🤑 Financial wisdom from my 15-year-old son!
I've got a quick Bryson story packed with helpful money wisdom.
So, my 15-year-old gaming enthusiast, Bryson, needed to upgrade his self-built PC's graphics card. No big deal, right? But here's the twist: he sold a Meta stock to fund it. 🤣
While he was home sick with food poisoning yesterday (ouch!), he aced his math work in just 15 minutes with no teacher help needed. So he saw that he had extra time on his hands.
But then, disaster! His graphics card decided to call it quits. There was no gaming for him, especially not the latest game, Starfield. Instead of sulking, he went all MacGyver and searched for ways to fix the problem or get that upgrade.
He came to me, asking if he could borrow cash for the graphics card. Instead of handing it over, I threw some financial math at him. "I could lend you the money, but let's do some simple math. You get 15 bucks a month as an allowance (yeah, I know, it's peanuts, but it is matched in his investment), plus you earn some cash mowing the lawn and vacuuming. So, if we skip the allowance, it'll take you ONE YEAR AND EIGHT MONTHS to pay back $300. What do you say?"
Guess what? Bryson totally got it. He understood right then why diving into debt or spending money you don't have is a bad idea. That would take so long to pay back, and he would need many more upgrades by then. Now, he does get considerable cash for birthdays and holidays, but this framing was intentional on my part.
And then he had a lightbulb moment! He realized he might actually have the money he needed to buy the card.
How? Well, he owns stocks:
Google (1 share): $135.79
Meta (1 share): $306.24
Nio: $10.00 (2 shares) = $20
Total: $462.03 as of now. He started with just $162.97 in Amazon back in March 2022. 😄
Teaching my kids about compound interest and investing is super important to me. So, I laid out a simple plan:
🏦 They can “buy stocks” from companies they like (I buy them in my account with their money).
I track the purchase prices.
📈 They can cash out anytime at the market rate and keep all the dough.
I hang onto the stock long-term.
Bryson decided to go all in on the upgrade and sold one Meta share at $299.17, scoring a cool $204.01 profit. Not bad for a teenager, right?
He figured out how to fully fund his upgrade without going into debt!
This was a sweet lesson in the magic of compound interest. Sure, I gave him a bit of a head start, but he's getting the hang of investing, and that's what matters. Investing is how you build the future of your dreams! His brain won't know any different than spending what you have and investing for your future. I'm a proud mama right now!
So, next time you consider splurging with money you don't have, consider Bryson. Set a goal to hustle up that cash first.
And just so you know, I'm not into short-term stock market plays. I'm all about index funds and playing the long game. That's where the real magic happens. I only have 10% play money to invest in individual stocks like Bryson did. I invest in companies I love and use and play THE LONG GAME.
Reply and let me know how you teach your kids to be financially literate (what about your students?),
Be financially well,
Sybil
PS - Burn Bright, Not Out is on track to be available early to the launch review team for only $.99 next week! Get on the list at www.sybilhall.com/book
PPS - While a little delayed from what I was aiming for, the Money Ninja 101 Mini Membership for Teachers is launching closer to the end of September. Sorry for the wait!