<p>Simplelife- hugs.</p>
<p>I think most 18-22 year olds (whether in the bubble or not) have a poor understanding of money. We were hugely transparent with our kids growing up about what we earned, how much things costs, why certain things were not in the budget even if we had “enough money” to pay for them (i.e. would have had to sacrifice other things) and even then, my kids were shocked to discover how much of their salaries were taken out for taxes, health insurance, etc. And the first time the new grad had a routine doctors visit and discovered what a co-pay was… oh my god.</p>
<p>So a lot of this settles down within the first year after graduation if you don’t enable them. Let your S know that you will always love him unconditionally but that your financial support ends on X date. By then he will need health insurance, a roof over his head, car insurance and all maintenance expenses, etc. and if he likes eating, there should be some cash allocated to food as well.</p>
<p>He’ll figure it out. The hourly wage that sounds so huge when multiplied by 24 (after all, there are 24 hours in a day, right?) starts to get cut down to size after graduation. My kids who could earn $100/hour as tutors quickly learned that the pool of people who want to pay that is extremely small… i.e. 4-5 hours a weeks worth. And doesn’t provide major medical either. And out of that $100/hour comes taxes and social security.</p>
<p>Your son will also discover that the life of a freelance musician has its trade-offs. Whatever hourly wage he can earn gets knocked down to earth once he realizes he has to pay for all his benefits out of pocket, plus estimated taxes, etc. And then reality sets in.</p>
<p>You can continue to remind him that you are doing him a favor by not upgrading his phone, thereby saddling him with technology and a data plan that he won’t be able to afford once he’s on his own!</p>