Piggybanking: Preparing Your Financial Life for Kids and Your Kids for a Financial Life

How to afford kids--and teach them about money

We all want to raise smart children. But somewhere between the reading, writing, and arithmetic, one of life's most important lessons is too often overlooked: personal finances. As adults, we interact with money every day, whether by saving, investing, spending, or giving it, but we often forget that kids also face these same decisions--from their own unique perspective--as they mature. How do we teach today what kids really need to know tomorrow to thrive as financially savvy adults? In "Piggybanking," veteran "Wall Street Journal" personal-finance writer Jeff D. Opdyke provides a clear and effective plan to help parents raise children to be comfortable and confident managing the daily finances of life.

But even before kids arrive, parents face a rash of financial decisions. Accordingly, "Piggybanking" also deals with the essential problems every struggling young family must face, including how to prepare your budget for a child's arrival, how to choose between single- and dual-income lifestyles, and how to plan for funding a college education.

With Opdyke's valuable advice, and with his 15 Rules of Kids & Money in hand, parents will be well equipped to create a sound financial foundation for their family and a successful financial life for their kids. Less