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Freedom Sprout

We Equip Parents to Raise Money-Smart Kids

Intentional Children: Raising Money-Smart, Mindful Kids of Intention and Purpose

9 minute read

Available now: View on Amazon

I’m ecstatic to announce my next book is now available!

It’s the ultimate guide to everything I’ve been teaching at Freedom Sprout over the last few years. I’ve finally compiled everything into one book: all of the concepts on teaching kids about money and instilling a healthy mindset.

I had a blast writing it. I’m about to break down everything I talk about…

intentional children book

What’s in the Book?

The book is split into two parts: money and mindset. My goal was to cover every topic and conversation you’ll need to have with your kids about how they spend and how they think about money.

Read the Book's Introduction

This book is about intentional living: an uncommon way of life. Most people go through life doing whatever they think they should, based on what everyone else is doing. This book is about being different. Living differently. Living intentionally.

In Part 1, you’ll learn how and what to teach your kids about money. If you feel like you don’t know much about money, don’t worry. You may be surprised by how simple some of this stuff is, and how easy it is to teach it to your kids. Part 2 is all about instilling a healthy mindset in our kids for how to view money and the rest of the world. We’ll go over all kinds of topics many people never stop to think about. This isn’t a basic parenting book. I’m not going to talk about discipline and many other aspects of parenting. There are plenty of great books on parenting. I wrote this book to hit all of the in-between points that other books have missed, like teaching kids about money, buying their first car, how advertising affects your kids, how having fewer toys leads to happier kids, and family time management. Topics that don’t seem to be part of common parenting books.

With any topic in this book (and most topics in life), there are caveats. Much of my writing is straightforward and to the point. My goal is to give you the information in a concise, conversational, and simple way. If I spent the time to consider caveats in every situation, this book would be 800 pages long. Nobody wants that. So just know, every situation in this book will not be handled and viewed the same way by everybody. I don’t expect you to agree with me on every point. That’s ok. We’re all uniquely created. This is especially true of Part 1. It’s called personal finance, because it’s exactly that: personal.

Finally, I want to mention “the curse of knowledge,” an idea popularized by Chip and Dan Heath. The curse of knowledge is the idea that when a person knows something, it’s difficult for him or her to explain it, because the teacher’s level of understanding is much deeper than the learner’s, and the teacher often doesn’t even realize it. The knowledge of a subject curses our ability to explain it in terms people can understand. Think of trying to explain your specialty to someone who knows nothing about it. You’ve done the research and poured hours into a subject. Trying to explain all of that to someone in one conversation (or one book) is tough, to say the least. We tend to use complicated jargon without even realizing it. It’s important to be aware of this when teaching anything.

In writing this book, I took the curse of knowledge into account and decided, based on feedback and research, to break things down into simple terms, spaced out throughout the book. Sometimes it might seem like I’m repeating myself—that means it’s important. Many of the topics in Part 1 are complex, and I do my best to simplify them. However, if you’re completely unfamiliar with a topic, it’s not going to help you if I go on for pages and pages. That’s why this book is set up to give you a bite of a topic, and then later, we’ll come back and you’ll learn a little more. This is to help you stay engaged and learn gradually. We tend to learn best when information is pieced together slowly—throughout an entire book, for example. We should teach our children the same way: slowly, over their entire lives.

Let’s begin.

Money

In the first 9 chapters, I cover:

  1. Reframing Money: From Taboo to Teachable Moments
  2. Teaching Money: Instill a Sense of Financial Security
  3. Money Lessons: Prepare Your Kids for Adulthood
  4. Work Ethic: A System to Pay and Teach Your Kids
  5. Money Management: Budgeting at Every Age
  6. Transportation: Buying That First Car
  7. The Debt Trap: Raise Debt-Free-for-Life Kids
  8. College Conversations: Get a Debt-Free Degree
  9. Investing: The Importance of Starting Young

Mindset

In the last 8 chapters, I cover:

  1. Intentional Ownership: Shift to Practical Minimalism
  2. The Toy Trap: How Fewer Toys Lead to Happier Kids
  3. Ad Alert: How Advertising Affects Kids
  4. The Technology Threat: Smartphones and Screen Time
  5. Growing Gratitude: Raise Grateful Givers in an Entitled World
  6. Rethinking Presents: A New Perspective on Gift Giving
  7. God-Centered Home: The Dangers of a Child-Centered Home
  8. Intentional Days: Make the Most of Your Family’s Time

Back Cover

Instead of describing the entire book, I’ll let you read the back cover…

You CAN Raise Money-Smart Kids!

