The Big Purchase

Hi Scott,

My little boy’s ‘Save’ jar just got emptied for this little beauty! He paid for it with six months of chores plus selling some old toys on Gumtree — a ‘Money Challenge’ that was in your book The Barefoot Investor for Families. He managed to save $143 in small change, which he counted out to a very patient store manager.

It took a whole day for him and his dad to build, and it sleeps next to his bed with its own special blanket. (We are now slightly worried that he is calculating the cost of other household items to sell for LEGO.) He has blown us away with his tenacity to work for the three jam jars.

Thanks, Scott!

Gail

Hi Gail,

Look at how proud this little guy is!

Can you imagine the swagger of having $143 in his pocket? He’ll never feel that rich again, right?Awesome!While we’re all stuck at home (particularly here in locked-down Victoria), there’s only one thing better than going ‘Marie Kondo’ and turning trash into cash … getting your kids to do it.

Thank-you for reading,

Scott

The 12-Year-Old Miner

Scott,

My 12-year-old son wants to become a Bitcoin miner. He wants to purchase a special device for $120 and believes he will earn around $30 a day. We have researched online and based on the power consumption of the unit, he will be lucky to make even $1 a day, as the difficulty level is extremely high. What is your opinion of Bitcoin mining ? Is it worth the effort or expense? I am more worried about the risk of the house burning down or having our computers hacked. 

Bec

Hi Bec,

A dollar a day is maybe on the high side … however if my kid was more interested in Bitcoin than, say, Fortnite, I’d be mining that hobby for everything it’s worth. So double down on antivirus software, keep a fire extinguisher at the ready, and HODL away!

Scott

He’ll Be Okay

Scott,

You recently wrote about a father who was having problems with his son’s attitude. Sounds familiar. My youngest did average at school, played at uni for one semester, then sat back on his 10-hour-a-week checkout job. Despite lectures on my part, nothing changed — and I kept bailing him out. My husband and I wanted a different life, so we sold the big acreage house and bought a beautiful penthouse by the sea. We love it. My son had to move out, and he was livid for quite a while. But guess what? He is now 21, has a full-time job, rents a room in a share house, pays his own bills, is paying me back the money he ‘borrowed’, and has plans for his future. Now he shouts me lunch.

Juliet

Hi Juliet,

I actually had a lot of parents write to me this week sharing similar stories. It taught me a few things:

First, most kids learn more by fending for themselves than they do from well-meaning lectures.

Second, tough love may not feel good at the time (my parents threatened to change the locks after I moved out), but 20 years on they’ll thank you for it.

Finally, as a parent, you’re only ever as happy as your unhappiest kid.

Scott

My Son has a Problem

Hi Scott,

My 18-year-old son has no value for money and thinks I am a human ATM! I still pay for his phone and his car insurance. He completed the VCE but did not want to pursue university. He is working part time at the moment and is also receiving Youth Allowance. However, every week without fail he will ask for a loan of cash on an IOU basis. He still believes it is my responsibility to pay his living expenses, and I cannot get through to him on this. 

Gary

Hi Gary,

I’m sorry but I think you’re wrong.

Your son doesn’t have a problem: he lives rent free in a nice joint, all his bills are paid, he’s getting a bit of money from Centrelink and a part-time job, and when that runs out he has access to cash whenever he wishes.

If I were to sit down with your son, I think he’d tell me his life is pretty sweet. No problems!

Gary, it’s you who has the problem.

So my question isn’t directed at him — he’s set himself up very nicely — it’s to you:

What are you going to do about this caterpillar?

You’ve got a slug munching away your food, and your wallet. The cocoon you’ve made for him sure is comfy!

Here’s the deal: he won’t find his life’s purpose sitting on your couch, eating your food, and spending your money.

If you want him to become a butterfly, he needs to spread his wings and fly off to a low-rent share house that has two-minute noodles as a staple meal.

(Yes, I’ve spent way too much of these holidays reading The Hungry Caterpillar.)

