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Pleasant surprises
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Shaddim
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: 46 & 2
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May 29, 2013, 03:13 PM
 
So my nephew turned 16, to much fanfare. We had a party (at a local go-cart track) and all that stuff, he got a car from his aunts and I (a BRZ), and we started an account for him (checking with a debit card). I didn't load up the account, I only added a few hundred dollars, and advised him to "keep an eye on it", so he'd have money for gas and the things he needs. Each week he volunteers at a local children's hospital for ~25 hours and I pay him a reasonable wage ($15 /hr), and then he writes me a check for $250 /mo for the car, for the next 3 years. No, it won't pay off the car, but it's a good object lesson to teach him responsibility.

Well not only has he been keeping up with things, I just checked it and there's more money in his account than it originally had, >$800 instead of 300. He's been depositing most of his checks instead of cashing them, I can see that he adds $300 every week, instead of just spending it. Then he uses the card for gas, movies, iTunes, etc., but manages it all by himself. Yeah, yeah, most people would think "big deal", but I'm quite proud of him. Not many young people have that much awareness at his age, at least not nowadays.

Edit: Oh, and he loves the BRZ, that was a great choice.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
reader50
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May 29, 2013, 03:43 PM
 
Most people take far longer to grow up financially. Some never do. I wish I'd done it that way at 16.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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May 29, 2013, 03:50 PM
 
Same here.
     
andi*pandi
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May 29, 2013, 03:55 PM
 
good kid. Smart kid also knows not to screw up a good deal he's getting!
     
phantomdragonz
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Location: Near Boulder, CO
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May 30, 2013, 12:47 PM
 
Thats awesome!

One of the most helpful things I learned about dealing with money (credit cards specifically) was about how interest works... Someone sat me down and showed me how much interest will grow the balance over a short period of time. and had me do the calculations... Now, I almost NEVER carry a balance on my cards unless I can pay it off at a great deal higher then the minimum payment. The longest I held a balance was 6 months, I was flipping a car, and needed to pay for parts, was totally worth it since I made a very good profit.

The next step would be to make sure he sets up a savings account.
     
Laminar
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Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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May 31, 2013, 09:04 AM
 
Should have gotten a Focus ST.
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 31, 2013, 10:08 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Should have gotten a Focus ST.
Don't you wish you'd been as smart as that kid when you were his age? We'd probably be hearing stories of you meeting Shaddim at old timer meets and sharing stories about your expensive cars, and having a great time together, rather than watching you ankle-biting every opportunity that may (or even may not) present itself.
     
Leonard
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May 31, 2013, 12:50 PM
 
Shaddim, you must be doing something right. You raised a great kid. You have every right to be proud of him and the great work you've done.
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Shaddim  (op)
Clinically Insane
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May 31, 2013, 01:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Don't you wish you'd been as smart as that kid when you were his age? We'd probably be hearing stories of you meeting Shaddim at old timer meets and sharing stories about your expensive cars, and having a great time together, rather than watching you ankle-biting every opportunity that may (or even may not) present itself.
Well said.

As for the Focus ST, I thought it was too twitchy for a first-time driver, and he didn't want a hatchback. It came down to either the BRZ or a Mustang V6, and he chose the former.

Originally Posted by Leonard View Post
Shaddim, you must be doing something right. You raised a great kid. You have every right to be proud of him and the great work you've done.
He has quite a bit of wisdom for his age, and part of it is him regularly asking me for advice. I don't know everything, but I know what I know.

