<p>Save for the future, actingmt. Not sure what’s puzzling about that.</p>
<p>Save for the future, actingmt. Not sure what’s puzzling about that.</p>
<p>Interesting. Well, then my answer is no. I would not subsidize my kids internship earnings so he could save for the future. I would give him money if he needed money to make the opportunity feasible, however.</p>
<p>I thought it was possible he was passing up a summer job to do the internship meaning he would have less money for school. If not, and he’s earning enough to get by I would let him have that part of the life lesson. I would not give him money he did not need so he could save his earnings for the future. That would never occur to me, or him, honestly.</p>
<p>“Save for the future…”</p>
<p>Then how, exactly, is you paying for some of the rent this summer different from him paying all of the rent and then you chipping in an equivalent amount of money at that future point in time?</p>
<p>My thought’s exactly. What would be the point? That’s why I was puzzled.</p>
<p>Kids need to learn that much of what they see on TV is fiction- a waitress at a coffee shop in NYC living in a gorgeous/funky two bedroom in a great neighborhood in NYC. Every TV show in the last 20 years which depicts the great night life and nice restaurants and fantastic and over the top dates which the young professionals indulge in. </p>
<p>Part of the education of this internship is going to be learn that 5K a month (or whatever the salary is) sounds incredible in theory, but actually works out to having to make trade-offs. Take a cab when you’re running late? Then you’re cooking dinner at home. Want tickets to a fun sporting event for the weekend? Then you’re inviting your friends over to your cramped apartment for spaghetti and garlic bread afterwards, and not heading out to a restaurant.</p>
<p>Subsidizing a well paid internship seems like torpedoing the learning here. If the internship will pay for a roof over the kids head, reasonably priced meals (either cooked at home or take-out from the salad bar at Whole Foods) and transportation/laundry, then give your son the opportunity to learn with his co-workers how to entertain themselves without breaking the bank. The company he’s working for will have a couple of extravagant events but the rest of the time, he and his friends can get started learning how to have fun exploring neat neighborhoods, getting free or cheap tickets to concerts and plays, and discovering when the museums have free admission.</p>
<p>Otherwise- where’s the learning? You’re robbing him of an essential part of the experience if every cab ride and the air conditioned doorman apartment come from the bank of mom and dad.</p>
<p>Our kid had two internships. After soph year, it was in HI. We subsidized to the extent we let him live in our home and gave him unlimited use of car. He did receive some minimal income from this research position. We also paid airfare, transportation and lodging for him and D to go to Taiwan for a summer with a student tour. </p>
<p>After JR year, he got an internship at Newport News. We bought his plane ticket to get to internship and back to school in LA. The remaining expenses he paid out of his summer stipend. We paid rent on his apartments in LA. If his stipend had been insufficient for board and lodging while he was interning, we would have supplemented. </p>
<p>During the school year, we paid lodging and tuition. First two years, we also paid board and first semester we also bought books and laptop. We also bought plane tickets for Christmas and summer trip to HI.</p>
<p>Save for the future, actingmt. Not sure what’s puzzling about that.</p>
<p>Maybe a trade off will be appealing…</p>
<p>Maybe say something like: you live within your income while doing this internship, and then when you graduate, the Bank of Mom and Dad will deposit X dollars into your acct. </p>
<p>That way, you’re not “robbing” him of the experience of budgeting, but you’ll also achieve that saving aspect that you want.</p>
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<p>That’s what college tuition / room and board is, right? I’m “giving” my kids money that they don’t “need” so they can save their own money (from their own savings, summer jobs, etc.) for the future.</p>
<p>I think I’m not being clear here at all. This isn’t a “spendy” kid that I’m trying to entice to save for the future. And I assure you I’m not trying to recreate a Sex And the City doorman / fancy nightclub experience that is over and above how most interns live. The accommodations would be normal, reasonable and in line with how interns live.</p>
<p>I’m simply asking - would you consider the cost of housing and food for a paid summer internship akin to room and board during the school year (which I <em>do</em> consider my responsibility) such that you would either pay for it, or perhaps pay / subsidize $X towards it. I’ve paid room and board for one of my kids to go to summer school on that kid’s campus and I’ve paid for one of my kids to stay on a college campus when that kid had an <em>unpaid</em> internship but it was more convenient to commute from that college campus than from our home. And yes, I’m being explicitly vague about which of my kids I’m talking about, on purpose.</p>
<p>As oldfort mentioned, my D’s internship paid at the end, so the rent had to be paid before the pay came, so at that point it seemed nice to let her put the lump sum away for graduate school. Often, living arrangements have to be paid for ahead of time.</p>
<p>PG: YES
Surprised that you are even asking.
Let the kiddo put the savings in a Roth IRA.
