Haha, I can’t decide whether this is the best parenting I’ve ever seen or the worst!! Regardless, that kid has an awesome picture to show friends when she’s older. I also predict a future beer pong champion!

While our parents teaching us to drink may not be the most productive skill, it’s undeniable that we learn from them and as much as we hate to admit it, end up becoming them. Like they said in The Breakfast Club, it’s inevitable.

My own parents did a good job of teaching me not to be an idiot with money. My dad especially stressed saving. I had my first savings account by the time I was 8 (maybe even before). That account held the money I earned through the 4-H program. For 4 years, I took dairy feeders and pigs to our county fair and the money from selling them allowed me to buy my first car.

In 8th grade, my mom let me open a checking account. I think I was the only 13 year old I knew with a debit card at the time! I’ve heard that a lot of people don’t like letting kids use plastic, even in debit form, but I say haters are gonna hate. I did overdraft once. It was a dumb thing to do, but I paid my $36 non-sufficient funds fee and have never done it again.

Once I started driving, my dad added me as an authorized user on his credit card so I could buy gas. Yep, he paid the bill too. Not sure if that taught me a lesson other than “Not having to pay for stuff is nice. ” But…being an authorized user got my credit score off to a kicka$$ start. I’m still listed on the account and I’m sure that it’s playing a big part in my 700 credit score.

Those are the main things my parents did to help me out financially, aside from all the actual money they’ve spent on me. What did your parents do that helped/hurt you? If your parents had bad habits, did you emulate them too?

Last week I was debating whether or not I should include all the crazy blog money I’ve been raking in when I do a net worth update. I decided that I should because income is income, but it got me thinking about something else: how much do other people know about your finances? Since I’m college age and assume most people reading this are my age, the main people I’m talking about are your parents.

Besides you peeps, no one I know in real life has any clue that $2,496 is sitting in a business checking account with my name on it. It’s possible my dad knows something is up because junk mail has started coming to the house with my semi-officical business name on it. Damn post office can’t let me keep a secret! Overall though, my online business dealings are private. Unless you posess the skillz necessary to Google my name.

My parents don’t much else about my finances either. My dad is still listed on one of my checking accounts, but he never checks the balance or anything. My parents know I have a Roth IRA and some other accounts, but have no idea what’s in them.

All this got me thinking about how much should parents know about their kids’ money? I don’t try to be secretive or anything, but they’ve never asked and I’ve never volunteered the information. But do parents have a right to know the details of what their child spends/saves/invests/etc? I’d tell mine anything they’d ever want to know, but I know not everybody has the same relationship with their rents. What does your situation look like?

I’ve hinted before that I don’t pay for….well….much of anything. Throughout high school and part of last summer, I never paid a cent for gas. I was an authorized user on my dad’s credit card and just filled up whenever I needed to. I’ve never paid for my own car insurance. I didn’t pay for my cell phone the first year I had it.

Parts of my very nice situation have evolved over time. I now pay for my own gas and my cell phone, so those parts of the parental teet no longer remain. . However, I continue to pay nothing for car insurance. It’ll probably remain that way until I graduate college. I’m also not charged rent or anything since I live at home. To be honest, I can’t imagine either one of my parents (I live at my dads) charging me rent while in school.

Some might say these advantages are ridiculous and I’m spoiled. I disagree, and not just because I’m riding a gravy train. Parental support is relative. I have friends whose parents didn’t pay for their gas or insurance during high school. Those same parents are paying for college. Is that ridiculous? Some parents are able to pay for everything while others aren’t able to pay for much of anything. Mine rest in the middle of those extremes.

If parents are able and willing to provide support to their semi-adult children, I say why not? I don’t think that support should be used as a crutch and prevent independence, but there’s no problem in accepting generosity to help you out. I’d love to be in a position to pay all my bills myself be independent. I’d  even send a little cash flow towards the ‘rents to help “pay back” all that they’ve done over the years, even though it’s not necessary. But that day isn’t here…yet!

