A young person I know received $20,000.00 at 18 years-old. The grandfather had left thousands of dollars to his young grandchild when the grandfather passed away, while the grandfather’s son, the uncle of the 18 year-old watched over the money that was in a mutual fund until the child was of legal age to receive the money.
“The money is to be used for college”, the grandfather said. However, there were no rules, no stipulations and no guidance. The uncle gladly turned the money over to the 18 year-old when it was time for college. So, the young bright-eyed 18 year-old announced, “I’ve decided to go to Europe this summer before college starts. I’ll never have this time again.”
Oh no!!
So off they went, the 18 year-old and best friend. It was all over in a matter of weeks. Great times, photographs, stories, new experiences, you name it. Nothing could have been better.
Ready for college, the 18 year-old moved out of mom and dad’s house and into…”my own house. Everybody knows you’re throwing away money when you rent. Besides I have down payment money.”
Got a hand-me down car from mom. Bought a cell phone and plan. Needed to be safe driving around. Text messaging guaranteed closeness to all. Internet access to transfer pictures, videos, and get email. “Everyone has it.”
Fast forward, the 18 year-old is now 26. Called mom and dad the other day, “I need a $1,100.00 brake job.” On the third car between 18 years-old and 26.
“I don’t have enough money or credit. I know I went from college to a professional job of my choice. I know my finances went from nothing to something. I know in college I was earning $0.00. Now I earn $30,000.00 a year with full benefits.”
Ouch!!
Oh the house? New water heater, had to have professional tree trimmers come out and cut down a big tree that was about to fall on the neighbor’s house. New plumbing in the only bathroom in the house. The bathroom roof needs to be replaced because it leaks every time it rains.
I’m sure there’s more.
Comments
2 responses to “How To Spend $20,000.00”
The $1,100.00 brake job turned into 5 hours of labor and $85.00 for parts on the front brakes of Ford. There’s nothing like having someone in your life who knows how to fix the brakes. I suppose the back brakes will take maybe 3 hours and still $85.00. We’ll see. That’s a big savings!!
[…] On another note, I would be extremely skeptical of giving a big chunk of money to any 18 year old to manage. You never know what path your child will take. Read this. […]