Financially Independent, Retired Early(ish) at 57.

What has my second-gen FIRE child learned about money?

 

In the personal finance world, there’s a lot of blog posts written about teaching children about money. I’ve done it myself – the post I wrote that ended up winning the first Rockstar Rumble was about teaching my kids about compound interest. However, a huge proportion of these posts are written by parents with very young children. I’m at the other end of the journey, with adult kids moving out into the world.

I discovered the FIRE path about 5 years ago, so a lot of my boys’ money training has been observing the day-to-day decisions that I’ve made in the previous years, as well as observing the decisions of other family and friends around them.  I didn’t have the information about investing and compounding that I do now, so for most of their lives I wasn’t actively talking to them about this. Their father has been a small business owner for most of their lives, so they’d work in his shop on their access weekends with him and see life from that angle.

A year ago, on the other blog, I wrote about Evan22 moving out of home into Res at Uni in a post entitled: Reduce Your Bills By Evicting One of your Kids!

As anyone who has ever lived on campus knows, choosing to live there is hellishly expensive. Back when my boy was Evan21, he decided to live on campus for a year to get to know everyone and then work out who he wanted to share a house with for the next 2 years of his course. He paid for this himself. His decision to live in Res worked out really well. As he said on the way up to Ballarat, “All the people who moved into houses at the start of the year are now all moving away from the people they started with and moving into different places with their friends!”

Here’s The Playboy Mansion. Evan22 will be living here with 3 girls. They have the bedrooms in the house, while he has the sleepout out the back. He pays the most for his space, at $150/week.

He’s a full-time student over the age of 22, plus he’s living away from home. This means that he can pull in a Centrelink payment of around $580/fortnight. He’s taking out a HELP loan to pay for his course, which is around $6,800/year. I know that many people, particularly in the US, consider it almost mandatory to pay for some or all of their kids’ college/university fees, but I don’t.

I told them all that I was responsible for seeing them through high school. If they choose to go to tertiary education, (the word ‘choose’ should have been in quotation marks because they were left in no doubt that the only choice about that was which course they should do!)… anyway, they could live with me without paying board. They pay for their own books and fees, but their living expenses are nil.

My reasoning is this – I think a better financial gift to my children is the gift of their mother being financially independent throughout her whole life. I don’t want to be in my 80’s and having to go to the boys for a handout every time the electricity bill comes in. They’ll have their own families to support and their own lives to live. I can’t finance their educations and adequately provide for my own retirement – I am but one woman. So they have to take responsibility for their own decisions from here on out.

So how has Evan22, being the youngest of my children, handled his finances after a lifetime of living with Frogdancer Jones? I haven’t directly asked him about this – maybe an interview post in the future might be interesting to get his perspective? – but here’s what I’ve observed.

But first, a little background to put things in context:

 

He was only 11 months old when I left my ex-husband, so he, as one of the younger 3 boys, grew up without any memory of when there were 2 parents in the house. For the next 4 years of his life, I was a stay-at-home Mum, waiting for him to grow up and get to school so that I could go out and work. We existed on what was called back then the ‘Sole Parents’ Pension’ of around 18K/year, plus intermittent child support when the Child Support agency would catch up with my ex.

With 4 children, going back to work wasn’t a financial option. The daycare fees would have wiped out my wage. So the boys lived in an ultra-frugal house for years. My priority was security for the boys, so the mortgage, food and bills were always paid. Then any extras would come out of what was left.

So what has Evan22 done with all of this?

He’s actually done pretty darned well so far. When he finished secondary school he was adamant that he didn’t want to go on to further education. He took a gap year, where he worked part-time in a fruit shop around the corner and dabbled on various writing and film projects. He couldn’t get any Centrelink allowances because at his age, they take his parents’ income into consideration and I earn too much.

Then the gap year turned into 2… then 3. About 18 months after he finished school, I moved out of the house we were living in and went to live in The Best House in Melbourne, while Evan20 stayed behind in the old place. He got some roommates in and they all paid rent.

