Our 14-year-old recently opened negotiations to raise her weekly allowance, which had been unchanged for over six years. (We were waiting for her to bring it up and I guess it took a while for her to notice.) We had a great discussion (ER forum style) about CPI compounding over the last six years, hedonics adjustments, and one's personal rate of inflation. Despite glazing eyeballs she persevered, however, and scored a 40% boost-- from $5/week to $7/week. (She still retains the same semiannual clothing/toiletries funding.) $1 of her allowance still goes into her "Bank of Kid" CD paying 6% for six months (she doesn't know about PenFed!) and another $1 still goes into her matching "Kid 401(car)" account for her 16th birthday, but she's quite happy with her negotiating results.
The discussion must have been fresh in her mind last night when she sent spouse & I an e-mail:
"Re: My Allowance
Check this article out. (Thank you!) http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/ShouldYourKidsGetAnAllowance.aspx"
At this stage of her life these little parenting pearls are made even more precious by their rarity. But once again I suspect that she shows early signs of "getting it".
So now you know that the MoneyCentral article's advice is kid-tested and teen-endorsed.
She also picked up a few shares of Scholastic last summer at $26.50 and advises selling in advance of this July's conclusion of the Harry Potter hysteria series. She's decided that SCHL's stock price moves in synch with J.K. Rowling's publishing schedule. Now I have to figure out if the rally's end can be predicted closely enough to make it worth shorting...
The discussion must have been fresh in her mind last night when she sent spouse & I an e-mail:
"Re: My Allowance
Check this article out. (Thank you!) http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/ShouldYourKidsGetAnAllowance.aspx"
At this stage of her life these little parenting pearls are made even more precious by their rarity. But once again I suspect that she shows early signs of "getting it".
So now you know that the MoneyCentral article's advice is kid-tested and teen-endorsed.
She also picked up a few shares of Scholastic last summer at $26.50 and advises selling in advance of this July's conclusion of the Harry Potter hysteria series. She's decided that SCHL's stock price moves in synch with J.K. Rowling's publishing schedule. Now I have to figure out if the rally's end can be predicted closely enough to make it worth shorting...