What kind of a model are you?

A young man traveling in a far country was nearing the end of that day's journey, and he knew he needed to stop to rest soon. He was also very thirsty. He came upon a white-haired old man sitting by the side of the road. The young man asked where he could find water to drink, and the old man assured him that, by staying on the path, he would soon come to a small stream, but it would be after dark before he reached it.

Then the old man added a somewhat puzzling comment: if the traveler would pick up a handful of pebbles from the stream bed, he would be both glad and sad. The young man thanked the old man and continued down the path.

Sure enough, even though it was quite dark, he found the stream and took a drink. The thing about the pebbles seemed silly, but out of curiosity he picked up a handful and put them in his pocket. He continued a short distance and found a good place to sleep.

In the morning, the young man remembered the pebbles. He brought them out of his pocket and looked at them in amazement. Sure enough, he simultaneously felt great sorrow and great happiness, for they were not just pebbles, but beautiful, sparkling jewels. He rushed back to the stream and searched frantically for more, but the opportunity was gone. All he saw were ordinary pebbles. Just like the old man said, he was happy that he had picked up the pebbles that he had, but also sad that he didn't pick up many more.

I like that story because it captures what we all experience at various points in our lives: if we could go back with the knowledge we have now and change some things in the past, we could work some situations to our advantage. I can think of several things I would do differently-mistakes I made or opportunities I didn't take full advantage of-and they encompass money and material possessions, relationships, my faith journey and many other areas of life.

We can't change the past, but we can use the valuable knowledge we've gained through study or life experiences for our benefit and for our children. We can spare them some of the trial-and-error process we went through-and from some costly mistakes. With help from this book and your own knowledge and experiences, you will be able to teach your children and help them avoid many common mistakes. You will empower them to be comfortable with money and Godly stewardship even in this increasingly complex information society.

I have designed a quiz that will give you a general idea of your "financial IQ." You can also take this on the website, http://www.dadcents.com/about/book-quiz/, where it will be automatically scored.

If you took the quiz manually, the answer key is in the back of the book. How did you score? Here is the score guide:

      1-5 correct - You need a lot of education

      6-10 correct - You need more education

     11-14 correct - You are in pretty good shape

     15-19 correct - You are in great shape

      20 correct - You must be an accountant or financial consultant

How did you do on the financial IQ test? How many did you get correct that were not guesses?  I hope it gave you a better picture of where you stand, and I hope it provided some motivation to keep learning and growing in your financial prowess.