He was never late in the rent. He worked and paid his own way. Sure, the garden looked like the place was haunted and they weren’t the cleanest tenants a landlord ever had, but he was supporting himself and hey- the house was going to be knocked down anyway!

In his third gap year, he left the fruit shop and took an office job with a couple of his high school friends. Unbeknownst to me, he’d already decided that he wanted to do an acting course. Unfortunately, that realisation hit him AFTER auditions for the following year were over. So he decided to get a job that actually paid fairly decent money and start to save.

Most acting courses worth their salt are either interstate or in the country. There was one – at the Vic College of the Arts – that if he got in, he could live at home and take the train in each morning. But he knew he’d better not bank on that one. He saved up around 15K over that year he worked in the office job, quietly salting it away for what may come in the next year.

Meanwhile, the house was sold and he moved back in with us. He still kept going to work, saving and still having fun. Towards the end of that year, (2017), he casually said, “Hey Mum, can you help me with some audition pieces? I’m going to try for Acting for next year.”

When he was accepted into a really terrific course in rural Victoria, I was worried about the expense of housing him. But, as you already know, he already had that covered. He was determined not to ask me for money for it, so he paid for his first year of accommodation. Towards the end of that year, he had a birthday and he knew the mature-aged student allowance from Centrelink would kick in, enabling him to pay rent for the next 2 years. He’d quietly worked it all out and then took the steps to make sure it would all come together.

All of my children have grown up to be very debt-averse. None of them have credit cards and the only person they borrow money from is The Bank of Mum if their car blows up or something. (They appreciate the interest-free component. And they always pay me back.) But Evan22 wasn’t comfortable borrowing 5 figures from me, so he worked out a way to cover it himself. I’m incredibly proud of him for that. I think it shows maturity beyond his years.

But what about the rest of his expences? Is he incredibly frugal, spending money only on essentials?

Well, if you consider buying 5 copies of the same vinyl album of his favourite band because it came in 5 different colours frugal… then yes! He seems to go out to breakfast a lot, so I’d say there’s plenty of smashed avocado in his life. When he drinks it’s not beer or wine, but vodka and whiskey. He’s a vegetarian, so his groceries are probably less than if he was a meat eater, though having said that, have you seen the cost of chia seeds lately???

He spends very little on clothes. They’re just not that important to him. I think he’s learned by living with me that it’s smarter to spend on the things that HE values, not what society/his peers/his mother tell him to spend his money on. He follows his own heart.

When we finished moving in I took him out to lunch. He’s an independent guy – I asked if he wanted to swing by the supermarket on the way back to The Playboy Mansion to stock up his new kitchen. I was paying, of course.

“No thanks, Mum, ” he said. “I’ve got plenty of food left over from Res.”

In the whole year he’s been living up there, he hasn’t put a hand out for money once. Not once. I haven’t offered, because I was curious to see how it would pan out. I’m very proud of how he’s learned to organise his money and pay his way.

On the way up to Ballarat, we went via IKEA, where I bought him a Queen-sized bed with all the trimmings, plus a few other odds and ends that he needed. He thinks that the extra things are coming out of his Christmas money. (I give every boy up to the age of 25 a $300 voucher for Christmas. They use it for clothes, usually.) He’ll be expecting a voucher for about $50.

But he’ll be getting the full $300. I think he’s earned it.

I’ve said it before, but I’m very proud and impressed by how well Evan22 has stepped out into the world and has started to navigate himself with his finances. He’s clearly observed and internalised the “stay out of debt’ and ‘make sure there’s more money than month’ rules that I’ve lived my life by.

The next step is to teach him about compounding and investing. Considering that he’s moving into a notoriously unstable field of work, he’ll need his money to be working hard for him. However, judging by how he’s travelled so far, I think he’ll be able to listen and learn.

