Pay It Forward

When my father started his “money lessons” with me, I probably rolled my eyes and wished I was at the mall like every other 13 year-old girl. But a funny thing happened along the way, his lessons began to resonate with me.

His ideas about money were radically different from what I was being taught in school or by the world in general. He taught me to be emotionally competent when handling my money, so things like—fear, anger, frustration and even euphoria—didn’t drive my spending habits. By aligning my goals and beliefs with how I used my money, I would experience financial freedom. My money wouldn’t own me; I’d own it and be able to spend joyfully.

Thanks to my father’s lessons, financial literacy became my passion. Today, I’m a Certified Financial Planner and have helped clients feel more financially confident for the past 20 years.

My father left a powerful legacy for me, and it’s my turn to pay it forward. Many of my clients’ money hang-ups stem from their childhood observations of how their parents handled money, so I began to outline a series of children’s picture books as a way to educate both parents and children about money, even before I had my daughters.

At one point, I tried to bring these books to life, but the characters and story weren’t quite right. With regret, I put the idea back on the shelf to percolate some more. One afternoon, a few years later, my girls came running into the kitchen to tell me, “Mommy! Mommy! My purse is too heavy!” and The Heavy Purse was born.

It’s been a thrilling ride, bringing The Heavy Purse to life and sharing it with you. The feedback has been outstanding–thank you! Yet, the book is just the tip of the iceberg. Parents often ask me for tips on implementing save, spend and share into their family’s life and other lessons they should teach their children about money. With this in mind, I developed my new downloadable Money Club Workbooks.

Each workbook is based on age or level expertise and provides five targeted lessons to help you increase your child’s financial literacy. Each lesson includes action steps, along with additional tips, dialogues and worksheets. It’s been an honor to help you start money conversations with your children, and I am excited to help you deepen the conversation through my new workbooks.

The Heavy Purse store is now open. I invite you to check out the Money Club Workbooks and take the next step in raising Money Smart Kids.