My friend’s daughter was born in the summer, often a tough time for an elementary-aged kid who wants to celebrate with her friends. As we talked about seasonal plans, my friend mentioned how her daughter was asking for a second American Girl doll, and how she was torn about what to do. In her mind, she was weighing the price tag against the guilt over the fact that many of her daughter’s friends wouldn’t be around for birthday festivities.

My friend’s angst is common among mothers of young girls who clutch their wallets around birthdays and holidays in anticipation of the request for these $100 dolls. There’s no question the dolls are well made. It’s just after the abuse you watch your child put their Barbies through, you can’t help but want some solid guarantees that these pricier playthings will do a better job of surviving the endless grooming, wardrobe changes and intricate imaginary adventures.

My own daughter has had an endless fascination with dolls from the time she was 2, so I knew early on my budget would be in trouble. When she entered kindergarten and discovered American Girl, I borrowed from another mom’s playbook the idea of having to earn the privilege of owning the doll. The pricetag was steep in the eyes of my then beginning reader: she would have to prove to me that she could read an entire “chapter book” before we could go to the store.

The assignment had the desired effect: she learned the concept of value, and made an admirable effort at taking special care of her playmate. But it didn’t quench her appetite for more. At Christmas a year later, the request for a second doll was made to my mother, who happily went shopping despite my protests. But when the request for a third came down the pike during the spring of her 8th birthday, I stood firm and banned her from the store. “Absolutely not,” I told her. “No one needs that many.”

I was invited to attend a play at Somerville High School yesterday called, "Money Matters." Produced by the Underground Railway Theater, the theater-in-residence at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, the production was written by its 16 youth members as part of a Cambridge Savings Bank-sponsored financial education initiative.

The young actors and actresses took part in CSB’s Smart Financial Education Program to help them understand some money managing basics, and then went out and interviewed at least 80 individuals of various ages, ethnicities and professions to get their thoughts on key money issues.

The students took actual quotes from the interviews and wove them together into a series of conversations that talked about everything from spending one’s paycheck every week ("I love the feeling of having made a purchase, but I hate the feeling of having no money ...") to the fiscal inequities that people sometimes face when they go to college. ("Economic diversity is something that I have to learn to live with … I’m at college and I care about community, but where does caring about community end?")

The storylines were linked together by one central character – the tooth fairy – who was prompting the conversations by engaging in a “tooth fairy stimulus package.” Each character received $100 per tooth and then the tooth fairy watched their responses and actions to having the money.

Why the tooth fairy? According to the organizers it was because across the board, people who were interviewed said that their first memory of dealing with money was when the tooth fairy paid them a visit. The tooth fairy was also apparently the cause of a lot of discussion about money and equity since many people had different opinions, and experiences, about the value of a tooth.

While the play was interesting, what really caught my attention was the Q&A period after. The kids in the audience needed a little prompting to talk about the topics brought forward, but it was interesting to hear what had made an impression on them. One student said that she had never really understood the difference between a debit and a credit card, and the impact that interest can have on one’s budget.

“The world of credit is a mysterious world to kids of this age,” said Evan Diamond, an assistant vice president and Financial Education Program Manager for Cambridge Savings Bank. “They need to understand that every time you get a credit card you are taking out a loan. Showing them how much interest you will pay if you fall into the trap of minimum payments is a real wake up call.”

Several other students said they were struck by a monologue about a student who went to Haiti and learned the meaning of money for survival’s sake as opposed to just pure spending.

“We try to connect the emotions with the action” through the community program, Diamond said.

CSB started its Smart Financial Education Program in 2010 in response to the financial crisis, Diamond said. The bank has a team of educators who visit schools as well as a variety of community centers to provide an overview on a core curriculum of four modules: Budgeting and Saving; Managing a Checking Account; Credit Smarts; Fraud Smarts. They also customize their classes to fit a particular area, for example they might discuss finance to students interested in entrepreneurship and business, or they might discuss interest rates and mathematics concepts in a math class.

The team has taught more than 300 sessions, reaching 4,6000 participants at high schools in towns including Lexington, Arlington, Belmont and Concord, as well as non-profit groups such as the Community Learning Center in Cambridge and the Somerville Homeless Coalition. This spring they’ll be reaching out to kindergartners at a variety of schools in order to encourage kids to think about saving starting at a young age. Diamond emphasized that the group does not provide promotional materials on CSB at these events since “we don’t do this to sell accounts.”

“Managing money is tricky,” Diamond said. “It’s nice to be able to give them good advice.

As a follow up to my post yesterday, I received this infographic from DoughMain.com that illustrates some of the key statistics they uncovered from a survey conducted last month to learn more about how kids are interacting with money in their daily lives.

Self employed or running a small business? Use the upcoming tax deadline as an opportunity to also evaluate your retirement program

I worked for a large company for more than a decade and during that time was religious about contributing to my 401(k). So when I struck out on my own and started my business, it was important to me to set up a system that continued those regular retirement contributions.

