What All Kids (and adults too) Should Know About Saving and Investing

Looking to getting your finances in order this year (just like every year, amiright)? This book about saving and investing is a great resource for the whole family.

As someone who is interested in (boring) investing, and who has a son that now has a custodial investment account, I'm always look for more information that can help others learn more about the importance of saving and investing.

One of the books that I've found interesting and helpful is What All Kids (and adults too) Should Know About . . . Savings and Investing: Covering saving, budgeting and investing, a must-read for all young … with fun facts and interesting takeaways. by Rob Pivnick.

Pivnick offers a look at how you can help your child learn about investing — and get a solid refresher course yourself. Pivnick writes well, and does so in a way that informs without patronizing, which is a must when it comes to connecting with teenagers. One of the things I like about this book is that it is accessible and conversational without trying too hard to be “cool.” It's straightforward and easy to read and understand.

Encouraging Saving and Investing

The book starts out by making a compelling case for saving, and explaining compound interest. Pivnick points out that you can be ahead of the curve, just by starting to save right now. After presenting the rewards of saving (and relating it to investing though retirement plans), he then tackles the importance of budgeting.

I like that Pivnick included information about budgeting, debt, and the importance of setting goals. Your investment attempts are much less likely to be effective when you have too much debt, or you don't understand how to be in control of your money (rather than letting money control you). Pivnick even devotes time in this book to making deals and sound negotiation tactics. I'm not sure I'm that excited about my son learning to more negotiate things with me, but I guess since I know what he's up to, it should still give me an edge. (Right? RIGHT?)

At any rate, the book next fives into saving and investing concepts that many adults have trouble with. Some of the concepts that are rendered easy to understand in this book include:

• Risk and reward
• Liquidity
• Asset allocation
• Investment horizon
• Passive investing
• Why timing the market is a Bad Idea
• Dollar cost averaging
• Reversion to mean
• Inflation
• Diversification

Pivnick includes other concepts as well. I haven't yet turned this book over to my son, but I am confident that when I do, he will be able to grasp all of the concepts appropriately.

The final chapter in this book is titled “Money is Not Everything.” One of the things I really like about this chapter is that it is a nice reminder that, while saving and investing are important, not everything in life should be reduced to dollar signs.

Overall, I find What All Kids (and adults too) Should Know About . . . Savings and Investing?a great resource. If you want to start your year off right, with some great ideas on how you can improve your financial situation, this book is a great addition to your home library.