I do remember him asking me a few years ago, "what am I going to inherit?" Then I paused a second and told him, "hopefully a good bit of financial sense". Sure, he's set up WRT education, in whatever he wants to do, but after that he's on his own.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
Shaddim  (op)
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May 31, 2013, 01:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
good kid. Smart kid also knows not to screw up a good deal he's getting!
That is true. But he does make mistakes, he made a doozy not too long ago by letting some buddies talk him into jumping off a local bridge into the lake. It's ~ a 30' jump into 60' of water, so as long as you don't hit any debris it's pretty safe, but they were seen by a wildlife agent who tore them a new hole over it. When I was a teen I jumped off that bridge many times, so did the agent (we went to school together), but the difference is, we were more careful (we investigated the jump beforehand) and we didn't get caught.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
andi*pandi
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May 31, 2013, 02:41 PM
 
My brother and his friends were always jumping off the railway bridge into the river. It's a wonder he survived his childhood with all the crazy he did.
     
sek929
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Location: Cape Cod, MA
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May 31, 2013, 03:39 PM
 
I thanked my dad for my first car in my own way....by falling asleep at the wheel and tanking into a tree.
     
andi*pandi
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May 31, 2013, 03:50 PM
 
Were you hoping to get a nicer replacement?

(I also went into a ditch falling asleep... luckily no trees and I woke up.)
     
Face Ache
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May 31, 2013, 08:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Most people take far longer to grow up financially. Some never do. I wish I'd done it that way at 16.
By 16 I'd saved $4000, which my father borrowed. Come time to repay he declared "I raised you. You owe me" and that was the last I saw of that money.

He also offered to sell my first car and kept the cash.

Learned some tough lessons from my dad.
     
andi*pandi
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May 31, 2013, 11:02 PM
 
Sounds a real peach.

Might also be a generational thing. My dad tells stories of my grandparents, who when I knew them were sweet cuddly grandparents... but apparently when he was a kid, all the money he earned from a paper route to buy a bicycle got "managed" and no bicycle.

On the other side, my great grandparents sent my grandfather, age 12, to work at the mill, declaring he'd had enough schooling.
     
Laminar
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Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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Jun 1, 2013, 11:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Don't you wish you'd been as smart as that kid when you were his age? We'd probably be hearing stories of you meeting Shaddim at old timer meets and sharing stories about your expensive cars, and having a great time together, rather than watching you ankle-biting every opportunity that may (or even may not) present itself.
As smart as what kid? I've had real jobs since I was 10 (turns out paper delivery isn't subject to child labor laws). And there's no room in my garage for expensive cars because it's stuffed full of vintage motorcycles.

I guess I need to get better at "subtly" working some reference about how rich, smart, well-endowed, or philanthropic I am into every post I make, then maybe MacNN would like me more.

edit; Have you guys heard about how rich, smart, well-endowed, and philanthropic I am??
     
Shaddim  (op)
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Jun 2, 2013, 01:02 AM
 
Or maybe you can grow up and stop trying to act like an internet bully?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
Shaddim  (op)
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Jun 2, 2013, 01:05 AM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
By 16 I'd saved $4000, which my father borrowed. Come time to repay he declared "I raised you. You owe me" and that was the last I saw of that money.

He also offered to sell my first car and kept the cash.

Learned some tough lessons from my dad.
That sounds exactly like one of my uncles. My parents did take part of my pay when I started working, but that's only because they really needed the money.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
Spheric Harlot
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Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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Jun 2, 2013, 02:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
As smart as what kid? I've had real jobs since I was 10 (turns out paper delivery isn't subject to child labor laws). And there's no room in my garage for expensive cars because it's stuffed full of vintage motorcycles.
My apologies for trying to construct a scenario that might explain your behavior.
     
Shaddim  (op)
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Jun 15, 2013, 01:55 AM
 
About that money, it's gone now. He was saving up to buy new rims. He's just a kid, carry on.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
phantomdragonz
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Jun 15, 2013, 02:47 AM
 
HA! well at least he can save and spend... fuels the economy at the very least.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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Jun 15, 2013, 11:53 AM
 
Better than borrowing and spending.
     
mindwaves
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Jun 15, 2013, 11:55 AM
 
Funny, I read this title as "Pheasant surprises." I guess I was hungry.

But the important thing for people to realize is not just to save money, but to invest your money, prudently, of course. If you can do this, sometime in the future, your savings will outpace your earnings. The earlier the better.
     
   
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