Given he’s still young, let him know that he’s welcome to fly back at any stage, on the proviso that he presents you with a solid plan (study, a trade, or a full-time job).

Good luck!

Scott

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Dear Scott,

My wife and I have been doing the Jam Jars with our two girls for a bit over a year now. I just wanted to let you in on a conversation I overheard this morning:

Wife: “Why don’t you have more money in your Give Jar?”

Six-year-old: “I give it to the people.”

Wife: “Which people?”

Six-year-old: “The people in the tuckshop I get my Icy Pole from.”

Wife: “That’s not what your Give Jar is for, darling.”

Six-year-old: “But I give them money for my Icy Pole!”

Nick

Hey Nick,

You, my friend, have won question of the year. I got a real laugh from this one.

Let’s hope your daughter doesn’t become a lawyer!

Scott

Student Super

Hi Scott,

EmmaI am 18 years old and have just landed two casual jobs, so I need to set up a super account (after finding out that all of my past super from a part-time summer job in 2016 was reduced to $0.14 and then taken by the ATO!). I have several friends who swear by Student Super as it has zero fees for balances under $1,000. What’s your take? I would really like to have super that does not get reduced to nothing again.

Emma

Hi Emma,

Can I just say how much you rock for asking me this question at the start of your career?Seriously, if I wasn’t a daggy father who works in finance I’d do a TikTok dance for you.

Actually, maybe not. So let’s talk money:

You’re right, Student Super do have zero fees for balances under $1,000, which they should be applauded for.

But they need to make some kabana, so after your balance rises to $5,000 you’ll pay $78 plus 0.99% p.a.And that’s way too expensive, especially given you have 50 years or more (!) to compound your money.

It won’t take long to burst through the $5,000 barrier. Student Super knows this, which is why they’re trying to lure you in on the front end ... knowing they’ll make it back big time on the back end.

So, here’s what would be on my super shopping list:

Ultra-low fees … preferably under 0.5% p.a. no matter how much you have in the account.

The option to invest your money into a high-growth index fund.And no life insurance until you have dependents (cats don’t qualify).

Don’t worry about fancy apps or snazzy calculators: so long as your fund continues charging low fees, the less you hear from them, the better. Good luck!

Scott

How a Teenager Works 5 Hours … and Gets $1,500

Hi Scott,

I am an 18-year-old and have been laid off from my job at a swim centre because of the coronavirus. The company had applied for the JobKeeper payment, which I have tagged along on. I just found out that, even though I only worked five hours a week, I will be getting $1,500 each fortnight! How do I go from managing $150 to managing $1,500? I was thinking of keeping the $150 I normally make and saving the rest. What would you do?

Sabrina

Hi Sabrina,

Now that’s what I call Corona Cash!I have to tell you, as a taxpayer, I’m a little peeved about this.

But, as the Barefoot Investor, I’m proud of the fact you’re contacting me to do something smart with it.

Most 18-year-olds in your situation would go to Bali!

(Oh actually, you can’t do that, can you? Ha! Well, at least you can go take a trip on Bendigo’s world-famous Talking Tram, so long as you adhere to social distancing ... only four people per carriage. Rock on!)

Still, you’ve got the right idea: keep living off the income you’re used to, and use the rest to set yourself up financially.

My advice would be to stash away $2,000 in a Mojo account, for when it’s time to move out of your parents’ place.

Then, set up your buckets (including one you nickname ‘Sabrina’s House Deposit’) and start saving for your own place.

You may feel that’s a long way off, and it is.However, each time you flick open your banking app you’ll see it slowly growing.

Thanks for making my tax dollars actually do something productive!

Scott

My Son is a Thief

Hi Scott,

Today my 8-year-old son stole $40 from my 10-year-old daughter’s purse, and then shouted all his friends at the school canteen. I am not sure how to deal with this one correctly so that both of my kids learn a lesson. Any advice from one dad to another?

