April is National Financial Literacy Month

Tom Henske, founder of the Money Smart Kids Program ™ at Lenox Advisors, says it’s important to focus on four pillars: (1) Saving (2) Spending (3) Donating (4) Investing, and provides the following age-friendly tips to teach children financial responsibility:

· Ages 1-4: Let children handle money, bills and coins, to become familiar with their look and feel. Give them a piggy bank to start saving.

· Ages 5-8: Get a library card for your child. It’s their first “credit card.” Start an allowance.

· Ages 9-12: Give child responsibility (and resources) to pay for some household expenses.

· Ages 13-15: Let children invest toward a vacation goal. Nature of the vacation (i.e. hotel vs. camping) could be tied to their success.

· Ages 16-18: Research various professions and determine those lifestyle budgets.

Thomas J. Henske, CFP®,CTS, ChFC, CFS, CLU, CLTC

Partner, Lenox Advisors

There are 2 reasons you’ll recognize this name. First, Tom was a 2x All-American soccer player who played for the 3x National Champion University of Virginia Cavaliers. In their first outright national championship, Tom made several key saves in a penalty kick shoot-out which started the Cavaliers on their 3 championship run making them one of the best college soccer teams in the history of the game. He graduated from Virginia with the University’s Distinguished Student Honor.

After leaving the world of soccer, Tom started his current career of financial planning with Cowan Financial Group. While there, he started his own company, Henske Advisors which was acquired by National Financial Partners prior to their going public shortly thereafter. He is now one of 7 partners nationwide for Lenox Advisors, a wholly owned subsidiary of NFP. Tom holds professional designations of:

•Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC),

•Certified Life Underwriter (CLU),

•Certified in Long Term Care (CLTC),

•Certified Fund Specialist (CFS)

•Certified Tax Specialist (CTS)

•CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP®)

With his clients and their concerns in mind Tom developed a revolutionary program, Money-Smart Kids™. Money-Smart Kids provides tools and information to foster independence, good judgment and responsible habits in children. The program helps to instill in children a sense that having money is not a right, but a privilege. And, like all privileges, it needs to be honored and protected. The program is age based. No matter where children are in their development, Lenox has gifts, tips, recommendations, resources, books and DVD’s specifically addressing age appropriate issues.

The program has struck a nerve both locally and nationally and as such Tom is frequently invited speak with the media and at events. In fact, Dow Jones is so enthused about Money-Smart Kids, it is allowing Lenox to provide the Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition to clients. It is the first and only exception to Dow Jones’s classroom only distribution policy to date.

Besides working with individual clients on their financial planning needs, Tom also oversees the marketing vision for the firm. He is a sought after public speaker on the topic of developing financial literacy and values with children and was a featured speaker at The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), attended by 10,000 people this past summer. Tom was also named to MDRT’s International Financial Literacy Committee. Tom is also a faculty member of the estate planning division of Lawline.com where a number of his videos can be found.

Tom recently completed writing a book, entitled "From Me to We," in which he details the practice management success of Lenox.

Disclaimer:  This information was sent to me to share through Lenox Advisors.