Many of us have more money than we grew up with, and perhaps more money than we expected to have at this point in life. Gaining financial independence is akin to going from driving a stripped down Honda to a Porsche 911 — handling the assets takes more skill, more expensive upkeep, a more sophisticated capacity to handle risk, and a lot more self-control Those of us with financial independence now face a new set of questions:

• "As my assets grow, how does my skill level at working with those assets keep up?"
• "How do I communicate about money with the people in my life who are most important to me?"
• "How do I encourage my spouse/partner to learn enough to manage well even if I weren’t here?"
• "How do I educate the young people I love most to see wealth as an opportunity to create something, not as an entitlement or a pass on hard work and accountability?"
• "What enduring imprint do I want to make on the world, and who do I needs to be involved so that my legacy truly makes a difference?"

On an hourly or project fee basis, Pam Klainer works with individuals, extended families, surviving spouses, and faith communities on becoming good stewards of the power financial assets provide.

We may know that money can't buy us love, or happiness, yet many of us still can’t give up the relentless - and sometimes destructive - chase. In How Much Is Enough?, Pam Klainer provides us with the tools for unraveling our often complicated relationships with money -- so that we can move ahead, unfettered, to achieve our most important dreams.

Carrie Schwab Pomerantz
Vice-President, Consumer Education
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

How Much Is Enough? takes an incisive look at the American ambivalence about money, status, and power, and the relationship of these elements to one another. The discussion seems particularly relevant in the context of the "new economy," the vast sums being created in that arena, the large numbers of relatively young people having to grapple with the phenomenon of sudden wealth, and the transformation of lives in the bargain. Klainer makes the point that our attitudes about money are as much a product of our upbringing and our early experiences as are all the other facets of our personalities -- and suggests looking to the past as a starting point to identifying conflicts in our relationship to money and working out any discomfort we experience in wielding the power that flows from personal wealth.