Ted

Hi Ted,

That’s a doozy, dude.

If it were me, I’d get my Judge Judy on, arrange a kitchen table court, and dole out some tough justice.

First, I’d give your daughter the $40 back — after all, she’s done nothing wrong.

But there may be a lesson for her: 40 bucks to a 10-year-old is like $500 to you and me, so ask her whether at least some of that money would be better off in a bank account. (If she says yes, all you need to do is create a separate online saver in your name, and nickname it after her.)

She gets a shiny new account. Win!

Then I’d tell your son that he needs to pay you back the $40 … plus interest. (Personally, I’d make him pay it back double … but my wife says I’m often too hard on my boys.)

Walking the dog, polishing shoes, taking out the garbage, whatever … until he pays off every single dollar.

The final lesson is for you: lock away the jam jars till payday!

Scott

A 12 Year-Old Steals The Show

Hi Scott,

I am 12 years old and I have dysgraphia and ADD. My dad has been doing Barefoot for 12 months and now we are able to go to Bali for a holiday ... just me and him. My grandma has promised $25,000 to me from an inheritance she received from her uncle. I want to invest it in shares but Grandma keeps telling me they are too risky. How can I convince her to put some of the money into shares instead of the bank? What can I say to her to let me invest even a little bit? I have saved $600 on my own already!

Corey

Hi Corey,

I have to admit I didn’t know what dysgraphia was, so I googled it:

“Dysgraphia can appear as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper.”

Dude, you’re doing great!

Seriously, I’ve employed people way older than you who can’t express themselves half as well as you can.

You need to use those communication skills to help educate your grandmother.

Ask her about all the tough times that have happened in history: the wars, the depression, recessions, and financial crashes.

Well, over the past 120 years, the Aussie share market has returned, before inflation, a 10% per year return.

Next, go to the ASIC MoneySmart website’s compound interest calculator:

Type in $25,000 and then 10% for the return, which, over the past 120 years, is the long-term (pre-inflation) return that Aussie shares have achieved.

When you’re 30 (18 years) that $25k could be worth $140,000.

By the time you’re 60 (48 years) that $25k could be worth $2.5 million.

She’ll be one proud grandma.

Scott

Sleepless Barefooters

Hi Scott,

My wife and I recently welcomed our first child, a boy.

While at the hospital, I noticed your book was in the hospital library with the caption ‘Great Books to Read Aloud to Babies’.

We have a copy at home that I have tried reading to our son, but he does not seem too interested right now!

Anyway, I wanted to ask for your advice on what type of bank account I should set up for him.

Regards,

Anna and Steve

Hi Guys,

Congratulations!

But I don’t think babies need bank accounts.

f you’re just going to use it for some grandparents’ birthday gifts and a few bucks here and there, you’d be better off creating an additional online saver in the lower-income-earning spouse’s name, and then nicknaming that account after your child. (That’s important -- names have power -- if you don’t, you’ll probably forget after a while and end up spending the money.)

However, if you’re thinking about saving long term for his future (10 years plus), you definitely don’t want to have that money in a bank account: better to invest it in the share market. I write about that in my book too.Feel free to read all about it in your rocking chair. However, I’d suggest you stick with Where’s The Green Sheep? and save my book for a few months’ time when you and your wife can tackle it together on a date night at a restaurant!

Scott

Complexity Killed the Cat

Hi Scott,

I just wanted to say that I completed your survey about school banking. I found the questions really long-winded and complex! It almost felt like my Year 12 English exam (back in ’79). It’s strange, as your book is so lovely and easy to read.

Mary

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the backhander!

The questions were actually set by the corporate cops, ASIC.

Look, they’re bureaucrats, not Ernest Hemingway. However, they do have an important aim with their questions:

To work out what the community thinks about banks buying their way into classrooms.

And that’s why my submission was about giving people like you a voice.

In fact, 14,195 people contributed to my submission.

And, not surprisingly, 91% of them want to see ASIC get banks out of schools.Over to you, ASIC.

