So it happened again to me today, and it’s happened enough that I decided to write about it…and solicit your help.

I was chatting with a woman I just met about this, that, and the other, when, inevitably, the question so what do you do? comes up. She’s a stay-at-home mom, nice, and I told her I was a kids’ personal finance educator.

“You can teach personal finance to kids?” she, and just about everyone else, asks.

Now don’t get me wrong. Until my youngest, Ryan, began to exhibit extreme carefree spending tendencies, the idea had never really occurred to me, either. At least, not beyond giving him an allowance. But if you think about it, setting up an allowance system is most definitely a form of personal finance.

At least it should be.

It’s not enough that kids get money. It’s important that we teach them what to do with that money. Things that we do with our own adult personal finances: save, spend, share, invest, borrow, budget. We need to do it in a way that gives kids real, hands-on experiences with their money so that they’ll get the practice they need before we send them out into the world.

And the good news is, it’s not that hard to do. Even if you don’t feel “qualified”. And while we’re doing it, we need make ‘personal finance for kids’ a recognized phrase.

So I’d love to have your help. It would be great if you could help spread the word about the importance of teaching kids money while they are still young.

In addition, I want to be a resource for parents. My Raised for Richness Facebook page is filled with all kinds of tips and research studies. It’s a great place for parents to start.

I am also working hard to make our website a resource, as well. We’ve included a bunch of free stuff recently.

And then there are the Beyond-the-Piggy-Bank Challenges filled with the specific steps needed to begin teaching personal finance. I do these periodically and if you email me, I’ll get another one scheduled soon.

So let’s start a movement! Let’s get the word out make ‘kids and personal finance’ just a regular part of our everyday language. Together we can make a difference.