When I first read the press on Ultrinsic I felt an immediate roll of my stomach.

Here’s a site where the most prized target of marketers - incoming college freshman — can sign up and place a “bet” on their grades. If they get the grades, they make money on the bet. If not, they lose the money they put down. “This (incentive) helps remove one of the large barriers students have to studying and staying motivated over the course of long semesters of college…” explains Ultrinsic Chief Operations Officer Judah Guber, in “Pay for an A?” by Andrew Gelman.

I suspected Guber (who graduated college himself in 2005 with B.A. from CUNY-Queens College) had it wrong. How could just paying for grades somehow provide a magic bullet for motivating students to study harder? But I continued to read, seeking first to understand.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

I found this blog entry on Forbes to be useful in assessing the opportunity for families to begin discussing money at home. I am inclined to support an effort to have the “money talk”, but as the blog author points out, the American Express credit and debit card is being sold on the bottom of every page and information, while optional, is being gathered. Just like we tell kids to be aware of marketing efforts - especially those that come from credit cards companies - so should we be aware of the marketing efforts involved in this campaign.

http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2010/08/25/parents-and-teachers-join-national-money-talk-night/

As my oldest daughter heads off to college this Fall, I experienced my first college freshman “buying season”.  From laptops and bedding to carpets and refrigerators, the list just seems to grow each day.  My colleague Steve Rosen, Kids & Money columnist with The Kansas City Star, and I talked recently about this experience, and he included some great tips in his latest column on this specific topic. 

As a parent of a college-bound teen, my own advice:  Educate your kids on the costs of all the “essential” stuff before plunking down the money!  Here’s the link to Steve’s column that parents of any college-bound kid will find helpful:

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/16/2089018/ways-to-save-as-you-head-off-to.html

I had a great interview last week with Tony Chen at SavvyDaddy.com about how he could appoach tough money questions from his own 4-year-old son.  (SavvyDaddy is a web community and great resource for dads wanting to make a difference in their kids’ lives.)  Here’s the link to the blog and the ten tips I shared with him to help talk to kids about money:

http://www.savvydaddy.com/content/moneyandkids

Here’s a nice editorial piece in the Westport News by Tom Henske, a local resident and a financial advisor at Lenox Advisors.  His hypotheses about why it’s so difficult to get financial education taught in schools is right on the mark and something that I’ve been saying for ten years.  Thanks, Tom for adding your insights to this meaningful debate.  We’re kindred spirits! 

Reading a note from a single mom that read my recent blog  “How to say no to student loans but yes to college” and how she helped her child say “no” to student loans - truly an amazing story with great tips for all of us.  Here is the approach she took:

“Hooray for your common sense approach to funding college.
 
When my daughter was a freshman in high school, I sat her down and told her that as a single mom who worked as a baker, I simply couldn’t afford to pay for college.  So, we worked out a plan.  (more…)

Is it impossible for a child to graduate from college free and clear of debt? Nobody even talks about a “debt-free” matriculation. Most of us just assume that graduation and debt go hand-in-hand.

According to the Project on Student Debt, the average debt level for graduating seniors with student loans rose to $23,200 in 2008 – a 24% increase from $18,650 in 2004. What’s more, 67% of students graduating from four-year colleges and universities have student debt. Add to this debt load the inevitable credit card debt kids accumulate and well, it’s getting harder to defend the decision to get a college education if the price is really that high – especially in light of the grim prospects of getting a decent job once you graduate.

Many college students today who take on student debt see no way around this mess. Citing “no parental support” nor access to funding from the university they have chosen, they face only one other option – loans from Sallie Mae.  “A couple of months before I moved East, I examined my finances,” writes Emily Schmitt in her story “Student Loans: A Bitter Financial Lesson.” “I had two options: first, not to go to grad school; and second, to fund most of my education with student loans. NYU ain’t cheap. My tuition runs upwards of $15,000 per semester,” she explained.

Emily took out the loans. Emily felt she “had no alternatives.” Really Emily? (more…)

We have always been challenged getting financial literacy education into the time-pressed elementary classroom.  In the past few years, we have found a great place and partner in the teacher-librarian.  During library time, there is finally some time to teach students about the choices they have for money.  Next to a parent, the teacher is the most impactful teacher in a child’s life -and the teacher-librarian is in a perfect position to help us as parents teach our kids about money. 

During the 2010 Chicago Federal Reserve’s Money Smart Week, with a little help from the Money Savvy Pig, an interactive piggybank, Chicago Public School students in grades K – 8 spent classroom time with their teacher-librarians learning about the choices they have for money (more…)

Parents - Read all about it!  The six traits of millionaires.  This is a good start of a list of things to think about as you raise your own child to be a success in their money life. 

Lauren Barack from School Library Journal interviewed me last week regarding the program we created this year for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) through the Department of Libraries and Information Services.  The program involved librarians at nearly 200 CPS schools who voluntarily signed up to teach around 97,000 kids in grades K - 8 about the choices they have for money - and the response was just simply fantastic!  But this program is just the beginning.   Click here to read more.