Financial responsibility for a fifteen year old?

[April20]

Date: 10/31/2009 5:00:58 PM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 10/31/2009 4:17:51 PM
Author: Pink Tower
Pandora,
Yes, in the US, the driving age is set by the state, not the federal government.
In fact, I beleive you can drive in some states (Arkansas comes immediately to mind?) at the age of fourteen.

I''m really horrified I''m afraid. 14 is a child not an adult - what parent would let their young child loose in something as dangerous as a vehicle???

Here you can''t even start driving lessons until 17 and in most of Europe it''s 18. Our driving test is extremely difficult - I don''t actually know anyone who passed first time. You cannot take a car to school - and the school I went to you couldn''t get a lift with an under-21 without parental permission (and that was when I was 1.

I guess it''s different rules, but I''d rather my 18 year old was drinking than my 16 year old driving. Mind you, at over $8 a gallon, most kids here couldn''t afford to even if they or their parents wanted them to.

Here in London a fair number of my friends don''t even have licences - no point as you can''t get a parking permit in most areas anymore...

Oh Pandora, should I tell you I learned to drive a manual car at 8? My cousin and I were allowed to drive my mom''s volkswagon rabbit in the field behind our house as long as we didn''t get out of 2nd gear. When we were older, we were always asking to "drive down our road" home, which was a one way gravel road in a rural area. Once were were 13/14, we were allowed to drive the 2 miles to our grandparents house alone.

I live in a metropolitan area now and would never let my child drive (if I had one), but things in rural areas are just so different.

In TN, where I grew up, you get your "learner''s permit" at 15. You can drive with your parents and when I got mine (ages and ages ago), I think anyone over 18. Full, non-restricted driver''s license at 16. I don''t know if that''s changed now. When I was a teenager, you could also get a "hardship" license at 15, which allowed you to drive to school or work without an adult.

 

[oobiecoo]

My parents gave me my moms 4 year old Honda to drive when I was 16 and a half. It ended up being totalled (not my fault!) so I got a brand new car. They wanted me to have something safe and reliable for when I went to college. Not to mention that I went to a high school 30 miles away from my house in a different city. They paid for insurance and gas and all of that but they rarely if ever gave me spending money. I worked 2 part time jobs in addition to my school and extracurricular activities. I used that money for clothes and going out with friends. I think $100 sounds like an awful lot in addition to car expenses (if I''m understanding that correctly). I would cut that in half or have her get a part time job honestly. Otherwise, I''m all for parents purchasing or helping to purchase a car for their teenager. DH drove around crap cars that were passed amongst his siblings even though his dad could easily afford to buy everyone something decent. Junky cars can be dangerous and end up costing more to fix than they are worth.

 

[fieryred33143]

I have only read a handful of responses so forgive me if I''m repeating (have a squirmy 4 month old on my lap lol)

If the question is whether or not the practice you are putting in place will teach her financial responsibilities, I''d have to answer with no. Getting a new "free" car and a preloaded debit card isn''t going to really teach her to be responsible.

That said everything comes at a price. You have to decide whether you rather she be involved in school and focus on that without worrying about working OR get an after school job and all the stress that comes with it.

When I was in HS I had an after school job. I missed a lot of opportunities to get involved with school clubs but I did have $10k saved up for college and have been extremely responsible with money ever since. I got an 11 year old used car and was responsible for gas and insurance.

My brothers never worked besides little jobs here and there. They had no money saved up for college but both were highly involved in HS-presidents of various clubs, sports, plays, etc. They are fairly responsible with money but still lean a lot on me and my mom for money (they''re 19 and 20).

So it really depends on what you rather she focus on right now.

