Raising Money Smart Kids: Age by Age Lessons to Build Lifelong Financial Confidence

Shawn Dunn is a financial educator, writer, and parent who has spent more than two decades helping families build healthier relationships with money. His work sits at the intersection of personal finance and child development, drawing on research, classroom experience, and the daily realities of raising financially capable kids in an increasingly complex economic world.

Dunn began his career as a high school economics and personal finance teacher, where he encountered firsthand the consequences of financial illiteracy among young adults. He watched seniors sign student loan documents they did not fully understand, saw teenagers fall for credit card offers the moment they turned eighteen, and witnessed the anxiety and shame that surrounded money for so many of his students. Those experiences shaped his conviction that financial education must start far earlier, and that parents are the most important teachers their children will ever have on this subject.

After a decade in the classroom, Dunn transitioned to community financial education, designing and leading workshops for parents, schools, and community organizations across the country. His programs have reached thousands of families, covering everything from preschool allowance systems to navigating college costs to launching financially independent young adults. He has served as a consultant for school districts developing personal finance curricula and has contributed to financial literacy initiatives sponsored by credit unions, libraries, and nonprofit organizations.

Dunn holds a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in education. His writing has appeared in parenting publications, personal finance websites, and educational journals, where he is known for translating complex financial concepts into practical, conversational advice that parents can use immediately. He lives in the Midwest with his spouse and their three children, who have been his most honest and demanding test audience. His kids have blown allowances on regrettable purchases, negotiated chore rates with the skill of seasoned union representatives, and occasionally reminded him that the advice he gives other parents is harder to follow than it sounds. He considers these humbling experiences essential to writing a book that actually works in real households, not just on paper.

When he is not writing or teaching, Dunn can be found hiking with his family, tending a vegetable garden that produces far more zucchini than any household can reasonably consume, and quietly celebrating whenever one of his children makes a smarter money choice than he would have made at their age.