Personal finance simply isn’t taught in school, but you are more than capable of raising money-smart kids. In Intentional Children, you’ll learn how to raise money-smart, debt-free kids. You will be able to instill a sense of gratitude, a love for giving, and a proper view of wealth, while avoiding the consumerism trap and the entitlement mentality.

  • What if you could raise kids who aren’t materialistic?
  • What do your kids need to know about money?
  • What if your kids could be debt-free forever?
  • How should you pay your kids for chores?

Get ready to have practical conversations on things like purchasing your children’s first car and paying for college. In Intentional Children, Kalen Bruce simplifies complex topics like budgeting and investing, bringing it all to a level kids can grasp and you can teach. In a conversational tone, Kalen not only covers how to raise money-smart kids, he also covers things you won’t find in other books…

Things That Slip Through the Cracks in Parenting Books

Intentional Children relates to where you are. Having five kids of his own, Kalen understands how advice must be practical, actionable, and most importantly, realistic. He shows you how to raise intentional children who know why they are on this earth.

Find the answers to questions beyond finance, such as:

  • How can we fit everything into our day with such a busy schedule?
  • How does fewer toys lead to happier children?
  • How does advertising affect your children?
  • How should we approach smartphones?
  • Why are child-centered homes toxic?

It’s everything you need to know about relating to your children on money and mindset.

Praise for Intentional Children

Here’s what some influencers have said about Intentional Children…

“If you are a parent and want your kids to get a grip on money earlier than you did (don’t we all?) then you will love Intentional Children. Kalen has a heart of a loving teacher and is a goldmine of wisdom when it comes to helping parents raise money-smart kids.”

Bob Lotich, CEPF®, Founder of Seedtime and Best-Selling Author

“Kalen Bruce knows about money and kids– he and his spouse are raising five of them. His book helps you show your kids how to manage their money. Better yet, you’ll learn how to build their mindset around the important parts of life! They’ll avoid the toy traps and tech hazards to focus on family, gratitude, and living with purpose. Along the way, his techniques will improve your mindset and finances too.”

Doug Nordman, Author of The Military Guide and Co-Author of Raising Your money-Savvy Family

“Intentional Children by Kalen Bruce is one of the most refreshing books I have read in awhile. It approaches difficult topics like financial literacy and parenting in a way that is not only relatable, but also actionable. A very easy read and much needed especially in a time where there is so much uncertainty, being intentional is more important than ever!”

Lorne Jenkins, CEO of Mini Money Management (read his story)

“As a parent of a young adult who has walked with my husband and me through debt recovery, I can validate the wisdom in these words from Kalen’s book, ‘Any time the opportunity presents itself to show your child how you did something smart with money, or made a financial mistake, use it to teach. Your kids will see what you do before they’ll hear what you say.  Since we can’t turn back time, we can do the next best thing: teach our children the things we wish we had learned at a young age. ‘ Intentional Children was written to instruct parents on how to train their children about money, but any reader of any age or season of life can greatly benefit from its wisdom. Though Kalen lays out very specific steps to follow to successfully prepare children for the real world and how to handle finances, his advice applies to so many other areas of life. I love that he writes from a Christian, Biblical perspective and that he gently incorporates his faith throughout the book. Kalen says, ‘I’ve done the majority of the leg work for you,’ and the sharing of what he has gleaned from doing that leg work is an invaluable gift for those who will read this book.”

Cheryl E. Smith, author of Biblical Minimalism

Where Can You Buy the Book?

You can get the book here on Amazon: View on Amazon

Other publishers have already picked it up, but it’s only available on Amazon right now.

I’d love to get your thoughts on it below.

You can see 10 Branches of Growth here.

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