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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Blue 
 
 
Question: 
 
What personal challenges might we face in training our children to 
manage money? 
 
Answer: 
 
RON BLUE: You know, there’s a lot of challenges that we have when it 
comes to training our children, and we can talk about role models, and 
so forth. I think one of the biggest role models that we have is our 
government—that whenever they need more money, they just print 
more money. 
 
JUDY BLUE: [laughs] 
 
RON: You know, and so that leads to the issue of what misperceptions 
there are out there with children. I think one of them is that money 
grows on trees. 
 
JUDY: Or that you can just use your plastic card and stick it in or out, 
or you could just drive through that money machine at the bank where 
you put in your PIN code.  
 
RON: [laughs] That’s pretty good. 
 
And children, we wonder why they come up with these misperceptions, 
but it’s pretty realistic why they would. I mean, who’s going to teach 
them? 
 
JUDY: Exactly. They don’t see the source or the resources, and so they 
watch their friends who spend almost limitlessly, and they watch their 
 
 
parents who a lot of the times don’t have any personal restraints, and 
it’s hard for them to find a balance. 
 
RON: You know, I remember when our third daughter, Karen, was in 
high school, and she turned 16, and if you remember, all of her friends 
got new cars, and she happened to be going to school, where they got 
significantly nice new cars. You remember that situation? 
 
JUDY: That was difficult. Not only that, there were some of friends she 
had in high school whose parents would send them to the mall with 
their credit card, and Karen was on the envelope system, and when 
her envelope was empty, she had to quit spending.  
 
RON: Yeah, and friends’ spending habits is one of the really big issues, 
because, especially as a teenager, it seems to me that my self-worth 
comes from my friendships—and so, my friends spend a particular 
way, then I want to spend the same way. 
 
JUDY: Exactly. 
 
RON: I think also we’ve got to realize that there are a phenomenal 
amount of advertising dollars that are being spent by some very 
creative people who understand the market, and who understand how 
to entice, if you will, children. Advertisers know that children control a 
large amount of the family budget—advertising is aimed at the one 
who controls the family budget.   
 
So, I think we as parents have a huge challenge from a lot of different 
areas—the government, our friends, no role models, advertising— 
we’re in a battle. 
 
JUDY: Well, and you know, I remember reading a TIME Magazine 
article a year or so ago that the toy manufacturers literally have what 
they call “shut-up toys,” which are under five dollars, and are aimed 
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at, you know, you don’t want to buy your child a bigger toy, so you 
buy them a “shut-up toy” when you’re checking out at the grocery 
store, or wherever you are—and they’re very well strategically placed. 
 
So, it’s a war, and it’s one that we have to be willing to be on the 
offense, rather than being on the defense. 
 
RON: You know, and I think another thing is that our children are not 
taught any place is money and money management. As a matter of 
fact, the primary programs that are taught in the public schools today 
are taught by Visa and MasterCard. 
 
JUDY: [laughs] 
 
RON: Now, you can imagine the kind of message that children are 
going to get from that. 
 
So, I think as parents, we’ve got a real challenge—and I just want to 
encourage you to accept the challenge. Don’t ignore the challenge. 
Confront it, and realize that you are in a battle, but you can win the 
war.  
 
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