We've grown up believing that a rising standard of living is an American's birthright. Each new generation, after all, has indeed lived better than the one before.

Can our children expect the same?

Although it's too soon to predict the outcome, one thing's for sure: To prosper in the new millennium, today's kids will need to be a whole lot smarter about money when they're grown than any previous generation. "Financial rules have changed dramatically over the past 20 years," says Dara Duguay, executive director of the JumpStart Coalition, a nonprofit group that promotes financial literacy in young people. "When today's parents were kids, you couldn't get a credit card unless you had a steady job; you expected that job to last for life; and you didn't have to manage your own retirement funds, which means you didn't have to sift through all the complex savings instruments now available. It's a whole different world."

Fortunately, it's well within your power to tilt the odds in your offspring's favor. Read on, and you'll find dozens of simple, effective strategies to help you teach your children to have smart money habits, and to take firm control of their financial lives rather than letting their finances control them.

The time to start the lessons? Now. And in the process, you just might find yourself becoming a little wiser about your own finances as well.

Contributing editor Diane Harris is the coauthor, with businesswoman Georgette Mosbacher, of a book on personal finance for women, It Takes Money, Honey.