November-December 2010
MONEY WI$E
Letter From Joline
Money Map
Coming Events
Money Skill
Why Stories Matter—Regardless of Age: page 1
Coming Up in 2011: page 1
Storytelling as Mission Sharing: page 3
Fam Libs: page 4
Save the Dates:
Live Events in 2011: page 6
Letter from Joline:
Why Stories Matter—Regardless of Age
Coming Events
2011
Wine and Wisdom
A weekend retreat for couples on building great families in the context of wealth,
as well as an opportunity to take lessons from the art of winemaking.
There are few things as central to childhood as that question asked between the night’s last
glass of milk and tranquil dreams: “Will you read me a story?”
But why do we crave
the story?
In October, I took the IMI team to see
John Lithgow perform his one-man show
April, 2011
Santa Barbara, CA
Fashion & Finance NYC
This dual-generation program takes fashion forward youth and their mentors on a
three-day exclusive, behind the scenes adventure through the NYC fashion industry.
June 23-25, 2011
New York, NY
Joline’s Annual Retreat
Joline’s invitation-only get-away for clients
and close friends. Topic and location
will be announced in January.
“Stories by Heart.” With little for a set but
July 13-17, 2011
an old chair and a lamp, Lithgow held us
Camp Start-Up
captive for hours, telling two stories: P.G.
Our 10-day residential camp offers teens
Wodehouse’s “Uncle Fred Flits By” and
the skills to start something great—launch
Ring Lardner’s “The Haircut.”
(ages 14-18) experiences that will give them
a company, run a non-profit, or just be prepared for life beyond high school. They’ll
meet the coolest entrepreneurs, learn how to
His show was borne out of performances
he gave years ago under sadder circumstances. His dad,
start a business, invest, budget, and save.
July 29-August 7, 2011
Arthur, had fallen gravely ill and John was the only of his
Indie Girls Two-Day Adventure
siblings who could return home to provide assistance.
girls on the brink of financial independence
Weeks went by and Arthur seemed on a clear path of
decline. John was distraught, seemingly powerless to
intervene. And then he got the idea to fish a favorite
This two-day program gives 14 to 17-year-old
a chance to practice language and skills that
make women financially self-confident.
August 8-9, 2011
Santa Barbara, CA
family book out of the attic: Tellers of Tales, published in
1939. These 100 stories, collected and introduced by Somerset Maugham, were the stories
John’s father read to his children when they were young.
For info and registration for any of these
events, call or email:
(805) 965-0475
[email protected]
Continued Page 2
Page 1
November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E
on the Uncle Fred story, my father began to laugh." And this he credits with the moment his
10 BASIC
MONEY SKILLS
father began to regain some health and vitality.
1. KNOW HOW TO SAVE: Figure out how
Letter from Joline continued
And so, Lithgow reports in his performance, "I began to read to my father and as I started
to make compound interest work for you.
Storytelling moves us. From the oral traditions of ancient peoples to contemporary actors like
John Lithgow, we know that stories have the power to teach, to empower, inspire, and heal.
Parents tell “stories by heart” when they have shared Goodnight Moon for the 300th time. A
member of my own team recalls his father reciting the full Lord of the Rings tale on family
hikes, an indelible memory and a challenge to pass on to one’s own children!
2. KEEP TRACK OF MONEY: Know where
your money goes. Connect your values
and the way you handle your money.
3. GET PAID WHAT YOU’RE WORTH: Your
opportunities are boundless. But you need to
know how to ask for what your work is worth.
When I ask family members to describe their family mission, they are sometimes stunned
4. SPEND WISELY: Your personal financial
sustainability is as important as environmental
their childhood—not just Grimm’s but the stories of their own family (grandmother’s pie,
sustainability—and the two are connected.
Aunt Ann painting the barn door blue, etc.)—every family and every family member opens
up.
Returning from the Lithgow performance, the IMI team members recalled their own
favorite stories: Robert Munsch books, the Golden Books, the Boxcar Children, The Swiss
Family Robinson. What came back to me were poems and stories read to me by my mother.
Stories often stick with us because there is something deep and important the story or the
storyteller wants to share. In my case, the common thread in so many of the stories chosen
by my mother was a young heroine struggling to do good and be good. A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn and the diary of Anne Frank were gifts from my mother that had an impact on my
IN THIS ISSUE
that I’d ask and many have trouble articulating a response. But when I ask for the stories of
5.
KNOW HOW TO
TALK ABOUT
MONEY: Uncomfortable
when topics connected
to money come up?
