The determining factor that may give your kids the best chance in life doesn’t depend solely on genetics, or the decisions you make as a parent, or if you have a lot of money.  It’s actually more complicated than that, according to a study done by the University of Texas and the University of Virginia.

According to the study, for poorer parents it’s the decisions the parents make in their parenting that is the biggest determiner of their children’s  mental abilities.  For more wealthier parents, it is the kid’s genetics that matter most.

Read Jonah Leher’s report in The Wall Street Journal on this interesting phenomena here.

The Wall Street Journal recently cited someone named Kahler, but it wasn’t me. This time, the financial advice is coming from my father, Dick Kahler, who has loaned my nephew the money to buy his first house. This transaction is featured in a November 27  article by Anne Tergesen on intrafamily loans.

Tergesen discusses these loans as a way for the lenders to make money as well as for the borrowers to save money. She offers some excellent advice, including not to make such a loan to a family member with bad credit, to make the payments through an escrow service, and for lenders to protect themselves with liens on the property in the same way a bank would. To read the entire article, click here.