When our kids were little, we put them on the envelope system. When we gave them an allowance, they would put it in envelopes labeled "Give," "Save," "Gifts," "Spend," and so on.

I thought it was working until one day I had a Band-Aid on my arm, and my daughter, who at that time was about six, asked, "Why?" I explained I had gotten a medical exam that day to get life insurance. She asked, "What's that?" I explained, "Well, Daddy loves you so much and loves the family so much, so if anything were to happen to Daddy (which of course it won't, but if it would), it would provide for $250,000." Her eyes got really wide. She has a tender heart, and I knew she'd be worried. She looked up at me and said, "Apiece?" I thought, I'm not sure the right lesson is getting communicated.