A Richer Understanding: A Comfortable Nest

Last week I moved my son (Aaron) into his own space. Although being active in The Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) throughout middle and high school, he entered the workforce instead of the armed forces after graduation. He is twenty years old; witty, charismatic and technically gifted. He has a great job working in a commission based call center.

 

Previously he has taken classes at our local community college and now, with full-time responsibilities, he has shifted to online classes. After we finished loading / unloading we had a discussion about protection.

Protecting his …

Credit

I suggested he attend a financial literacy program. At times I’ve been ignorant about how credit works and this will allow him to explore the benefits and dangers of credit, how to establish a solid credit history and how to use it effectively throughout his life. He is in an excellent position. His mother purchased him a used car; he is only responsible for maintenance, upkeep and insurance. He is financing college with grant money and working full-time, to my knowledge that has been little to no loan money. Also, he is splitting the expense of an apartment with a roommate. No car payment, no heavy student loan debt and a roommate to share the cost of living puts you in an excellent position for …

Savings

Aaron had an indirect learning experience about money when he was young. He watched his mother & I struggle, at one point having to move in with his grandmother. When he was able to understand, I talked with him about saving. I shared a conversation I had with his grandfather who had advised me to save at least $25 per week when I was close to his age. Doesn’t sound like much but if I had done so at twenty-three I would have over $30,000. Preparing our kids for a financially responsible future reduces an opportunity for them to hit our pockets once they’ve left the nest.

Savings_Prisma Mononoke Filter

This is a line item I’ve considering adding to our spending plan, hopefully it will not effect my savings plan. Something I was not able to do with my older kids but clearly see the benefit with the younger kids is to use allowance and the Fat Cat Share Account (Account with State Employees Credit Union that allows children to watch their balance grow as they save, a quarterly newsletter and their own dedicated website) to teach them about earning, saving and spending money. Finding cents (and sense) and having purpose leads to …

Legacy

While I’m proud of all of his accomplishments, I was very impressed with his maturity and outlook on life at such a young age. I’ve watched his goals shift, however, he is more focused than I ever was at twenty. What is most impressive is that he understands comfort and ease aren’t always the most stimulating conditions for growth. Sometimes you have to challenge yourself and invest in the future.

I Am

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