I’m financially fortunate to fund my two kids Roth IRA’s each year since they turned 21. I have fun managing them through a brokerage account but they are not at all interested at this time in how they are being managed. I intend to educate them as they get older but it’s a hobby fior me now in retirement. I hope they never have to touch it until they turn 59 1/2 and I probably won’t live long enough for them to see the fruits of my labor but I feel it’s better giving it to them this way now as opposed to them getting it all after I die.
I continue to assert that I had the best childhood of anyone I ever met. Most of the gifts I received were the result of parental supervision and love, coupled with learning from four wonderful siblings. That was my “privilege”.
However, the most memorable financial gift was from my mom, in August 1974. She had suffered with me when I flunked out of the college of engineering in 1971. After spending a couple of years wearing the green, it was time for me to return to school. I was in debt, and my student loan applications had not yet been approved.
Somehow, someway, my mom, with five children, two others in college, two minors, and after having been a widow and single mom for the past four years, scraped up $500 she did not have and loaned it to me to register for class.
Timing is everything – that $500 in 1974 was more valuable to me than any other financial gift I have ever received.
For my own children, I did set aside money at birth based on the “long term” investing decisions of Ben Franklin, the first American, through his gifts at death to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston. Learning from Ben, I decided to make that investment upon my children’s birth – a set aside, just in case history repeats itself.
I encourage you to read the book – Ben Franklin’s Last Bet, published in the last few months. However, Ben wasn’t as much focused on creating millionaires as he was in lifting up everyday folks into skilled tradespersons – what would someday become America’s future middle class.
Don’t limit your gift to children, reach out to grandchildren and, if you have the means, neices, nephews, and even unrelated children – ensure they learn about the time value of money and its potential to work wonders.
It is hard to know the answer to these questions. Presumably the writer accomplished what he did in large part because of the fear of the financial anvil hanging over his head. He has removed that fear from his children, which will probably make their lives more pleasant but less productive.
I’m financially fortunate to fund my two kids Roth IRA’s each year since they turned 21. I have fun managing them through a brokerage account but they are not at all interested at this time in how they are being managed. I intend to educate them as they get older but it’s a hobby fior me now in retirement. I hope they never have to touch it until they turn 59 1/2 and I probably won’t live long enough for them to see the fruits of my labor but I feel it’s better giving it to them this way now as opposed to them getting it all after I die.
I continue to assert that I had the best childhood of anyone I ever met. Most of the gifts I received were the result of parental supervision and love, coupled with learning from four wonderful siblings. That was my “privilege”.
However, the most memorable financial gift was from my mom, in August 1974. She had suffered with me when I flunked out of the college of engineering in 1971. After spending a couple of years wearing the green, it was time for me to return to school. I was in debt, and my student loan applications had not yet been approved.
Somehow, someway, my mom, with five children, two others in college, two minors, and after having been a widow and single mom for the past four years, scraped up $500 she did not have and loaned it to me to register for class.
Timing is everything – that $500 in 1974 was more valuable to me than any other financial gift I have ever received.
For my own children, I did set aside money at birth based on the “long term” investing decisions of Ben Franklin, the first American, through his gifts at death to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston. Learning from Ben, I decided to make that investment upon my children’s birth – a set aside, just in case history repeats itself.
I encourage you to read the book – Ben Franklin’s Last Bet, published in the last few months. However, Ben wasn’t as much focused on creating millionaires as he was in lifting up everyday folks into skilled tradespersons – what would someday become America’s future middle class.
Don’t limit your gift to children, reach out to grandchildren and, if you have the means, neices, nephews, and even unrelated children – ensure they learn about the time value of money and its potential to work wonders.
Be thoughtful AND educational with your gifts.
It is hard to know the answer to these questions. Presumably the writer accomplished what he did in large part because of the fear of the financial anvil hanging over his head. He has removed that fear from his children, which will probably make their lives more pleasant but less productive.
In the comment above, John is referring to this article that I wrote:
https://humbledollar.com/2023/07/when-to-give/
We were fortunate enough to have helped our kids. We paid for college (although both worked