Kids soak up information like sponges. With most schools not teaching financial literacy, our young generations are left to their own devices to filter through all they see and hear, with the majority of it stemming from what they witness at home. Kids see their parents argue over and tiptoe around money, as well as base their expectations and sometimes limitations of their own futures off their parents lives. This all culminates into young adults having little to no knowledge on how to manage their finances, break through self-derived limitations and plan for their future responsibly.  That’s why our guest today, Chad Willardson, wrote Smart, Not Spoiled, which lays out ways in which money can become more comprehensible and familiar to children, allowing them to make and learn from mistakes when the stakes are low instead of when they are older and the damage less repairable.   Chad is the President and Founder of Pacific Capital, a financial management business based in Corona. Before founding Pacific Capital, Chad spent 9 years at Merrill Lynch, where he ranked in the top 2% of Financial Advisors nationally as a Senior Vice President and member of the Chairman’s Club. He is a certified member of the National Ethics Association and serves clients as a Certified Financial Fiduciary®, entrusted to manage money for families and businesses. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and NBC News and is the best-selling author of two personal finance books, “Stress Free Money” and “Smart, Not Spoiled.” He was elected Corona City Treasurer in 2016 and 2020. In 2012, he earned the White House Volunteer Service Award and appreciates the opportunity to make an impact through donating his time and resources to worthwhile causes both in the community and with the church his family attends.  While attending Brigham Young University for a bachelor’s degree in economics, he worked directly with a portfolio manager responsible for $10 billion of investor funds. He also completed the two-year Financial Planning program at Boston University. He is a Guest Lecturer on Investments at Chapman University and has been designated a 5-Star Wealth Manager in both the Inland Empire and Orange County every year since 2012.