 

[exoticisabella]

Coming from a young bankers point of view, the debit card is a big UH OH OH NO

! I cannot stress how many times I''ve seen angry parents come storming in because DS or DD overdrew their account and caused overdraft fees. And, if this does happen then it is the parents obligation to fix it. The parents take the hit paying for the fees and if they refuse to pay for the fees then they take the hit on their creidt score and chexSystems. I would get her a prepaid Visabuxx debit card and have her treat it like a bank account. The visabuxx will have her name on it, is good anywhere Visa is accepted (ATM''s too) and YOU control the cash flow. The visabuxx can be barely overdrawn, but they will only charge you a $10 fee and once it''s overdrawn (by say $3 for example) it won''t continue to overdraw. Here''s (maybe) a bank secret - depending on the customers soft credit score a limit is set as to how far we will overdraw - and charge! - a customer. If you have a great score we may overdraw you and your daughter by $500 plus fees before shutting down the debit card - with the average fee being $35

. Visabuxx or something similar is definitely the way to go!

 

[sparklyheart]

Depending on how responsible your daughter already has been, the debit card could be very good for her.

I may be in the minority here, but I''m all for parents helping out their kids IF that''s an option. The day I turned 16 I got a new car (ford escort, no mercedes here!) and a gas card. I was told that to keep the car I had to keep my grades up, keep doing extracurricular activities, and stay out of trouble. Also I was told that if my gas card was ever used for anything ridiculous (food for all my friends, alcohol, etc) then everything would be taken away. I guess I was somewhat responsible because my brothers didn''t get the same deal! My parents paid for insurance and maintenance.. they knew that I was so busy with everything else that I would never be able to work enough to pay for that. Granted, several of the people I went to HS with were given everything, spent weekends getting wasted, wrecked their cars, spent all of their parents money, and are still living at home at 26...

If your daughter has already proven herself responsible, then sitting her down and explaining the card to her can help her start to learn how to manage money before she heads off to college or out into the working world on her own. The Visabuxx card suggested by the previous poster may also be a good idea if you are unsure. The fact that you are considering the card though tells me you probably already think she is responsible enough to handle it. At least this way you can help her learn money management before she starts getting credit cards!

Good luck!

 

[meresal]

My parents gave me two $20 bills every Monday. $20 for lunch and $20 for gas. Keeping in mind that was when gas was still around $.95/gal for regular.

When the weekend came around they would give me money for bowling, movies, whatever, but it was not given to me to spend freely thruout the month like an allowance. I think that it is very hard for a teenagers to conseptualize how to "spread out" spending thruout an entrie month. They don't understand the concept of "unforceen expenses". I would stick with the week-to-week thing.

Is your daughter going to get a job? If she is, then I would let her know, that any problems with the car(caused by user error) or accidents, will go unpaid, unless done so by her. That might keep her thinking a bit more when behind the wheel.

I'm not thinking that a debit/credit card is a good idea until maybe her senior year. If she is going to get a job, then maybe going with her to set up a chancking account would be great. Have her do checks for a year, and then get her a debit card to practice with her OWN money before leaving for college. That is what my parents did and it really helped me.

 

[IloveAsschers13]

I'm not sure why people are so against her getting a debit card. I do agree she should have a job to pay for her own things. I had my own debit card when I was 16, and I actively deposited money and took money out, money that I made on my own. It's not difficult to figure out, as long as someone teaches her how to save/spend wisely.

ETA- a lot of places don't really accept checks anymore, at least places I go. I use 1 check a month even now, to pay my rent (oh yeah and electricity bills), so checks might not really be the best idea, IMO.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I''ve been through this from the POV of the daughter, I''m only 23 so this was recent enough for me to recall vividly.

I started working when I was 12, babysitting and then working at a pharmacy about 15hrs a week. My allowance stopped then.

I worked and saved my money and bought my own car with my own car insurance when I was 17 so I could drive myself to college. The one thing my mom did do was sign me up for a savings account with an atm card. Since I was only 17, I wasn''t allowed to have a checking account yet. I could use the card to get cash but not actually make debit purchases. What I did instead was sign up for a Visa Bux card. It''s a pre-paid debit card. It worked well for me because I could use it anywhere but since it was pre-paid there was no way I could go over my limit or overdraft my account.

