<p>Also- to an earlier post- if you feel you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have a social life without copious amounts of spending money, I feel sorry for you. Where's your imagination? More accurately, where's your sense of responsibility? It's not your parents' job to bankroll your parties.</p>
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[quote]
Match whatever he's saved from his summer earnings right before he goes to school. If he managed to save $1,000 from his summer earnings, give him a grand. (You could always spread the payments apart over semesters or months.) In other words, give him an incentive to earn money and manage his money this summer.
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I like this ... and combined with something mentioned earlier .. I'm going to talk to my wife about matching any money my kids earn from when they are young through college depositing
(all? some?) of the matching money into a Roth IRA in their name.</p>
<p>Warning, don't put much $ under your child's ssn/name. FAFSA/CSS assesses kids' accts. at a significantly higher rate than accts of the parents.
:(</p>
<p>
[quote]
Warning, don't put much $ under your child's ssn/name. FAFSA/CSS assesses kids' accts. at a significantly higher rate than accts of the parents.
[/quote]
I'm assuming IRA accounts would not be considered ... an assumption that needs to be researched.</p>
<p>3togo, I have also thought about doing that and made the same assumptions.</p>
<p>Beginning this year (age 18), we began matching 100% of son's earnings to go into a Roth IRA and will do so, up to the max allowed, until he is working at a post college job where he can fund his own retirement or up to ten years, whichever comes first. One of our goals is to give him money over which we can make long-term investment management decisions, rather than just shorter-term savings. He will earn up to the max (works at Ruth's Chris nights) and lifeguarding day job in the summer.</p>
<p>Does any CPA in the house have an answer on the Roth IRA being looked at for FAFSA/CSS? Inquiring minds want to know! :)</p>
<p>you parents are different. are you from in between hte coasts? i mean that's fine. i think your ideals are respectable and in some ways, perhasp proper. i've seen: the kids never will work at a service industry job and will continue to be sudsidzed by parents $1000 month minimum. is that appropriate?</p>
<p>Of course each family is different...my parents are married but keep their finances separate...so Dad pays for school, Mom pays for personal...mom gave me $500/semester, but I love to treat myself so I drained that and almost all of my savings from workingthe past year (M doesn't know :) thinks that 500 is enough.) But I wasn't working--did a TON of e-curriculars instead. Differs from kid to kid, have some friends who barely spend 150 the whole semester, some who are dropping 300/month</p>
<p>I'll be working a 8-5 M-F job this summer at $9/hr. Therefore I'm picking up a weekend position over the summer as well. My parents don't want me to work during the school year, especially as a freshman. They are already going to pay full freight at a private LAC. I don't think it's right to ask them for spending $.</p>
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<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>On the other hand, I've had friends' kids manage to spend $500-1000 a month, shopping and eating out. So much depends on the child's temperament, even with parents' trying to teach a value for money. One works in a clothing store, and spent more than she earned. <<<</p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
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<p>Any parent who is financing 500-1000+ per month for their kid to "eat out" and buy extra clothes (or other frills) needs to either have his/her head examined or be prepared to support that "child" for many, many years. Teens/young adults who "get used" to spending money on "luxuries" are going to need your money to help pay for these same luxuries even after they graduate and have real jobs because rarely are first jobs so lucrative that these luxuries can be included in the budget UNLESS the kid returns to live at home for free! (yes, extra clothes and "eating out" are luxuries, along with manicures, spa treatments, hair streaking, concert tickets, clubbing, designer whatever, etc).</p>
<p>Such parents better be prepared to have a trust fund set up for their kid(s) or expect that their kid(s) will move back home after college because once he/she makes the payment on the new car, pays his/her VISA bill (which contains lists of restaurants, bars, stores, salons, and other frills), the kid isn't going to have enuf $$$ for rent, utilities, and other related costs. (Anyone see the movie "Failure to Launch" ?????)</p>
<p>"Any parent who is financing 500-1000+ per month for their kid to "eat out" and buy extra clothes (or other frills) needs to either have his/her head examined or be prepared to support that "child" for many, many years. Teens/young adults who "get used" to spending money on "luxuries" are going to need your money to help pay for these same luxuries even after they graduate and have real jobs because rarely are first jobs so lucrative that these luxuries can be included in the budget UNLESS the kid returns to live at home for free! (yes, extra clothes and "eating out" are luxuries, along with manicures, spa treatments, hair streaking, concert tickets, clubbing, designer whatever, etc).</p>
<p>Such parents better be prepared to have a trust fund set up for their kid(s) or expect that their kid(s) will move back home after college because once he/she makes the payment on the new car, pays his/her VISA bill (which contains lists of restaurants, bars, stores, salons, and other frills), the kid isn't going to have enuf $$$ for rent, utilities, and other related costs. (Anyone see the movie "Failure to Launch" ?????)"</p>
<p>I agree with the basics, however, I'm thinking that kids who are used to this much spending money are in a situation where a budget is not in their future anyway....trust funds anyone? LOL</p>
<p>a trust fund isn't really a big deal necessarily
I know several students whose trust funds paid for their college- and perhaps even gave them a small stipend after college, but it hardly is enough to allow them to live lavishly or be unemployed
Attending a very expensive college- many of my daughters friends( parents) are NOT on scholarship, but their habits aren't really that much different</p>
<p>Kids at my S's school, where there are many with $$ as well as those without, easily adapted to the different spending capabilities of different students. Any group that gathers determines the lowest common denominator of what any one person can spend and the entire group then limits themselves to that level of expenditure. It seems to just be part of the culture, and makes it easy for those with less to spend to participate in most social activities.</p>
<p>"It seems to just be part of the culture, and makes it easy for those with less to spend to participate in most social activities."</p>
<p>That is also my son's experience. His house recently did a fund-raising auction for their Scavenger Hunt team - it had high prices items donated so the kids with $'s could contribute much; other students baked cakes, my son auctioned himself off as a bouncer ... everyone contributed in some way.</p>