The First National Bank of Dad: The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "WHEN OUR SON WAS BORN, my wife and I needed a baby blanket for his crib..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bank of Dad, True Net Worth, Beanie Babies (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a terrific little book that could completely change the way many parents think about children and money. Owen, a staff writer for the New Yorker, entertainingly details ways to "raise children who aren't overwhelmed by the financial side of life." He convincingly argues that the purpose of most parental savings plans for children "is not to promote saving but to prevent consumption." His book sets forth a very clever idea: by setting up a checking account for his children using a Quicken program with a high interest rate-5% per month-Owen shows how he was able to teach them that "the more you save, and the longer you hold it, the more you will be able to spend." In each case, he deftly proves his main idea: that "they became savers because I created a system that rewarded them for spending less than they earned." Most important for parents beleaguered by kids demands to "buy them something," Owen shows how a savings program such as his can help take the emotion out of buying, so that the question kids have to answer "is not `How can I talk Dad into paying for this?' but `Is this something I really want?'" His savings plan (along with his equally interesting "Dad Stock Exchange" idea) is rooted in a clear-headed view of economics as well as a good-faith desire to help parents help kids to become responsible, not greedy, adults.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Most parents do more harm than good when they try to teach their children about money. They make saving seem like a punishment, and force their children to view reckless spending as their only rational choice. To most kids, a savings account is just a black hole that swallows birthday checks.

David Owen, a New Yorker staff writer and the father of two children, has devised a revolutionary new way to teach kids about money. In The First National Bank of Dad, he explains how he helped his own son and daughter become eager savers and rational spenders. He started by setting up a bank of his own at home and offering his young children an attractively high rate of return on any amount they chose to save. "If you hang on to some of your wealth instead of spending it immediately," he told them, "in a little while, you'll be able to double or even triple your allowance." A few years later, he started his own stock market and money-market fund for them.

Most children already have a pretty good idea of how money works, Owen believes; that's why they are seldom interested in punitive savings schemes mandated by their parents. The first step in making children financially responsible, he writes, is to take advantage of human nature rather than ignoring it or futilely trying to change it.

"My children are often quite irresponsible with my money, and why shouldn't they be?" he writes. "But they are extremely careful with their own." The First National Bank of Dad also explains how to give children real experience with all kinds of investments, how to foster their charitable instincts, how to make them more helpful around the house, how to set their allowances, and how to help them acquire a sense of value that goes far beyond money. He also describes at length what he feels is the best investment any parent can make for a child -- an idea that will surprise most readers.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743204808
• ISBN-13: 978-0743204804
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #560,379 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much More Than Just a "Bank Book", March 5, 2003

By	Geofrey J Greenleaf,author of My Dog Ate My R... (Shaker Heights, OH United States) - See all my reviews

David Owen's book should be must reading for all parents with children under age 12. In the first part of the book he describes the success he has had with his own children in establishing a "bank" for them that is both understandable and lucrative. Later he gives excellent advice on providing allowances for youngsters and what they might do with some of the cash including the risks of getting caught up in bubbles nearly as scary as the great internet dot.bomb or dot.con fiasco of 2000: namely, beanie babies. Valuable lessons for children.
Also, the simple language used to describe stocks and bonds could be very useful for young, inquiring minds. Almost surprisingly at the end he segues into the benefits of reading aloud for impressionable minds, and again makes good solid sense. In sum a great book for parents to own and read and even for grandparents to buy for them.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Owen is Money in the Bank, May 3, 2004

By	S. A. Cartwright "Stu Cartwright" (Wayland, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The First National Bank of Dad: The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money (Hardcover)

In tackling a home improvement project involving joint compound and plaster buttons, I kept two books near at hand. One was "HomeOwner's Manual" by the This Old House crew, and the second was "The Walls Around Us" by David Owen. Owen's calming, sensible, everyman approach to shouldering new handyman projects helped steer me through an unfamiliar, mundane project. At some point during the countless hours of smoothing, sanding, and painting, my inattentive mind began to wonder what else Owen had written besides the occasional New Yorker story that subscribers see.

"The First National Bank of Dad" was the answer, and upon reading its subtitle 'The Best Way to Teach Kids about Money' I scooped up a copy. Having two little spenders of my own, I knew I needed this new advice manual from a man who has been there before me. FNBD did not let me down. David Owen writes with a straightforward, humorous, easy-going style that spews common sense and good ideas. His Bank of Dad idea is genius, but only because it flips upside-down the usual parenting mantras of command and control. Put your kids in charge of their money urges Owen, and watch them learn how to spend and save. Stop running Aunt Millie's birthday presents down to the local bank, which to your kids is a "black hole that swallows birthday checks." Instead, Owen puts his kids entirely (almost) in charge of their money, and with his home-based Bank of Dad gives them the opportunity to learn about the power of compound interest. Using a home computer and a slightly more influential rate of interest, he quickly captures his kids' attention.

It's a terrific idea, one I've already adopted, and my kids are unexpectedly as thrilled as his. Owen has more. He teaches his kids free market economics via eBay, creates his own successful Stock Exchange of Dad, and expostulates on the value of part-time employment for kids. His recommendations are surprisingly fresh, honest and logical. Chapter Seven offers perhaps the best observations about life and I could think of many adults I know who would benefit from reading this alone. Chapter Eight is an epistle to the value of reading. By "learning how to purse a subject until their curiosity is satisfied," Owen observes, "later in life they will be able to use that same ability to teach themselves about the bond market." And anything else.

FNBD is an investment of under six hours reading time. It is already paying dividends in my home.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good advice on how to teach kids a valuable lesson., March 5, 2003

By A Customer

I read this book in one afternoon. It is a relatively quick and easy read. David Owen does a good job of supplying advice and a lesson in money management with a little humor. My son is 6 years old and I just started giving him an allowance so he can buy things and stop pestering me. It turns out that this is exactly what Mr. Owen recommends in his book.

This book was enjoyable and informative; I recommend it to anyone with young children.