December 3rd, 2009 by matthew
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Our ultimate goal here is to discover an easy way to grown our very own Golden Goose, one that consistently lays golden eggs. By golden eggs, what I mean is a secure and steady income for us down the track by selling the eggs, not the Goose. [Att Technorati: 3A65KHWDYSSW ]
This is a noble cause, to be sure, and there’s no shortage of people out there with all manner of advice. There is advice on how to make money, invest like a pro, beat the market, hedge, trade and imitate others who’ve made it big. It can all get a bit confusing.
» Read more: Conflicting advice
November 30th, 2009 by matthew
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“Have an Attitude of Gratitude”
“The greatest of sins is ingratitude”
“If you don’t feel gratitude, you’ll feel resentment”
Our North American friends have just celebrated (or survived!) another Thanksgiving holiday. This is one tradition from that part of the world that we could all take to heart.
Why is this idea so important? Why talk about it here on the Golden Goose? (Aside from making the Goose nervous in case this is the year someone decides to switch from turkey!)
» Read more: Feeling resentful? The cure is to be thankful.
November 27th, 2009 by matthew
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Last week’s papers carried a story that estimated Australian children are being paid one billion dollars in pocket money (allowance) each year – and they have to do very little to get it.
Kids clean up in a billion-dollar industry [SMH]: AUSTRALIAN parents are spending more than $1 billion on pocket money a year but children are expected to do far less around the house in return … experts say [chores] are important in developing life skills
This story illustrates the problems when parents don’t consider the philosophy of pocket money. Take the time to think and discuss your own philosophy to handing over the cash.
» Read more: A billion dollars in pocket money and no chores?
November 27th, 2009 by matthew
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In a great opportunity for this Goose, Neerav Bhatt asked me to write a pair of articles for the Finance & Money section of his blog recently. » Read more: My Rambling Thoughts article about The Philosphy of Pocket Money
November 21st, 2009 by Admin Guy
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My writing has not been flowing as easily as I’d like it to of late. Partly that is because I’ve been wanting to move away from the stock Wordpress theme. Well, that’s fixed now. So what do you think of the new style? I’m excited because I feel that this is a great clean style that allows me to share even more with you. Notice the new sections in the sidebar?
‘Featured Video’ is there to highlight great videos from around the web. This first one is from UBank, who have a great series of short videos that explain and demystify financial markets. ‘Recommended Reading’ is there to point you in the direction of some great books for you and your kids to learn more and yes, there are the ‘Sponsored Links’ that will help me pay for running this site.
Onward and upward, as the saying goes!
October 31st, 2009 by matthew
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This week a disturbing story appeared from the ABC “Charities reveal high marketing costs” :
the charities concerned have defended the practice, saying it happens worldwide and is just part of doing business [...] But 95 per cent of money raised through street marketing in its first year is not going to the charity.
Wow. Ninety-Five percent of your first year’s donations are going to the marketing company who signed you up on a regular donation plan. That sounds plain crazy to me. Who are we really donating to? Speaking personally I’d rather as much of my hard-won money as possible ends up in the hands of those who really need it!
» Read more: Who are you really donating to?
October 23rd, 2009 by matthew
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To celebrate my first two paid posts over at @neerav’s Rambling Thoughts Blog, a very interesting friend of ours took us to yum-cha lunch today. Yes, he went all out and ordered the crab.
As we talked briefly about developing my blog, the conversation turned to how (let’s call him ‘Barry’) Barry used to earn money as a kid. He spoke of interminable summers of being dragged along to regional test cricket games (which take, literally, days) – which gave Barry a healthy dislike for all things cricket.
To get away from the very slow pace of test cricket, Barry and his mates would catch snakes for Eric Worrell. They would get paid twenty dollars for each snake, but only ten dollars for the non-venomous ones!
My jaw just about hit the table when I heard Barry talk about this. So it made me wonder – what is the craziest way you ever earned money as a kid?
September 30th, 2009 by matthew
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The smart people over at the Children’s Television Workshop (you know them – the home of Sesame Street) have created a special show you can watch online that helps explain tough economic times to kids.
The official description : “hour long television special hosted by Al Roker, Deborah Roberts and Elmo, with financial expert, Jean Chatzky, and clinical psychologist, Joshua Coleman, to help families with children, ages two to eight, experiencing difficult economic challenges.”
Sesame Street: Families Stand Together
As I commented over on Lifehacker Australia – “Deploy the Muppets” indeed! It really is very important to talk to kids about these situations – keeping them in the dark isn’t really possible (they’re kinda smart 
better to have an open and frank discussion about your financial situation. This video looks to be a brilliant ice-breaker to get the talk happening in your home. Way to go Children’s Television Workshop.
April 21st, 2008 by matthew
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The blog lives! The Golden Goose has been around for around a year as a twitter account. Before that the ancestor, if you will, was my Bank Accounts for Children site which itself grew from some frustrated posts on my blog.
This blog is a journey as I develop the ideas from my family’s experiences with bringing up children who are money savvy. While money was spoken of from time to time as I grew up, the nuts and bolts remained a mystery. In an effort to avoid a similar fate for my own kids, I’m searching for and trying out approaches to financial good sense that I hope will serve them (and my wife and myself!) well.
