Raising financially responsible children
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

Marlborough - In today's consumer-based society, parents are faced with the challenge of helping their children understand the value of money. To that end, the Marlborough Public Library is hosting a seminar Wednesday Sept. 26 for parents interested in raising financially responsible children.

The free event, which is open to the public, will be presented by local residents who are financial specialists with New York Life Insurance Company.

Salvatore Genovese, director of the Marlborough Public Library, considers hosting events like this as part of the library's mission.

"I think our role is to bring in as wide a variety of programs and items as we can to the library," he said, "so we can offer both educational and cultural programs for the community."

The seminar begins at 7 p.m. and will give parents and guardians an opportunity to learn age-appropriate techniques to help children earn and appreciate their allowance. Participants will also be guided through activities to teach children to develop good saving and investing habits.

The workshop will show parents ways of teaching children the diff erence between wants and needs, with the goal of reducing the amount of credit card spending by future generations.

"A lot of families in Marlborough

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with young children may or may not have thought of these issues that affect many families," Genovese said.

The seminar will be based on the concepts developed by nationally recognized children's finance expert Neale S. Godfrey. Godfrey has written 16 books on the subject including the New York Times bestseller "Money Does Not Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children."

Godfrey was one of the first female executives at Chase Manhattan Bank and later became known for starting conversations about children and money in the United States.

Godfrey's book challenges children and parents with questions like: When you get money for your birthday, do you spend it? Do you misplace money? Do you want things because you see them on TV or because a friend

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