Being able to converse
about sticky issues like
“who pays”; what you
can afford; privilege and
need, etc. will give you
greater self-confidence.
impressionable young mind. And it is only now that I understand what she was helping me
become, letting me know what she valued. She was sharing our mission.
6. LIVE A BUDGET: This is a way
of staying in control of your life, not
John Lithgow’s father performed and shared stories with his son with themes that now seem
being controlled by others.
central to John’s career: mischief and pathos, urgency, and manic energy. For John, his dad’s
7. UNDERSTAND HOW TO INVEST:
storytelling, a particularly a dark and humorous brand of storytelling, is part of his father’s
Passive income is critical to building and
legacy. Now storytelling is his mission.
sustaining one’s options. Thinking “someone
else” will take care of investing for you is
one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
In this last issue of the year, we share ideas for using storytelling in your family to help
transmit legacy. Not every story need carry the weight of a John Lithgow performance. But
8. EXERCISE YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL
SPIRIT: Make a job, don’t just take a job.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish can have all the power of “Uncle Fred Flits By” when read
to a 4-year-old! As you gather in the weeks ahead, around fireplaces and dining room tables,
airport lounges and scrunched in backseats, remember the stories of your childhood, stories
that say something about who you are, and tell them again.
9. HANDLE CREDIT WELL: Aim for a lifelong
credit score of 850; never go below 750.
10. USE MONEY TO CHANGE THE WORLD:
Philanthropy is not just about giving
With my best,
Page 2
time, but about stewarding real money
to the priorities that matter to you.
November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E
MONEY MAP
STORYTELLING AS MISSION SHARING
AGE/STAGE
5-8
Explore family aspirations and values through
storytelling.
ACTIVITIES
RESOURCES
TELL STORIES
• Learn just one story by heart. Just as you remember
• I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila
the favorite stories your parents read, your children will
McGraw is tender and sure to bring tears to moms and
remember the stories you perform for them.
dads.
• Make storytelling a regular treat. During the next
holiday car ride, ask your children to pick ten words that
describe your family and then use these to write a Mad
• We help you build your own holiday Mad Lib around
philanthropy (page 4).
Lib.
9-12
LIVE STORIES
• Practice stewardship that builds a story. Use time
spent working for something bigger than yourself
(the Met, a community garden, adopting a family for
Christmas, etc.) to create a narrative of experience.
• Sign up for family camps, guided hunting trips,
or eco-tours. Adventures can be the basis for
• Family programs like those at Metropolitan Museum
of Art give kids a behind the scenes understanding
of where “their” support goes. (http://bit.ly/IMI_Met)
• Outward Bound’s five to seven day guided river
rafting trips help families tour Oregon’s Rogue
River together. (http://bit.ly/IMI_OutwardBound)
strong bonds and long lasting memories.
13-15
ARCHIVE STORIES
• The next time they want a media device (a new camera,
a new computer, etc), require the gift recipient to
use their new toy to capture one family story.
• Record grandma and grandpa. Books may have
displaced grandparents as society’s repositories
for solutions to crisis, but if you’re not recording
grandma and grandpa's experiences, you are wasting
your family’s human and intellectual capital.
16-18
• NPR’s Scott Simon offers five quick tips to
telling great stories. (http://bit.ly/IMI_NPR)
• Radio: An Illustrated Guide by Jessica Abel
and Ira Glass uses the comic book format to
show how stories are made for radio, from
interviewing to mixing to broadcasting.
IMAGINE NEW STORIES
• Before their next milestone (driver’s license,
graduation, etc.) require them to write down
one goal they have for the next six months.
• … and ask for "Black Swan"—an extreme
outlier event that would have a huge impact
on their lives—and how it would change their
• Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith is a great
journal for budding writers who may need an
extra push to start telling their own stories.
• Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains what a Black
Swan is in four minutes. (http://bit.ly/IMI_BlackSwan)
lives. Some things we can’t predict, but we can
learn a lot by imagining how we'd respond.
Page 3
November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E
Money Skill Ages 5-8
Fam Libs
When we tell stories, we tell others who we are. Even
the silliest stories can give clues to what we care
about. As you join together this winter, work with
your youngest on our tale of holiday philanthropy.
Word Bank
p
=



j
D


U
t



>

1
First, ask your kids for the words to fill in the numbered
word bank. Then, use the words to complete the Mad Lib
on the next page. Let your budding readers perform the silly
story or read it to them in your most dramatic voice.
