More Investing for Kids

I really liked this article by Kiplinger about kids and work. I started working at a very young age -- 9 or 10 -- babysitting or doing yard work. I even mowed lawns at that age, with a gas lawn mower, which makes me shudder. I loved saving my money, too, but I never knew how to spend it. And, like many women I know, my parents considered my money to be "family money" while my brother's money was "his money." Even now my parents tend to expect me to take care of the bill because my brother is "stingy" with his cash -- just one of many reasons I don't visit very often. However, my parents never taught me work/life balance. I was expected to work as much as possible, and to go to school and get straight A's. This expectation followed me into college, where the cost of a private school slowly began to bury me financially (I'm still extricating myself). My parents bemoaned the $80-100 they would give me every couple months while I put in 60+ hour weeks while going to school full-time. By the time I was 22 years old, I had had mono once and was facing chronic fatigue from working so much. I graduated from college, went home and slept for 6 weeks.

I hear a lot about the value of a child working his/her way through life, and although I think that is true, I remember how much I envied those kids who didn't have to work all the time. Ironically, most of them are in jobs that make more than I do and, materially, are more successful. I have also opted for a job that doesn't require a lot of extra hours because I am still easily exhausted.

So, my sexy husband and I disagree about paying for our children's college education. If you can't tell, it's something of an emotional issue for me. We have not started a 529 account for either of them, primarily because my husband thinks they should pay their own way. I read that it is better to put money in retirement than in a 529, because loans and scholarships can pay for a child's education but there aren't any scholarships for retirement. Any comments out there?