I’m Telling My Son To STOP Saving Money
I’m encouraging my son to stop saving money. Even though we had an agreement that a certain amount from each paycheck would be automatically transferred into his savings account, I told him that I wanted him to stop.
My son wanted to register for the high school golf team.
His friend, who was on the team last year, talked him into doing it even though I can count on one hand the number of times he’s played golf. Golf practice is after school, Monday through Friday until 5:30. The timing means that he cannot work any after school shifts at his job, since after school shifts start at 4:00.
His income will be significantly lower for the next two months.
During the high school golf season, he will be restricted to only working weekend shifts. This will decrease his income significantly. I also want him to have the funds to be able to do the things that normal teenagers do.
I told my son to disable the automatic transfer to his savings account.
Since his income will be lower, I’m allowing him to temporarily stop saving money out of each paycheck and keep all of his income for fun spending. During this period his savings account will not grow, but there’s a couple of reasons I’m OK with the situation:
- Be Involved : The only extracurricular activity my son has every participated in was baseball. When he entered high school, he tried out for the 9th grade team, and didn’t make it. Personally, we both think there was some politics involved, and some deserving kids didn’t make the team, while some non-deserving kids did. It left a bad taste in his mouth, so he hung up his cleats for good. This is the first time he’s shown any interest in any other activity. It’s a good way for him to get outside and do something with his friends other than play video games.
- Healthy Savings : He’s been extremely consistent with his savings, and has built up a healthy balance in his savings account. He can suspend his savings for a short time and still maintain that healthy balance.
- It’s Temporary: Golf season only lasts two months. Once June rolls around, golf will be over and he’ll be back to the normal amount of hours and he can resume savings.
My son’s part-time job has provided the opportunity to teach him a wide range of financial lessons. His desire to join the golf team has lead us to another such opportunity; sometimes money isn’t the most important thing.
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
Being well rounded at this age is very important. I read a blog post yesterday which suggested that all college kids should basically work 100% of their free time so that they don’t have student loans. It was very disappointing because this is a time of life when people need to find their way, and they do so with experiences that go beyond the classroom and work.
Thank you for this perspective 🙂
@MoneyBeagle – While I’m not a fan of student loans, there’s definitely something to be said for “The college experience.” Well rounded is right……it’s their time to experiment with different activities and experiences!