For a young girl who''s not used to money managing yet, I would recommend the pre-paid debit card until she demonstrates her ability to manage her money without overdrafting. The last thing you want is for her to ruin her credit before she even gets started!

 

[D&T]

I started working when I was 15 (six months before I turned 16) at a mall fast food restaurants - I had a debit card and checking account - never overdrafted - when I turned 16 - my sister actually put me on her Discover card - My sister actually taught me financial responsibilities and i always paid her back for whatever I used on the card. at 17 my dad cosigned on a car had a payment of $250 a month ( I sent in my monthly car payments to the lien holder myself), and by 18 I had excellent credit. I think it really depends on the kid as well, my DH was not so financially responsible during his teen years even up until he was 21 as grandma paid for everything gave him a gas card and others. If you worry, maybe have your kid write you out a check for car payments or other larger items to see how they handle the ''financial adulthood''

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/31/2009 12:22:03 PM
Author: Upgradable
She currently has her permit and will be getting her license in December. The agreement for the car was that she'd pay half and we'd pay the other half. She/we have been putting money into her savings account since she was little. She came up with close to $2400 dollars.

We decided to get the car now while we would still be riding with her during her permit. That way she has supervised practice with the vehicle, we feel comfortable with her driving it, and she can take her test in this car.

Up

can you talk to my daughters ?...at this point i'll settle for 10% of what i paid for their cars and insurance.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I wouldn''t make a decision on the money until you''ve had your sit down.

Decide on how much she is realisticly able to bring in then decide how much she''ll need to survive.

 

[pennquaker09]

I think I''m in the minority, but I''m of the belief that teens should only have jobs when absolutely necessary. Definitely not during the school year, anyway. School = job. And doing well in school is extremely important; I think having a job interferes with that. I''d rather give my kid $100 a week as opposed to them working to pay for things and doing bad in school.

I''m not saying that kids should get handouts and be spoiled to the max, but to me, there is a clear difference between adult and kid. And I think you can still teach a kid responsibility without them having to have a job.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I haven''t read all of the previous posts, but when I was 15 I worked a part time job in addition to babysitting whenever I could. I bought all of my own clothes (except for big ticket items like sneakers or a winter coat which mom picked up once a year), paid for any social events I wanted to take part in, and paid for any school trips I wanted to go on. I didn''t get my license until I was 18, but that was because we didn''t have a reliable car. My mom gave me lunch money every day and paid for all of the groceries, rent, etc. However, if I did something stupid like run up the phone bill, I was expected to pay the overage.

I think a 15 year old is fully capable of working and starting to learn how to support themselves. I''m not saying they should pay rent, but I think it''s healthy for them to learn that they need to work so they can do the things they want to do. When I was 15 I could think for myself. She wanted to shop at Walmart, I wanted to shop at the Gap. There were things I wanted that my mom didn''t want to pay for. So I bought them for myself. I think it''s important for the kid to have their own bank account in just their name with a debit card. They need to learn what happens when they overdraw their account. I don''t believe in giving kids credit or debit cards "in case of emergency." Any situation where you need a tow truck, etc, they should be calling the parent anyway. I''d just prefer to give my CC information then. Oh, and the whole being there for random emergencies ends at HS graduation. Once they''re in college they can take care of themselves (I worked full time while maintaining honors-worthy grades while in college, it can be done).

My little brother is 17 now. He has a job, his dad bought him a car (used Jeep), but he pays 100% of his insurance and all of the gas an maintenance for the car. My mom''s financial situation is much different now, so she takes on a little more of the cost of clothes, etc, but they usually split the cost between the two of them. He uses his own money to go to the movies and out on dates, etc.

I was so proud of him the other week, he needed some Under Armour stuff for football and instead of going to Modell''s and spending $100, he went to TJ Max and picked it up for $60...He''s such a little Fashionista....