The danger: Your kids will grow up to be financially reckless, and you will feel compelled to bail them out. Don't want to spend the rest of your life footing their bills?"

So writes columnist Jonathan Clements in the June 1 Wall Street Journal. Access to the full article requires a modest annual subscription but here is another excerpt.

Make no mistake: Your children will make some appalling financial blunders. But it is a lot better if they make those mistakes while they are young and the sums involved are modest. To that end, it is important to give youngsters financial responsibility, starting with a toy-and-candy allowance when they are five or six years old and then, once they are teenagers, stepping it up with a clothing allowance and a bank account.