[Andrew]

My oldest recently turned 18… he seems to have a good mindset towards money, has been pretty good at saving over the past couple years of working and has the right mindset towards debt. He plans to get a student CC to start establishing a credit history, only putting gas and a couple other things on it and paying it off each month (and found a good student card with actual rewards).

I don’t think we need to work on his mindset, other than continuing to have conversations about money. I’m curious what we can do to help him along his financial journey in a tangible way. We plan to co-sign on his small auto loan, to allow him to get a lower rate.

I’m toying with the idea of splitting his auto insurance with him, with the caveat that his split would go into savings towards whatever his next goal is or something like that.

I’m probably overthinking it, but I’m curious what you all have done in a tangible way to help your kids get a good start in their adult financial lives.

[Aubrey]

I don’t have an adult child, but I can tell you what my parents did to help me.

When I was in college they paid my tuition and I lived at home. I paid for my cell phone, car insurance, gas, and clothing with money I earned at my part time job. I also saved whatever I could. I think I saved $6-7k.

When I graduated I was engaged and my parents gave me 5k to elope, plus co-signed on a small house with me. I think they also pitched in about 3k for my down payment.

I had a lot of help and because of that, I now have a solid net worth and am saving money to do the same for my child.

No student debt and saving money by having an inexpensive home (my mortgage was $230/mo. because we bought a foreclosure) made a huge difference in my ability to successfully transition to adulthood.

Don’t miss: I have a funny story about teaching your kids to be frugal

[Elizabeth]

This won’t help likely, but I’ll answer. Our son is in a magnet career academy program for finance (accounting, investing, personal finance) that is 5 classes and an internship plus a financial certification by the time he graduates, at 17!

He’s also got a custodial account at Fidelity that he’s learning to manage and will pay for grad school or a down payment on a house! The money was inheritance so pure luck. What he does with it will be from education!

I know that’s not useful but thought I’d share with anyone with younger kids who may have access to a similar program in their school district!

[McCallister]

Here is what we have done with our young adult:

– They were required to take a Personal Finance class in high school to graduate, but I likely would have recommended it even if it wasn’t a requirement.

– We are paying for all of college. This is the head start our parents gave us, so we are paying that forward and value higher education to support their career goals (one future nurse and one future nuclear engineer).

– They have a HYSA and occasionally some CDs or I-bonds if it makes sense.

– They have been saving up most of their birthday and Christmas checks their entire lives which allowed us to split the cost of a used car (we paid half and Grandpa contributed $1000), so no car loan.

– We added them as an authorized user on my oldest credit card with a fairly high limit that we rarely use and always pay in full on autopay.

– We had them open a Roth IRA when they got their first job and have started some contributions there. They did not work in high school, but they are working during the summer before and summers in college for the experience.

– We share a lot about our own personal finances, so they know our values (living below our means, high savings rate, etc) and the importance of starting early. I track our own net worth quarterly and have started assisting them with annual net worth calculations of their own.

– We do cover car insurance, most gas, and cell phone bills while in college as well. The exception being gas for “road trips” with friends and the increase in car insurance after a speeding ticket. Our child also covers their own entertainment (like concert tickets) and travel expenses for fun trips with friends.

– I help them file their taxes for free online and make them sit with me, so I can explain the process as we go through it since I am very knowledgeable about taxes.

[Brad]

We talk openly about it. Don’t treat it as a taboo or secret. Added oldest to my credit card at 16. Track her spending that way. Stress how she can’t spend what she doesn’t have and must pay off each and every month. She just started working and I intend to open an IRA for her and contribute to it until she graduates college up to what she earns that year/max.

[Julie]

My daughter and I like to watch YouTube episodes of Financial Audit or Til Debt do us Part. It sparks lots of great conversation.

[Author]

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