The Family Bank

STEPS TO STARTING YOUR FAMILY BANK

Instructions to launch your Family Bank as quickly as possible.

1. First Meeting: Setup a time this week to have your first family meeting. At that meeting,
follow the steps below.

2. Family Bank Name: Decide on the name of your Family Bank. Use your family’s last name.
For example “The Doe Family Bank.”

3. Capitalization: Decide the amount of your initial capitalization, and the ongoing amounts.
Refer to the “Capitalization” section below.

4. Vault: Open or pick an existing checking account at your local bank and designate it as your
initial vault. Refer to the “Vaults” section below for more information.

5. Scheduling: Decide when your family meetings should be (monthly), and go ahead and have
every family member schedule it on their calendars. Use the “automatic” scheduling
method to schedule it monthly for that given day. For example, first Monday of every month
at 7PM, or last Thursday of the month right after dinner.

6. Utilization: Once you “capitalize” your family bank with an initial amount, then it is time to
utilize it. Discuss what loans you can fund. List all your existing debts on a list along with the
interest rates. Include credit cards, furniture loans, school loans, etc. It is best to fund
highest interest rate debt first.

7. Congratulations! You have your family bank up and running. If you want to enroll other
family members into your Family Bank, we suggest you enroll them into a locally held “The
Family Bank Game” to help them understand the power of a Family Bank.

CAPITALIZATION

(“Capitalization: To supply capital for your family bank”)

“Capitalization” is the process of supplying your family bank with capital (money) to start the Family
Bank. This can come in 2 forms – an INITIAL amount and an ONGOING amount. For example, you can
start with $10,000 from your savings as initial capital, and $200/month contribution from your income
for the next 5 years as ongoing capitalization. This is in addition to loan payments you will be making
once you launch your Family Bank. The ongoing amount can also change over time.

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 The Family Bank

VAULTS (“ACCOUNTS”)

(“Vaults: Where the family bank stores its money”)

Every bank has vaults to place money in. Similarly, your family bank should have one or more vaults. For
a new family bank, you can start with a regular checking account at your local bank. With time, you can
add more sophisticated vehicles as vaults.

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