It was one of those times when I realized how much I had taken the big-company infrastructure for granted. As a business owner, there are several options available, and each one offers different features from either a tax perspective or an administrative one. My goal was to first find the best plan for my immediate situation, and understand the nuances of any tax or investment issues, and then come up with a course of action for retirement planning that could grow as my company grows,

With the tax deadline just a month and a half away, it’s time to re-assess retirement plans so that you can take advantage of any contributions and other benefits your program may offer, whether you’re self-employed or work for a large company.

For small business owners, that assessment may also mean investigating whether the plan you have still fits your business needs. Consider this: A recent Fidelity survey of more than 600 small business owners who already offer SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA or Self-Employed 401(k) plans found a significant lack of understanding among owners of the plans they currently have.

As a follow up to yesterday’s story about love and money, here are some tips for couples to think about when managing money together, and some common mistakes to watch out for, from Irvin Schorsch III, founder and president of Pennsylvania Capital Management, which has about $620 million under management.

Tips:

Create a Common Vision: Couples cannot plan for the future if they can’t decide on what their future will hold. Will both spouses work? How many children does a couple anticipate on having? Does either spouse wish to go back to school for an advanced degree? What do they envision retirement to look like? The sooner those questions are answered, the better off the couple will be.

Delegate: Once a financial “game plan” is put into place, it’s important to to determine which spouse will handle the variety of financial responsibilities within a household. Tasks/projects should be given to the spouse who is best suited to them, so that each spouse feels they’re contributing effectively.

Maximize All Contributions: Does one spouse receive a handsome employer match to any 401(k) contributions? If so, it’s important to maximize that contribution, even if it means living on one spouse’s income for a period of time. The sacrifice will be well worth it, especially if it helps build a large nest egg earlier in life.

New Year's Resolutions often feel like empty promises that I make to myself. So when January rolls around, I take stock of my long list and ask, "What is actually achievable?" This year, the choice was pretty obvious: I need to go paperless. The ever-creeping piles of paper too easily start to remind me of the show, "Hoarders," and I am tiring of spending the week between Christmas and New Year digging myself out, shredding, and lugging out trash bags to the curb.

So it was with great curiosity (and amusement at the timing) that last week I saw in my inbox an email about Manilla, a new service that aims to help people manage their accounts -- and they use this term rather broadly. You can track the obvious household utility bills as well as financial accounts such as credit cards and bank statements. They also help you keep track of other types of accounts that can fall through the cracks, like subscriptions to magazines or travel and rewards programs.

As a follow-up to the story from last week about Charles Schwab’s survey on planning for retirement spending and income, I interviewed Stephen Johnson, a financial consultant with the firm who works in Chestnut Hill.

The survey of more than 1,000 Americans age 55 to 70 found that generating income in retirement is an issue that investors are struggling with, and often don’t address until it’s too late. Of the baby boomers who say they are just five years away from retirement, one-third have not calculated how much income they will need when the time comes. Schwab said part of the problem is that individuals haven’t figured out what their essential living expenses will be. More than 76 million baby boomers, or nearly a quarter of all Americans, are approaching retirement age in the next two decades.

Here’s an excerpt my conversation with Schwab's Johnson:

What surprised you most about the results of the survey on planning for retirement spending?

“There’s a lot in that survey that was surprising. First, in a lot of cases the fact that the majority [of respondents] were very optimistic about retirement readiness, yet less than a third planned to have a year or more in cash savings -- that to me is disconcerting when there’s not a lot of emergency funds to provide them with their retirement.

“[Also,] almost 1 in 10 have never rebalanced their portfolio. If you’re not working with someone to rebalance, how do you plan to generate income if your portfolio looks the same now as it did 15 years ago? It’s hard as you move into this retirement stage to shift the portfolio into more of a retirement income stage.”

Boston.com readers had a lot to add in their comments to the survey questions. Read some of them here – and share yours in the comments section of the blog.

Bank of America Corp. yesterday released a statement saying that it has decided not to move forward with its proposed $5 monthly debit card fee. As reported in the Boston Globe, customers had petitioned the bank, and mobilized to close their accounts, to avoid the fee. Bank of America’s decision followed similar moves by other large banks, including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

Bank of America’s decision should come as no surprise to Boston.com readers. Among those individuals who completed the survey from my blog post yesterday, more than 82 percent said that they would consider switching banks if their institution started charging monthly debit card fees. Among those surveyed, more than 70 percent said they use debit cards regularly for making purchases.

Do you use a large, national bank or a smaller, regional one? Personally, I’ve never chosen simply because of size. Usually my decision is based on need for certain services. In recent years, my decision was driven mainly by accessibility to a relatively wide variety of online banking services. I was willing to accept a certain level of trade-off between fees and convenience.

I think like many consumers, in recent weeks I’ve been taking a second, harder look at my bank and the fees it charges. Ever since Bank of America Corp. and several other national financial providers proposed charging monthly debit card fees, I’ve been asking myself, “What am I willing to pay for, and how much?”