Teaching Grandkids Financial Concepts

[frayne]

Both GD and GS (16/17) start their summer jobs after Memorial Day and old grandpa (yours truly) wants to expose them to some wealth building concepts. I thought this YouTube video with Scott Galloway might be a good starting off point. It's only an hour but I thought fairly well done. Thoughts and opinions are appreciated in advance.

 

[athena53]

The video makes some good points but it's wordy and I'm always a bit suspicious of pitches such as Erika's for "method". Didn't watch the whole thing.

My grandchildren at 10, 7 and almost 5. I started giving them money on their birthdays and then taking them out to spend it. No judgement- if they make buy something cheap and it falls apart, or find it's not as exciting as they thought, they learned something and that's part of my objective. Better to make a mistake with a $15 toy than a car with a 7-year loan. The oldest is especially careful in her deliberations- DDIL buys a lot second-hand including FaceBook MarketPlace and she and my granddaughter spend a lot of time researching and deliberating.

The second stage- The two older ones have UTMA accounts. They're picking stocks from a narrow range of companies they know that are highly-rated in Fidelity- Apple, Costco, and TJX right now. The 7-year old had Starbucks but we sold it at a loss after I consulted with her on it and gave her reasons it might make sense. We'll buy something else when I go up to visit. Again- no judgment on bad calls. They're learning. Little brother will join us when he's old enough to understand it. he 7-year old doesn't quite get it- she told her other grandmother that when she's 18 she can have possession of the account and buy an Apple watch!

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm a fan of gifting "The Simple Path to Wealth." My nephews and niece are all getting a copy. I was going to wait till HS graduation but moved that to 15 as they are pretty advanced and already started working some. So far they've been pretty receptive so hopefully some sinks in and it will be a resource for them.

 

[frayne]

The video makes some good points but it's wordy and I'm always a bit suspicious of pitches such as Erika's for "method". Didn't watch the whole thing.

You really need to watch the entirety of the video as it is not so much about Erika's method but Scott's philosophy on building wealth by developing habits of responsible spending, staying out of debt, investing for the long term in S&P 500 index funds, LBYMs, and remembering the race is a marathon and not a sprint.

 

[target2019]

I'm not sure how information gets assimilated by teenagers these days. If one shows a personal interest in finance and investing, I suppose it would be more likely they would watch something that long.

 

[frayne]

Unfortunately we are living in a Tik Tok culture where if a video is more than 30 seconds long we lose our attention span. This goes for adults as much if not more than teenagers these days.

 

[pjigar]

I generally point out "If you can" leaflet to the younglings: https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

It is a good map, and it is short so teens would ACTUALLY read it. YMMV.

 

[pacergal]

The video concepts are good, if you can get teens to watch a 60 minute one!

 

[oldtimer]

11 short explanatory videos about how to take control of your finances to achieve financial independence and enable your life dreams.
Video:Bogleheads® investment philosophy - Bogleheads