Besides the debate over whether or not children should be paid for chores, another question many parents ask themselves is whether or not their high school student should have a job while also participating in a sport. I’ll present both “sides” of the issue, along with my own personal opinion.

Yes, They Should

Participating in sporting events doesn’t mean a teenager can’t work. There’s plenty of time in the day to do both. Furthermore, balancing two separate schedules teaches responsibility and provides a taste of adult life.

Some school districts have a “pay-to-play fee” and parents shouldn’t necessarily be on the hook by default. If a student wants to play a sport, they should be responsible for the associated costs. Working is a way to pay these expenses. Furthermore, some teens honestly have to work to put gas in the car or to pay for typical high school events like prom.

No, They Should Not

High school is a time to have fun and enjoy life. There will be plenty of time to work when you’re an adult. Sports command a lot of time and it isn’t fair to sacrifice time practicing in order to work. Students need time to study and complete homework. It can be hard, if not impossible, to squeeze in academic tasks when practices and shifts are required to be completed.

My Take

I don’t have any problems with high school students working and playing a sport, if they can handle the pressure and time committment that goes along with them. Sports and work shouldn’t overtake school. Most students could probably work 10-20 hours a week without sacrificing their grades, but others cannot.

I think the biggest problem is you can end up with kids who spread themselves way too thin. I’ve been a member of my school’s cross country team since the 7th grade and I honestly don’t think I could have added a part-time job into the mix during the season. Practice was held every weekday from 2:30-4:30. I wouldn’t get home until 5. The earliest I could have been at work was 6. That kind of tight scheduling would not have been good for my grades (or body).

If you can avoid that problem, then by all means, start working. Even better, get a job with an employer that will allow you to take a leave of absence for the few months your sport is in season. Then, after your sport is over, you can head back to work. Obviously, this is easier said than done, but it’s still a great option if you can find it.

One of the debates that many parents have is whether or not their children’s allowance should be tied to chores and household duties. The debate can get heated on both sides, but I’ll try to give an objective view of both options along with my own opinion.

Absolutely!

Chores teach children that work is rewarded with money, just like in the real world. Adults aren’t just given money for doing nothing. They have to work and for that work, they are paid a certain wage. Likewise, a child’s weekly/monthly allowance should be based on whether or not they complete their assigned chores.

This could even be taken a step further by grading the kids on how well the chores are completed. (I actually saw a family on the television show Wife Swap where the kids received less money if the floors weren’t quite clean enough or if their bed sheets weren’t straight enough.)

No Way Man!

Chores are just simply an expected duty that children should perform. Children live in the house and should “earn their keep” by completing routine household duties. There are some things in life that are just done, without an expectation of monetary reward. Adults don’t get paid for washing dishes or cleaning the gutters and neither should kids.

My Opinion?

I think that rewarding chores with cash is a bad idea. Sure, this system will probably work just fine until the child is in high school. Then, they can get a regular job at the mall or start their own business. Once that happens, I would expect the amount of chores being completed will drop down to zero, or close to it.

Why?

Because once a teenager is making “real” money (say 10-30 hours a week at minimum wage), they are no longer going to care about their $20 dollar per week allowance. This is especially true if they can work more hours by not taking the time to complete chores.

Now, parents could combat this issue by forcing their kids to do the chores, but that seems to be a bit of a contradiction. If the purpose of tying allowance to chores was to show that you have to work to receive money, then shouldn’t the child be free to decide they don’t want to work, understanding of course that then that they won’t get paid?

I think it makes much more sense for allowance to simply be given to the child, in an effort to teach them smart money management skills. Teach kids from any early age that money should be saved, given, and invested before being spent and those habits are likely to continue on well beyond high school. Chores shouldn’t even be part of the equation. The lesson that there are some things in life that you just do, without payment, is in my eyes much more powerful than learning that work is rewarded with money.