(1)
Describing word (adjective)
(2)
Young family member name
(3)
Place
(4)
Thing
(5)
Something that needs your help (plural)
(6)
Something (5) needs
(7)
Another family member
(8)
Something you get from grandma
(9)
Describing word (adjective)
(10) A kind of food
(11) Something you would make in school
(12) Something you’d find in the kitchen
(13) A place in your house
(14) A piece of furniture
(15) Something you do (verb)
(16) Feeling
Continued Page 5
Page 4
November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E
Money Skill Continued
I’m Dreaming of a ___________________________(1) New Year
_________________________(4) for free because she wanted to help.
__________________________(7) bought paper and markers and
Once upon a New Year's eve long ago there was a kid
made big __________________________(11) that everyone would
named _____________________________(2) who went
be able to see and ________________________(2) found an old
to the _____________________________(3) to buy some
________________________(12) s/he could use to collect donations.
__________________________(4) for his/her very best friend. But
when s/he got there, s/he found his/her very best friend was already
That night hundreds of friends gathered in
there.
_________________________(2)’s
“It’s crazy that we both came here,” said _________________(2).
__________________________(2) made sure everyone got
“You know what would be crazier? If you cared about
________________________(4) and ________________________(7)
_____________________________(5) a lot. I love them.”
stood on top of a __________________________(14) and gave a big
_______________________(13).
speech about how much they could ________________________(15)
“I do! I do,” said _________________________(7) “I care so much
if everyone shared just a little bit.
I want to give part of the ________________________(8) I just got
from my grandma to help buy ________________________(6) for
Everyone applauded and they all wanted to give something. Some
them.”
kids put in a dollar, others put in ten dollars. Other kids wanted to
help a lot and put in fifty dollars!
“What if we let everyone know how _______________________(9)
_________________________(5) are?”
After __________________________(2) and
_________________________(7) cleaned up, they sat on the
“We could throw a party and tell everyone there! We’ll need to get
_________________________(14) and counted all of the money. All
________________________(10) so people will want to come. And
together, they had more than $900! ________________________(2)
maybe make __________________________(11) that will teach
was so excited s/he did a little dance.
people about why we need donations.”
“I’m so ________________________________(16),”
“And we’ll probably need a big _______________________(12) we
____________________________(2) said. “This was the
can pass around to collect money,” ________________________(2)
_____________________________(1) New Year ever.”
said.
“With all this money, the _________________________(5) are
They called all of their friends and asked their friends to tell their
sure to have ________________________(6) all winter!” said
friends’ friends about the party. When they told the owner of the
_______________________(7) and joined in the dance.
_________________________(3) about their plan, she offered
Page 5
November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E
1209 1/2 De La Vina Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
TWITTER
Telephone:
FOLLOW
US ON 805-965-0475
@INDIE_MEANS
AND @JOLINE_GODFREY or read
www.independentmeans.com
BLOGS
our
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Independent Means
Live Events
Save These Dates!
Great Families Curriculum Training
Invitation-only event for MFO & SFO Executives and Chief Education Officers.
Call for more information.
Santa Barbara, CA February 2011
Wine & Wisdom
A weekend retreat for couples. Focus on building great families in the context of wealth, as
well as an opportunity to take lessons from the art of winemaking.
Santa Barbara, CA April 2011
Fashion and Finance NYC
This dual-generation program takes fashion forward youth and their mentors, on a three
day exclusive behind the scenes adventure through the NYC fashion industry.
New York City, NY June 23-25, 2011
JG’s Annual Retreat
Once a year, Joline offers an invitation-only get-away for clients and close friends. Recent
retreats have included workshops on writing for the family storyteller and fiscal inequality.
1209 1/2 De La Vina Street
The topic for the 2011 retreat will be announced in January.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
July 13-17, 2011 (location tbd)
Telephone: 805-965-0475
independentmeans.com
Camp $tart-Up
Our 10-day residential camp offers teens (ages 14-18) experiences that will give them the
skills to start something great—launch a company, run a non-profit, or just be prepared for
life beyond high school. They’ll meet the coolest entrepreneurs, learn how to start a business,
invest, budget, and save.
Wilbraham & Monson Academy, MA July 29-August 7, 2011
Indie Girls 2-Day Adventure
This two-day program gives 14 to 17-year-old girls on the brink of financial independence a
chance to practice language and skills that make us financially self-confident.
Santa Barbara, CA August 8-9, 2011
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November-December 2010 MONEY WI$E