Thanks for the kudos but my point was not to brag about my kids or give an example on how to raise them, I’ve done nothing special, they figured a lot of it out all by themselves. My point is that some kids are just wired differently or they are just blessed with the intelligence to see the big picture at a young age. Perhaps by influence or by circumstance, but there is a difference and even a difference from kid to kid in the same family.
I didn’t create any scheme, in fact it’s a little boring giving a kid money for every holiday, having nothing under the tree and then watch them scurry off to the computer to compare cd rates on the internet (in fact at 14 it’s a little creepy). Then the kid explains to me that he’s up to $20 a week in interest and if he needs anything he will buy it with the interest, leaving his principal alone. I suggessted spend half, save half but was mocked for having a pedestrian view. If the internet was around when I was a teen, I’m sure sports and porn would be my only use for it but some kids today use it learn about money, they have so much more information and advice available to them other than their immediate family and teachers that we had.
The reason I defended them was the main reason I shifted my housing goal was based on the advice of my teenagers. While dragging them to look at a couple of repos last week, one of them made a comment after we looked at a McMansion that we could easily afford. The kid asks why are we looking at 3500 sq ft houses when there are only three of us, why do we need a yard that big when none of us go in the little yard we currently have and why is a stainless steel oven better than a white one, they produce the same heat? Then the other one chimes in and asks why do we need granite counters, to which I reply that they are easier to clean. My reply is met with laughter and I am reminded that the maid cleans the kitchen so why do I care. And of course we completed this tour in a 14 mpg 4×4 SUV and I was reminded again about my carbon footprint and how I don’t need these things, being able to afford something is not a reason to buy it. So I called them “junior communists” and we agreed to compromise and search for something in the 2000-2500 sq ft range with 3 or 4 bedrooms with low maintenance/water conscious landscaping. So as I read all these stories about kids with no understanding of money and a desire for status, I just had to chime in. I think today’s kids are influenced by the excess of the last decade and they are on the verge of rebelling against it, eco,green,minimalist is becoming hip and mainstream. Or I am completely off base and aliens stole my kids and replaced them with hippies, either way, I am learning from them, not the other way around.
