years as an executive for the Polaroid Corporation. Her first company Odysseum, was a spin-off from that corporation. With degrees from the University of Maine and an M.S.W. from Boston University, Godfrey was awarded an honorary degree in Business from Bentley College in 1995.
