Raising I.Q.

So what does the ability to delay gratification have to do with IQ?

Richard Nisbett, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, in a superb new book, “Intelligence and How to Get It,” provides suggestions for raising kids IQ's:

• praise effort more than achievement
• teach delayed gratification
• limit reprimands
• use praise to stimulate curiosity

So one of the founding concepts in successfully managing money (learning how to delay gratification) has been implicated in higher IQ! And we all know — a higher I.Q. has been shown to correlate to greater success in life.

Now how is that for some new motivation Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and any other money mentors our there — get out and start modeling, teaching or reinforcing the idea of delayed gratification.