Scott

I Am Adrian’s Mum!

Hi Scott,

In response to your column last week about the Commonwealth Bank’s school banking program, I am “Adrian’s mum from Year 4” and I’m also the school banking co-ordinator for the primary school. Yes, I am a volunteer. In fact there are four of us who volunteer on a regular basis. Even though I run the program, I support the idea of removing big banks from school banking programs and have watched with interest the changes you are trying to make in the sector. But the one thing that keeps the program going at our school is the kickback from the bank — around $800 a year. It is more than some of our other fundraisers! Anything that brings in dollars to the P & C is going to be difficult to get rid of.

Rita

Hi Rita,

I totally understand that the money Commbank pays cash-strapped schools is welcome.

Yet the point is it comes with strings, and it’s your kids who’ll pay for it in the end.

Part of my submission to ASIC will raise your point, and I’m going to add that we need the government to put some money into this.

I’ve always said the CBA understands the value of our kids — it’s time our government did too.

Scott

Sounds ... Spriggy

Hi Scott,

I have just finished a call with a friend who was telling about a money app for kids called ‘Spriggy’. As far as I can tell, it pays no interest, has a yearly joining fee, and only allows access by a custom, kid-friendly Visa card (decorated with a cute cartoon pig). My friend has now been asked to send cash to it as a way of paying for a present for a friend’s child. Good thing or just a trap?

Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Spriggy is an app that lets parents pay their kids’ pocket money into a linked account with a prepaid card.

According to their website it’s “a tool to prepare your kids through practical experience”.

But there are a few reasons I’m not a fan:

First, it costs too much: $30 per child per year … so if you’ve got four kids it’s $120 a year.

Of course, eventually your tween will need a bank account. When that time comes, you should challenge them to choose a no-fee high interest rate account (rather than paying $30 a year for a glorified app).

Second, not everything needs to have an app (with a monthly fee).

Yes, money is fast becoming numbers on a screen, but kids are inherently visual creatures. The reason I champion three jam jars and a simple scoreboard on the fridge is so that kids see the coins hitting the jar and the money piling up.

Parents, put down your freaking phone and connect with your kids over the family dinner table. This is not about the money, it’s about developing strong behaviours. You are the killer app.

Scott

The Generous Generation

Hi Scott

I just wanted to share with you a lovely story. I run a charity called Mums Supporting Families in Need. We provide material aid to vulnerable families in Victoria. Yesterday we had a young girl (grade 6) to come in and volunteer hours with her school. She handed me an envelope with a note that said.

"At home I have three jars: splurge, smile and give. Here is $25 from my giving jar for you to put towards something you are needing."

I love that your concept teaches even our young generation of giving.

Jodie

Hi Jodie,

Last week I hung out with a grade three primary school class in Hervey Bay.

As part of my primary school program, ‘The Jam Jar Project’, the kids sold some of their unwanted toys and books in a school ‘Toy Frenzy’, and ended up raising $31 in their class ‘give’ jam jar.

Then the kids debated the best place to give the money: the local animal shelter? The children’s hospital?

They ended up making a group decision to give it to a local homeless shelter.

On their final graduation celebration class, a representative from the shelter came in and was officially presented with the ‘give jar’ money from the kids.

She brought with her a bowl, cereal, and fresh fruit, and explained to the kids that because of their hard work and generosity, they would be able to feed 25 people in their local community breakfast the next morning.

I sat at the back of the class and saw the absolute pride in the kids eyes.It was one of my proudest moments too.

Thanks for sharing.

Scott

Tuck Shop Attack

Hi Scott,

You have talked about in-school marketing programs (like ‘Dollarmites’) and how they hook kids into using the big banks. Well, I have a concern that we are doing the same now with the ‘Qkr!’ program that is run in schools so kids can pay for stuff at the tuckshop. To sign up, parents have to provide their bank details, and their kids’ details as well. The fact is that Qkr! is owned and run by Mastercard. Isn’t this just another way of gaining access to information about our kids’ buying habits?

