Fascinating Authors

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Tell us a little bit about your book.

Author: Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats? is really two books in one. The first half teaches parents how to raise responsible and respectful kids. The second half covers teaching kids how to manage money wisely.

While there are other books about kids and discipline and books about teaching kids about money, this is the only book that combines financial and personal responsibility in one title. And that’s important because what happens when kids don’t want to learn how to save or earn their own money. Then what? This book gives readers the answers.

For a complete table of contents and excerpts from the book visit www.RaisingMillionaireBabies.com/the book

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What inspired you to create a work of non-fiction?

Author: I knew I wanted to write a book ever since I was 10 years old. I didn’t know exactly what kind of book or the topic until I was encouraged by the many parents I have served over the years saying to me, ”You should write a book”.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What did you do to prepare – such as research – to write your book?

Author: I have been preparing to write a book my whole life without knowing when or about what. Personal observation has been my best research lab because it is rooted in real life experience. I have used the last 20 years of acquired knowledge and “field” experience consulting with families to present the information readers find in the pages of “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?”

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you decide which information to present in your book?

Author: The book is based on the popular Love and Logic* approach to parenting. All the stories, examples and principles I included are tied to one of three goals: raising responsible, respectful, and self-reliant kids.

(*In essence, Love allows kids to learn from their mistakes. Logic allows them to learn from the consequences of those mistakes. And allowance allows kids to learn from the consequences of their money mistakes, while the price tag is literally, and figuratively, more affordable.)

My co author Jim Fay (co-founder of the Love and Logic Institute) and I were astounded by the diverse web of topics centered on money. So we designed it to make it comprehensive yet easily accessible as a reference for busy parents. Parents can use it from toddlers to the young adults years and all in between as situations of saving, spending, borrowing, sharing, earning and losing their lunch money arises.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What do you hope people will gain from reading your book?

Author: Many of us are aware of why this topic is important but this book meets the need to know how. Our book is designed for any adult who wants to profoundly influence the life a child.

Here are some specific tools readers will pick up in “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats”?

1.    Learn how to put a stop to kids chronic begging and arguing in the store
2.    Discover how tying chores to allowance doesn’t work
3.    Learn how to end the constant battles over chores
4.    Learn how to teach an attitude of gratitude instead of entitlement
5.    Explore how much allowance to give and how often
6.    Learn how to teach kids to spend, save and earn their own money wisely (instead of yours!)
7.    Discover the real cost between affordable mistakes and unaffordable mistakes
8.    Explore how the Love and Logic approach puts the fun back into parenting
9.    Learn how to use everyday opportunities to teach kids about needs, wants and delayed gratification
10.Discover it’s never too late to learn, even for boomerang kids

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How long did it take you to write the book – (was it longer or less time than you expected)?

Author: From proposal to print, the book took two years. The topic of teaching kids about money is so rich that it’s importance and value grew as the book grew. For that reason, “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?” took longer than I thought because I was writing about topics I did not think of originally.

As a first time author, I am particularly lucky because my publisher accepted my book proposal right away. After I sent him a few chapters to prove that I could write a coherent sentence, I signed my contract.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you seek the support of a writer’s group or class?

Author: Not specifically. I did send my work in pieces to several parents for comment about content. I also forwarded it to a professional writing coach unfamiliar with Love and Logic for her feedback.

Here’s a little sidebar: Writing might also be a family gene. I have two sisters, each who have published their own a book. And, my paternal Grandmother is allegedly related to Lord Bryon, one of the most famous of the Romantic poets from the 18th century.   She was known to have said on occasions, ” I am related to Lord Byron but I don’t think that was a good thing because he was such a scoundrel”.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What surprised you the most about this process?

Author: The awesome and numerous connections between money and responsibility. It was like a spider web. For example, what appears to be a simple question, ”Should we pay kids for grades?” blossomed into a look at:

“If so, how much? If not, why not? If we don’t pay them for grades them how else can we motivate them?” One question led to many more and most are addressed and/or cross-referenced in the book.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What tips would you offer to anyone writing nonfiction for the first time?

Author: Trust yourself. Know that you have something important to say. The process of simply writing it down is valuable to you even if your written words don’t reach others as much as you like.

Study what you like about others writing and organization as well. If you can put your finger on what you like about others’ work, you will more likely be able to emulate it.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What can we look forward to in your next book?

Author: I have just submitted a second manuscript: “Love and Logic Moneyisms: Wise Words for Raising Money Smart Kids”. It is a small book that uses pithy insights taken from the “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?”  book and distills it down into one sentence per page.

Here’s an example:

“Kids learn the most about using money wisely when we allow them to feel the consequences of using it unwisely.”

Each thought provoking statement could be further explored by a footnote referring readers to a section in the “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?” book.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you would like to include?

Author: Yes, the book is “dedicated to raising children who have all that it takes to make their dreams come true.” It’s not about raising kids to become millionaires, although that may happen. It’s more about raising kids who are millionaires from the inside out. That really is the ultimate gift we can give our children.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What made you aware of and concerned for the Millionaire Babies/Bankrupt Brats syndrome?

Author: Whenever I was teaching my seminars to parents, audiences repeatedly stopped to ask questions when the issue of kids and money arose in the same breath. Hands would shoot up in the air asking:

•    How much allowance?
•    Should I pay my kids for chores? Or,
•    How do I teach them to save?

From this wellspring came the idea that a book such as “Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?” would meet the need we all have as a society to raise responsible, self-reliant kids. Being aware of this will pay dividends. As we grow older, our kids may well become our future financial caretakers, or pick our nursing homes.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Do you think the current economic crisis in the U.S. has any basis in the way we learn about and use money?

Author: With a country in the worst crisis since the Great Depression, most people can agree that we are doing a poor job of raising, teaching, hiring and electing people who have wise money management skills. It’s time to go back to basics and go back to the best place for personal and fiscal accountability lessons to begin… in our families.

Our children learn by our example, for better or for worse. If the adults around them use money unwisely, then our children will model the same.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What’s the most important thing a parent can teach a child about money?

Author: Teach them that the younger they are the bigger their one financial asset is –time and the magic of compounding savings over time. Every child has the potential to become their own CEO (Contribute Early and Often) – and their own millionaire by the time they reach their 60’s knowing this one simple principle.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!