Prom: D bought her dress last year when she was shopping for something else. A girl from her friend group will be her date. There aren’t a lot of boys in the senior class, compared to the number of girls. A lot of kids go in groups rather than couples. There aren’t any after-prom late night activities planned among D’s friends, as far as I know.
Personal finance: some will be covered in D’s stats class. It should be mandatory, IMO!
I asked D if she wanted to apply to any more colleges that had extended the deadline “just for her.” She refused to take the bait.
S finally has portals for all of the colleges he applied for. His GC just sent an email saying that mid year grade reports are being finalized and will be sent soon. One or two schools are waiting for the mid year report to process the applications. Hopefully he will hear from all of the schools by the end of February. That would be great because we would like to schedule visits to his top choices.
I’d like to see some form of personal finance training for the kids too, whether it’s a class or series of events/lectures the kids could sign up for if they want. I think it would be great to cover topics including college costs and planning, banking, importance of savings, living within your means and establishing a budget, understanding the importance of retirement plans etc.
Son17 doesn’t really spend a lot of money and doesn’t really worry much about financials, so I have been trying to teach him the importance of having a nice rainy day fund, establishing a savings account to b used for certain bigger purchases etc.
I do like how some of you have set up a Roth already. I need to look into that. He has a chunk of $$ sitting in the bank, and the IRA would be a better use for it.
I can definitely get behind a voluntary personal finance series or including it as a brief (maybe 1 week) series in a math or health class. But a whole semester is too much, especially if mandatory, imo.
D has gotten many questions about her other options from interviewers. I’ve couched her on handling it well: every school is a top choice until May 1; specify what it is she loves about that particular school that makes it a strong contender; identify peer schools to which she’s also applied; and tastefully make it clear that merit money is critical.
Hmm. I thought that type of interview question was fairly typical. Perhaps only at less elite schools, because I know D has been asked something similar 2-3 times…almost half of her interviews.
@RightCoaster – he just needs earned income in order to fund the Roth. Younger son has money sitting in the back (years of birthday and Christmas gifts) but he hasn’t had a job yet so he cannot fund the Roth.
I have never given the boys an allowance, but I pay for their clothing, gas, cell phone, & car insurance, so it is not much of a budgeting feat to pay for their own socializing. Other than music-related or dining out with friends, neither one spends money on anything, but really, what is left after clothing, gas, etc?
I try to explain how a starting salary will be allocated, but it is really just an exercise at this point since we do not know salary or location and corresponding COL.
Clueless father here. At D’17’s school it is still 4 months away. I knew things were ratcheted up with the “promposal” thing, but does prep really start 4 months in advance?
I was going to say what @CT1417 said, that in order to open and fund a Roth, there has to be earned income. We did open a Roth for D15, who has worked since she was 16 to help fund her sports training. S17 has only worked sporatically, so we do not have a Roth opened for him. We do have a savings account, and when he does start to work, we may move that to a Roth. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.
^ Yes, Roth requires earned income and you can only contribute to the max of the earned income that year.
@CT1417, I also don’t give allowance to my kids and just pay for what they need/want; they also have a credit card to use that I monitor closely. I try to teach them about making good choices with their purchases even though the money came from me. It works for us as they are reasonably careful with money (for their age.)
Ok @CT1417 and @mtrosemom I will discuss the Roth idea with son soon. He has some earned income for the last few years, as he has been a soccer ref. I’m not sure how much $$ he earned. Can he put in more than he earned? He had the $$ deposited into his bank account. I could recommend he take 1/2 of his savings and use it to fund the Roth. I think it’s a good idea. I’ll go read more about the Roth rules later.
@RightCoaster – the little I know is that he can fund the Roth with up to his W-2 gross earnings from last year until April 15th of this year. So if his bank balance will cover that amount, then he should be fine, even if he actually ‘spent’ last year’s earnings and saved prior years’ earnings. I am the last person anyone should be taking advice from on tax topics though!
@AngelaD – I didn’t want to be responsible for paying for their dining out with friends, so that is where the line is drawn. Well, concert tees, tickets, and albums also. They would never buy clothing unless I took them to the store, so no risk there!
IRA contribution limits are lesser of cap (currently $5500 per year) and taxable income for the given year. You can contribution to IRA for 2016 up until April 2017. And can contribute to 2017 IRA any time in 2017 to April 2018.
I am terrible with tax knowledge too. I don’t even bother with it truthfully.
My son should have ALL of his earned $$ sitting in the bank. Prying cash out of his hands is a tall feat. He just doesn’t spend much, and doesn’t ask for much.
I suppose I should look into a Roth for S17. He definitely has earned income. Currently it’s a 50/50 deal where half is available to spend (and he does!) and half to savings. However that was really built upon him saving for a school trip that I was not willing to pay for (having paid for many already, including 2 later this year) that really required a savings plan. He is feeling flush at the moment as apparently a fundraiser generated more than expected and his final trip payment dropped from $450 to $150!
The plan had been for him to continue down this path with that savings contribution going towards college expenses (and really moving more towards a 70% savings/30% disposable scenario). Should he go out of state, as he will not get enough merit to offset, he will be responsible for books and all spending money at a minimum. Very likely more than that though. While I would love him to start a Roth now…I am not sure the timing is ideal as the earnings are so low in relation to the need. We’ve outlined a college loan repayment plan that includes Roth, post graduation. But…it might be better to start the habit now.
No allowance here although I do pay for grades so there is a twice annual payout.
Been away for a bit (like 2 or 3 hours lol). I’ve been working on financial aid “special circumstances” paperwork for a few schools that S has been admitted to. The schools have been very receptive and helpful. No promises have been made, but they want to help. Our current need-based aid is zero due to our very high EFC. I’m working very hard to change that (using 2016 income). I won’t get into details here, but PM if you have a similar situation and need guidance.