Troy

Hi Troy,

Yes, of course it is.I had a look through Qkr’s terms and conditions:

Mastercard collects your kid’s photograph, and tracks your location, preferences, interests and behaviours, so they can ”send you marketing materials and personalised content”.

On my evil-banker-meter, that’s fairly standard practice.

(It’s not like they’re Commbank, who pay schools kickbacks to sign kids up to their credit card marketing funnel.)

And it’s no worse than what’s going on in your kid’s bedrooms, where every click and swipe they make is tracked.

Big tech is collecting kids’ data at an alarming rate — as much as 72 million data points before they turn 13 — according to ad platform SuperAwesome.

And even vigilant parents can be caught out: this week Google’s YouTube got caught collecting children’s personal data without their parents’ consent, and was fined million (mere pocket change!).

Thankfully, former Google boss Eric Schmidt has kindly offered us parents a simple solution to all this digital creepiness: we should simply let young people change their names when they turn 18 so they can escape their digital past.

See, billionaire tech leaders have all the answers!

Scott

Why is Nike targeting my kids?

Did you know that Nike is launching a Netflix-style monthly subscription for kids’ sneakers?

It’s called the ‘Nike Adventure Club’, it’s aimed at two-year-olds to 10-year-olds, and it kicked off in the US last week.

There are three tiers of subscription: $20, $30 or $50 a month. Meaning that parents who sign up get a brand-new pair of sneakers once a month, once every two months or once every three months respectively.

Sidenote:

What kid needs a new pair of Nike sneakers each month?

When I was a boy, I scored my older cousin’s Dunlop Volleys. Problem was they were about four sizes too big, which meant that every so often I’d kick the footy and my shoe would fly off and hit my cousin in the short and curlies.

When I protested to Dad, he got on his knees and pressed down on the empty toes of my shoes: “Plenty of room to grow into these”, he cheerfully announced.

(Nowadays my wife worries that our 18-month-old doesn’t have enough ‘arch support’. But I digress.)

Marketers are following the lead of tech companies and moving to subscription-based payments.

Today you can pay a monthly subscription for Amazon books, but what about renting your bookshelf?

Well, you can.

Ikea has announced it’s trialling a furniture rental subscription service across 30 countries. (Which makes perfect sense, especially if you’re a renter. When your lease ends you can just hand back your hacked-together bed, rather than throwing it out or trying to sell it on Gumtree for a few bucks.)

Businesses are clearly attracted to subscriptions for the lucrative recurring revenue: why bother going through the costly exercise of selling to the same customers over and over again, when you can charge them a small monthly fee?

Case in point: scrappy start-up Dollar Shave Club took a razor to global giant Gillette by launching a monthly shaver subscription. They quickly signed up 3.2 million customers to a monthly autobill, and in less than five years sold the business for a cool $1 billion to Unilever.

The final reason businesses like subscriptions is that they build a deeper relationship with the consumer:

“One of the things [Nike CFO] Andy Campion gets excited about, is that we are now building relationships with kids from two years old”, says Dave Cobban, general manager of Nike Adventure Club.

Okay, so that’s next level corporate creepy (hello, Dollarmites).

Then again, these guys really do ‘Just Do it’: their $60 kiddie shoes really only cost about $2, and are probably sewn together by Nike’s other youth-based stakeholders … dirt-poor Bangladeshi kids working in sweatshops.

Whatever the motivation, one thing is clear: subscriptions are here to stay.

Tread Your Own Path!

Pass me a bucket

I saw the door of my study creep open, ever so slightly.

I heard heavy breathing. Whispers. And then … fits of giggles.

It was the school holidays and my sons were bored, so they decided to spy on their old man ‘working’.

And fair enough too. When I was roughly their age, I’d do the same thing with my old man, and I’d watch him counting out great wads of cash (hey, it was the 80s).

