Sheila Bair, who worked in finance for a long time, noticed that many people found it difficult to understand how money works. She wanted to make it easier for people to learn about finance, so she decided to teach children about economic principles. She wrote a picture book called “Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock” about a grandfather who helps his twin grandsons learn about saving money. The grandfather pays them a dollar a week to do chores. If they save that dollar, he doubles it every week. But if they spend it, they only get another dollar. Sheila Bair was one of the first people to warn about subprime loans before the crash of the late 2000s
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Sheila Bair wrote a book called “Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock” in 2006. It was the first book in her Money Tales series, which now includes eight books. These books are designed for readers aged between 7 and 10 years old. In the book, there are two children. One child saves money and has a lot of money at the end of the summer. The other child spends all of his money on toys. Sheila Bair, who lives in Washington, D.C., and has two grown children, said that her favorite part of the story is when the saver is tempted to buy an expensive toy.
The saver’s grandfather explains the opportunity costs and how the saver’s savings will go back down and start doubling from that point. This is a good introduction to compound interest and the power of compounding. Sheila Bair has written other picture books that explore financial topics such as overborrowing, Ponzi schemes, and the importance of reading contracts carefully.
Current and Relevant Title
Sheila Bair has recently published two new books in her Money Tales series.
Daisy Bubble
The first book is called “Daisy Bubble: A Price Crash on Galapagos”. It is a story about animals who get excited about daisies and start buying them, which causes the price of daisies to increase rapidly and then crash. This book was inspired by a high-profile event in early 2021 when many inexperienced investors tried to cash in on a “short squeeze” of GameStop stock.
Princess persephone Loss the Castle
The second book is called “Princess Persephone and the Money-Wizards: Inflation Comes to Ganymede”. It is about a princess who wants to go on summer vacation adventures with her friends, but they can’t afford it. She orders wizards to make more money, which causes spending to increase, prices to soar, and supplies to become scarce. This book helps readers understand concepts related to inflation, including supply and demand and the consequences of rapid increases in spending.
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How you can teach your children about finance
Sheila Bair suggests that when parents or grandparents give a child money, they should also give them a little extra to put in savings. This can be done every time the child receives money, whether it’s an allowance or a birthday present. The extra money should be earmarked for savings.
“She said that she taught her children to save money by putting it in a piggy bank. Once the money added up, they would take it to the bank and deposit it. This helped her children develop a habit of saving money from an early age.”
“You can buy inflation-protected bonds called I bonds to help your savings grow and protect them from inflation. These bonds pay over 5% interest right now and can help you understand the power of compounding interest.”
Bair is thinking about writing a new book for older kids. She wants to help people manage their money better. The book will be called “How Not to Lose a Million Dollars”. She thinks that there are many books on how to make a million dollars and how to be rich, but that’s not what she wants to write about. She wants to help people keep their money, grow it, and have financial stability.
