Kids and money.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by Wormius

He's 10 and it's only about $60 or so a month so nothing big, and he actually wanted to do something, and this popped up.

He was hoping to open up a lemonade stand in Kelowna this summer, and he probably would have raked in the dough as my parents live on a pretty busy street, but I guess they are cracking down on unlicensed lemonade stands in Ktown. I remember selling Koolaid when I was little. I think I spent it all on Cool Ranch Doritos.

seriously??? ha - doesn't surprise me though with the way things go in kelowna sometimes.

if he does set up a stand, let me know - i'll come by!!


i'm trying to think back to when i was a kid. my first job was delivering papers and i would have been 10 or 11 years old. i'm naturally a 'saver' so my dad went with me to the bank and i opened up a savings account. pretty much all the $ i made just went in there so when i really really wanted something i had the funds to get it (oh how i longed for those sales on lego!!). i know my parents provided everything we needed, but it was the early 80s so things were definitely tight in ontario at the time. if i wanted something 'extra' for myself i had to get my own money to buy it.

[ken0042]

Something that may be an interesting way for him to save is to get shares in something he likes. Disney has a shareholder program where an adult can setup an account in the name of a minor. I did that for my nephew when I became his godfather. The initial investment was $250 USD at the time, and then you can top it up $50 USD at a time.

We've doubled our money in 5 years, as we have it set that dividends just go to purchase more shares.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

seriously??? ha - doesn't surprise me though with the way things go in kelowna sometimes.

if he does set up a stand, let me know - i'll come by!!


i'm trying to think back to when i was a kid. my first job was delivering papers and i would have been 10 or 11 years old. i'm naturally a 'saver' so my dad went with me to the bank and i opened up a savings account. pretty much all the $ i made just went in there so when i really really wanted something i had the funds to get it (oh how i longed for those sales on lego!!). i know my parents provided everything we needed, but it was the early 80s so things were definitely tight in ontario at the time. if i wanted something 'extra' for myself i had to get my own money to buy it.

Tried to find that story about the kids who got shut down. Maybe it was a Facebook post from some Kelowna friends. If its not a policy then that would be even better, especially accounting and figuring out how much lemons and cups and such things cost.

I am trying to carefully straddle the line between motivating him and keeping him semi-responsible. He knows enough that if he blows it all, he won't have enough to buy something he wants. I guess my thing is, if it's his money should I be dictating what he does? I don't really want to do that, yet I also don't want him buying random crap.

I did enact a policy though on candy. We will never buy candy, so their supply depends entirely what they can get during Halloween.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Something that may be an interesting way for him to save is to get shares in something he likes. Disney has a shareholder program where an adult can setup an account in the name of a minor. I did that for my nephew when I became his godfather. The initial investment was $250 USD at the time, and then you can top it up $50 USD at a time.

We've doubled our money in 5 years, as we have it set that dividends just go to purchase more shares.

In all seriousness though this is awesome. Invest in Disney, they own Marvel and Star Wars! License to print money.

[aaronck]

I play it by ear, if it's something I think is a silly purchase, I tell my daughters to save up.
I pay for birthday presents and some fun stuff, or will compromise, like if they want expensive clothing that they need, I'll put up what I would usually spend on the clothes and they can make up the difference. Always a good idea to encourage saving for what they want because well, that's the way the world works!

[DoubleF]

When I was growing up, I was forced to put aside a certain portion (50%) I think into a savings account. The remainder I could spend on whatever I wanted.

My parents would also tell me about certain things that they would not ever buy via birthday/Christmas etc. that I really wanted, but would kick in the last 10-20% as a "birthday gift" sort of deal. To this day, most of my gifts are some random small inexpensive object plus a pile of cash. This would inspire me to save up for long term "projects" and build habits like that too. I was also encouraged to spend the money on things that would last vs temporary things. I remember saving up for 4-5 months to buy a pair of roller blades. I don't remember what else I bought. Probably Lego, Knex, comics or VHS or something.

[GGG]

I'm not sure how much stuff you get your kid now but I think the money should be his to buy in addition to that. So we don't buy our kids toys outside of Birthdays or Christmas so I would have them use that money for toys outside of that period. I don't think making him pay for birthday parties or any necessities yet makes sense.

I would set up two savings accounts for him. One is an RESp or the like and take 20% of his money and put it in there. Teach saving for the future right from the start the same way you save for retirement off of every check. Make it a habit that 20% is saved for the future. The second account would be for larger planned things. So if he wants a $100 Lego set or a play station or something along those lines. Id say half of the money should be saved for planned things he wants. The goal to be getting him to think about saving the same way you would for vacations, bikes etc. the remains 30% let him spend how he wants without any judgment. If it's hookers and blow its hookers and blow

[troutman]

Can saving be taught? Seems to me people are wired one way or the other. One son hoards his money, the other spends it like a drunken sailor. Same upbringing.

