Well, I didn’t really like the idea. Actually, I thought that was stupid. But I didn’t say anything. So later my mom went to bed, so I took the book and read it. So I knew it wasn’t stupid. It was about teaching your kids how to manage money.

I don’t know how it will work. But I can at least try. My mom thinks you read her mind. Ha! Ha! Ha!

I don’t know if anyone my age has ever written to you, but you have inspired me and my family. Thanks !

Dear Abby: I’m glad your mom is reading my book on raising financially confident kids.

Abby, I bet you’re a great swimmer. How did you learn to do this? Did your mother make you sit in a chair and tell you all about water and how when swimming you have to hold your breath and kick? Did she say that when you grow up you can go in a pool, but until then you just can’t trust water?

I think I can hear you laughing because it’s pretty silly. But that’s how many parents teach their children about money. They just talk about it and describe what it will be like one day when they grow up and leave home. They hope their children will understand how to be good with money when they grow up.

And it doesn’t always work so well.

The plan you and your mom read about in my book is a way to teach kids how to manage their money while they’re young and their parents are always there to guide them.

Your mother will teach you how it all works. It will give you something that all children expect from their parents: confidence. It will entrust you with money and allow you to make decisions with it.

There are rules you must follow. And you will get a responsibility list. If you want things on this list, you’ll have to pay for them. And if you make foolish choices about how you spend your money, you will have to suffer the consequences. That’s how real life works, Abby.

The more your mother sees that she can trust you to make good decisions about saving and giving to others and exercising self-discipline with how you spend money, the more she will trust you to to manage.

I can’t wait to see how things are going for you, Abby. You can write to me at any time. I would like to!