Recently I was on a camping trip with several of families and their children. Many of the kids are approaching their High School graduations’ in a year or two and naturally the subject their futures popped up now and then while talking around the camp fire.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a couple of the older kids were interested in retirement and saving money. Wow, these are teenagers! I was excited to talk to them about saving and the benefits that grow from starting the practice early. I told them (true story); I bought my first home before my 21st birthday from savings I had tucked away. I have to thanks my parents for making me save ten percent of my lawn mowing, stable shoveling and bus boy jobs. Admittedly, I really didn’t understand how important it was when I was a young teen, so I was fortunate.
Anyway, if you have kids or grandkids, yesterday is the best time to start instilling the discipline of saving and teaching the power of compounding. Every kid should have a Roth individual retirement account (IRA). Don’t question the wisdom of starting to early as your kids might. The earlier the better. To open one, a child must have some type of earned income however. The annual contribution to is limited to the amount they earn during the year or $5,000.00 in 2009 (whichever is less).
Children of real estate brokers and agents can have good jobs too! My daughter helps her mother with mailers, wrapping client gifts, gathering information, filing, and the like. As she became a little older, she answers the phone and makes appointments and even helps out at open houses.
As graduation season closes and summer job season opens; now is certainly the best time to give and teach these valuable life lessons.