Many will clients tell me the same thing about their adult children.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Locke

In all seriousness though this is awesome. Invest in Disney, they own Marvel and Star Wars! License to print money.

Apparently you missed the earnings report yesterday!

For my kids they get half of their money to use as they please and the other half goes into a savings account. I wish someone had done that to me/for me when I was growing up!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

Apparently you missed the earnings report yesterday!

For my kids they get half of their money to use as they please and the other half goes into a savings account. I wish someone had done that to me/for me when I was growing up!

"All on Black" is my favourite savings plan!

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

Can saving be taught? Seems to me people are wired one way or the other. One son hoards his money, the other spends it like a drunken sailor. Same upbringing.

Many will clients tell me the same thing about their adult children.

Yeah, it's becoming apparent to me that I have far less influence over some of these behaviours in my kids than I'd thought. My kids are quite young, and already there's a dramatic difference in how they treat money. We try to encourage responsibility and discipline. But the one is a hoarder who takes great satisfaction in saving, while the other spends the discretionary portion of his allowance immediately.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, it's becoming apparent to me that I have far less influence over some of these behaviours in my kids than I'd thought. My kids are quite young, and already there's a dramatic difference in how they treat money. We try to encourage responsibility and discipline. But the one is a hoarder who takes great satisfaction in saving, while the other spends the discretionary portion of his allowance immediately.

That could potentially change once they have to earn it.

An allowance is one thing, but sweat your ass off in a McDonald's for 8 hours and you're going to look at that cash with a whole different perspective.

[DoubleF]

Some people just want immediate gratification. Some people just want the best quality thing ever. It's inherent, I don't think you can truly teach that.

One huge thing I remember now, my parents didn't spend a dime on video games. We had to save all our money ourselves for the console, accessories and if we wanted a new game. Often, my brother and I would pool resources to acquire said games and accessories and consoles. We'd maybe get $5-10 bucks from my parents at Christmas or Birthdays towards such things. That damn guy played me like a fiddle too. I often paid 60-80% of the game because I wanted it way more than he did and my bro spent his money on candies and other random things.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, it's becoming apparent to me that I have far less influence over some of these behaviours in my kids than I'd thought. My kids are quite young, and already there's a dramatic difference in how they treat money. We try to encourage responsibility and discipline. But the one is a hoarder who takes great satisfaction in saving, while the other spends the discretionary portion of his allowance immediately.

Ha. That's funny. Our daughter has no concept of the value of money. Our son was selling her a couple of nice shiny dimes for her birthday money from the grandparents. I felt like Lisa when she was explains to Homer how money works, "$20 can buy many, many dimes, dear".

Anyway, we explained to my son that he shouldn't do this to family members.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Locke

In all seriousness though this is awesome. Invest in Disney, they own Marvel and Star Wars! License to print money.

Except even with Star Wars earning billions and Marvel kicking ass and taking names, their stock has decreased and remained relatively flat since TFA came out. How can a company make a billion dollars in a matter of a month and not have it's stock increase? Ticks me off.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Wormius

He's 10 and it's only about $60 or so a month so nothing big, and he actually wanted to do something, and this popped up.

$60 and you want him to start paying bills? That's how they discourage people on welfare from getting jobs.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Except even with Star Wars earning billions and Marvel kicking ass and taking names, their stock has decreased and remained relatively flat since TFA came out. How can a company make a billion dollars in a matter of a month and not have it's stock increase? Ticks me off.

Well thats actually a pretty straightforward answer.

Disney makes $50B+ per year so a Bill or two here or there doesnt actually make that much of a difference overall especially considering that acquiring Star Wars cost $4B and there are development costs for the plethora of various other ventures in addition to which without splitting their shares it has less effect overall on the total price.

A company is not a static thing.

[V]

Yeah, it seems unfair to stop paying for stuff just because the kid got a job. If you were going to pay for it before they had a job, you should keep paying for it.

My kids have a paper route, and my daughter turns 12 this summer and will start making pretty serious coin as a babysitter. Our basic rule is that they have to put 10% away for charity, 10% for savings, and the rest they can spend as they choose. Right now it's pretty small dollars, but when my daughter starts babysitting she'll be making probably a couple hundred bucks a month. I expect at that point that we'll get a little more involved in helping her manage her money.

[MoneyGuy]

Make him put half away and invest it with Slava.

There, I said it.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Locke

Well thats actually a pretty straightforward answer.

Disney makes $50B+ per year so a Bill or two here or there doesnt actually make that much of a difference overall especially considering that acquiring Star Wars cost $4B and there are development costs for the plethora of various other ventures in addition to which without splitting their shares it has less effect overall on the total price.

A company is not a static thing.

Oh I know why, it's just frustrating you'd think the overall psychology would have it increasing just from people trading. But anyways, I digress. When this stuff is in front of your face all day, it grates on you more than it should haha.

Really, should have bought both Disney and Netflix in July 2012.