When my son Ryan was seven and my daughter Lily was five, we implemented a household “pay for performance” program in lieu of an allowance. We charted simple, but meaningful chores that gave them an opportunity to contribute AND earn spending money - their first taste of the real world when it comes to making an income. The three tier compensation system was simple but effective: Tier 3: If you put your toys away, you got $ .50 Tier 2: If you folded laundry, you got $1 Tier 1

Rocky Balboa was inspired by the true story of my mother growing up in rural Taiwan in the 1950s. Well, I’d like to think so at least... My mom lost her father at three, and grinded through hunger and poverty for most of her formative years. She didn’t know a dress could be new, and it wasn’t until she was a teenager that she stopped wearing second hand clothes. She was fortunate to have government sponsored free education, but depended on ONLY one pencil and notebook that wa