Best Wishes</p>
<p>Subsidize so he could save money? No. Subsidize so he could eat something besides ramen noodles? Probably. Subsidize so he could eat at all. Yes, if I thought the internship was worth it. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a bad experience for a kid to spend a summer pinching pennies. I might feel extra generous at graduation time instead though. Interestingly I have a kid who disapproves of unpaid internships even more than I do, so this hasn’t come up. He took a paying job instead, and it looks like he can do the same job this summer with a promotion to the top spot for a student (well almost student he graduates this spring) if he wants it this summer.</p>
<p>In general I think college is far too early for kids to be saving for the future unless they are earning far more than they need. That turned out to be the case for my older son and I suggested he get started on a Roth IRA since he clearly had more money than he needed by the end of the summer.</p>
<p>Money is fungible, so I don’t see the difference between transferring money to a student’s checking account during the summer (so they can save their earnings) versus, say, transferring money to a student’s savings account or Roth IRA. If you’re going to be giving your student money to help jumpstart their savings, it doesn’t really make any difference either way. </p>
<p>Our family had a related situation last summer. D1 was choosing between two internship offers. One was near her school and paid a very generous salary. The other was overseas; she had a grant to cover transport and living expenses but the internship itself was unpaid. She chose the latter, with the understanding that she would not have resources to travel during her fall semester abroad. If she’d taken the domestic offer, we’d have covered her housing and food because that’s what we’ve agreed to do for her. And we would have expected her to contribute to her Roth IRA to the maximum extent possible.</p>
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<p>Both my kids already have investment accounts which is where they’ve put money that they’ve earned in the past from summer jobs and the like.</p>
<p>Yes… if the job provided optimal experience and did not put undue hardship on family finances.</p>
<p>For us, we helped when our finances permit, to the extent we can. Our kids do definitely get experience budgeting and stretching their funds. No regrets. I think we all have to consider our and our kids and families resources in choosing what works for any particular situation.</p>
<p>D2 had a paid internship in NYC between soph and junior year and also between junior and senior yr. Both paid a very good salary and also a stipend for relocation.</p>
<p>The first year D1 paid for everything, but she was living with a bf who owned an apartment (townhouse?) one subway stop from Manhatten. So she got to save and we paid nothing.</p>
<p>Second year, D1 broke up with said bf in about a week after her internship began. All heck broke loose. She ended up living in 4 different places in Manhattan that summer and H and I had to move her each time, driving 4 hours to do so. You are darn right we expected her to pay as much as she could. We still ended up paying a good sum.</p>
<p>But she did get an offer after her second internship, and a signing bonus. And she is still working there today, 3 yrs later. So I guess all ended ok.</p>
<p>To answer Pizzagirl…no. </p>
<p>Every summer during college (and grad school), both my kids worked or did internships (only paid ones) in their respective fields away from home (never came home any summers). They knew that we would not support their living expenses away from home in summers (though are very happy for them to get these jobs in their fields away from home) and so their summer jobs had to earn enough to cover all their living expenses wherever the jobs/internships took place (which in their cases included places like NYC, Zurich, and Paris). They didn’t have to earn a profit, but they had to break even. They could not do unpaid jobs, therefore. But we support them while in school (Sept. through May) but not over the summers once out of high school. I could never afford to but even if I could, I likely would not. And while I would not pay their expenses to do an internship, even if I were to consider it, it would only be to make ends meet, not to do as PG suggests, which is to pay some expenses so they can save money, when their salary would otherwise pay their living expenses in the internship city. </p>
<p>Also, my kids knew that starting on graduation day (for one kid, this was after undergrad and for the other kid, after grad school), they would have to support themselves and would not be subsidized. They have worked in their respective fields as soon as they graduated and supported themselves. </p>
<p>Their education was a gift. But we did not pay for them to be able to work in the summers away from home, or support them when their formal education ended. And yes, my kids were able to build excellent resumes during their school years and worked every summer in their chosen fields and ever since graduation day. They did not have to sacrifice any opportunities. We just did not pay for them to have these opportunities.</p>
<p>(PS, in a couple of summer cases, a job included housing and in a couple of other cases, a D applied for scholarships to pay the travel or living expenses that helped with the costs…in other cases, their salaries covered all their expenses)</p>
<p>Last summer our D had a paid internship in San Jose, CA with a housing stipend but not quite enough to cover her rent. She paid the rest out of her income. We subsidized her only in that we helped her with an initial grocery/supply shopping trip AND we lent her a car for the summer. She had to be frugal to cover all expenses but she managed her funds very well. We are thrilled that she already landed an internship for the upcoming summer in our city so she can live at home and save all her income AND the housing stipend. Plus, we get to have her with us for 2-1/2 months! Win, win for us all! Before we know it she’ll be subsidizing us!</p>
<p>Yes Pizzagirl, I would and have paid part of food and housing for unpaid and paid internships between junior and senior year for both my kids. If the internship was paid, I expected the salary to go towards the following years expenses that are above room and board so that they won’t have to work so much during the school year.</p>