So far anyway, he’s behaving with money pretty much as you’d want a second-generation FIRE kid to be. Ok, so he’s not doing an engineering degree or living at home and biking to the local university to save money, but all in all, his attitude towards his finances seems to have a solid bedrock upon which to build.

Anyway, this is how a second-gen FIRE kid is behaving in his early 20’s. He learned frugality and delayed gratification at my feet, but I didn’t start learning about investing, compounding and FIRE until he was in his late teens. Imagine what the children of younger FIRE parents will be absorbing as they grow?

The sky’s the limit…

 

22 Comments

  1. simplywendi

    awesome post! i pray that my financial examples and teachings will pan out the same. way to go Frogdancer Jones!

    • Frogdancer Jones

      I’m sure they will. Kids absorb far more than we think they do!

      • simplywendi

        thank you! we started when they were very young and have continued to do so as they are teens and preteens. thank you for the reassurance. 🙂

  2. Miss Balance

    I loved this. It is so great to see that your frugal ways have been ingrained on your boys, it will give them such a good head start in life.
    I hope you have yourself a little high five for being a great role model 😊

    • Frogdancer Jones

      I keep thinking, “It’s not over yet!”
      I suppose I’ll still be thinking the way when they’re in their 80’s…

  3. Aussie HIFIRE

    Congratulations on doing a great job raising your boys to be financially aware, you must be very proud! I hope my wife and I can do the same for our kids!

    • Frogdancer Jones

      I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I’m sure your kids will know one end of a $5 bill from another by the time they leave home. They pick up a lot, whether we know it at the time or not. ________________________________

      • Aussie HIFIRE

        Haha I initially read that as them knowing one end of $5billion (as in billion) from another! Which is a little ambitious even for me!

        • Frogdancer Jones

          Never say never!! ________________________________

  4. Tuppenny

    What a fantastic story of knowing your finances and doing what needs to be done at such a young age. Your son has obviously picked up so much of your advice whether you’ve verbally advised him or role modeled it.
    He’s going to have a fantastic future as I am sure his brothers will too with the same teachings.

    • Frogdancer Jones

      Fingers crossed he (and his brothers) continue on the way they’ve started. Raising kids is always a work in progress. ________________________________

  5. Cathy

    I love this, not just the financial lessons that he absorbed but also the thoughtfulness and kindness. I so hope for the same with my 10 and 12 yo littles!

    • Frogdancer Jones

      SUCH a lovely comment! Thank you so much.

  6. Mrs Groovy

    Wow! You did a great job. It’s so refreshing to hear a parent say she’s not responsible for covering college. I’d like to think that would be me, but not having children, it’s hard to say. Whether it’s expenses, or loans, one way or another I think they need to be on the hook for their education (even though I’m not a fan of loans).

    • Frogdancer Jones

      It’s funny isn’t it? Some will probably think I’m being selfish by not bankrolling the boys’ uni fees, especially as the fees aren’t as exxy as in the US, but I think it’d be selfish to think that I can rely on them financially supporting me when I’m old. ________________________________

  7. Michelle @ FrugalityandFreedom

    Definitely sounds like you’ve instilled some great frugality and financial independence mindsets in your kids! I also did not have university paid for by my Australian parents, and was able to stay at home during my studies for a modest board payment. I feel like the pressure to do so is much much less in Australia than seems to be the case in USA.

    • Frogdancer Jones

      Can you imagine if I paid for 4 university courses? I’d be working till I was 75!!

  8. melooley

    I so appreciate all the financial lessons my parents instilled in me. My big present to my husband for his 29th birthday was helping him set up an IRA.

    • Frogdancer Jones

      Nothing says romance more than a retirement fund!

  9. Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life

    As a parent at the other end of the age spectrum, I’m breathless. This is an amazing “end” (for now of a WIP life!) result so far of both your parenting and his learning from you and becoming his own person. I’d be bursting with pride in your shoes. Well done, both of you.

    I can only hope against hope that we’ll get to the same general shape of things with JB taking responsibility for zir own choices and making zir own way with some wisdom and maturity.

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