My boys, however, saw me sitting on my office floor playing with three plastic buckets.

I may as well have been in a sandpit (hence the giggles).

Let me explain: this year I’ve been working in classrooms across the country teaching kids about money, as part of my not-for-profit the Barefoot Money Movement.

My Primary School program — called ‘The Jam Jar Project’ — is a rolled gold winner:

Last month I taught it at my old primary school, and the kids nearly wet themselves.

“This is the best class ever and I have a blood nose”, one seven year old excitedly told me.

My teenage program is … not going as well.

In fact, teaching this class has been giving me a blood nose. Repeatedly.

Honestly, engaging teenagers is easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my career. I’m in awe of the amazing work teachers do. The volatility of the share market has nothing on the volatility of 25 teenagers. We go from boom to bust to depression … in a 60 minute class!

Yet I finally nailed it — with the help of three plastic buckets.

Here’s what I did:

I put a bucket on the table and explained to the class that this bucket represented a bank account.

Then I told them about Johnny Depp. He may be a movie star flying around in private jets, but Johnny has a hole in his bucket: money goes in, but it flows straight out the bottom. He (reportedly) doesn’t save. (Which explains why he has to keep making bad pirate movies.)

Then I picked up the other plastic buckets and put them on the table. The solution, I told the kids, is to have two other savings buckets that don’t have holes in them: one for emergencies (Mojo), and one for savings goals (Smile).

They got the concept straight away.

In the next lesson I plan to take the metaphor further, and explain that their job is to guard their buckets, and not let anyone drill a hole in them: like credit card companies, Harvey Norman interest-free deals, Nimble loans, car loans, even AfterPay. We go through their glossy marketing, and then read the fine print and show them just how big a hole these products can blow a hole in their buckets.

Here’s the deal: in a few short years these kids will be fresh meat for financial institutions, who employ some of the savviest and sophisticated marketers on the planet. While they’re still in school, they need to learn how the game works against them.

Case in point: we got the class to calculate that an average credit card would take 30 years to pay off.

The looks on their faces, as Mastercard would say, were ‘Priceless’.

Tread Your Own Path!

Coles Mini Money

Hi Scott,

I’m sure I’m one of hundreds of people emailing you about this, but thought I’d better, just in case. As someone who is slowly paying down $70,000 worth of debt using your book, I was horrified when my three-year-old son opened a Coles ‘Mini’ with a pretend credit card inside. And the best bit ‒ the QR code on the back takes you straight to Coles financial services. What a disgrace!

Tammy

Hi Tammy,

The Coles Little Shop phenomenon reminds me of the Tazo card craze of the mid-90s.

As a kid I remember working at Woolies (okay, mainly standing around, trying to flirt with the checkout girls), and seeing grown men hunting the aisles for ‘limited edition’ plastic pog Tazos.

“Buy Woolies shares instead, toy-boy”, I thought to myself.

The Little Shop is big business for Coles: analysts estimate that it has boosted their profits by around $11 million.

I had a look at the pack (cheap plastic that would cost a few cents to make in China), and saw the card you spoke of.

It’s actually a Mastercard Coles Gift Card, so it’s not a credit card. However, retailers love prepaid gift cards because they get the money up front, and all too often the card gets lost in the sock draw, thrown out, and never fully spent.

There’s a reason big financial corporations (hello Coles Financial Services, and CommBank) give kids plastic toys with their logos plastered on them. It’s smart marketing and excellent brand association for them.

Yet this is also why I get my kids to use good old jam jars and coins for their pocket money: it makes money visual (“The more I work, the more money goes into the jars”). That way I -- not the marketers -- get to control the message.

Scott

Changing Our Kids’ Lives

Hi Scott,

My parents were terrible with their finances (and still are, sadly), so I learnt from them that ‘credit is OK’ and got myself into all kinds of trouble. Then, two years ago, I read The Barefoot Investor, and my partner and I are now very close to paying off all our debts. A few weeks ago I read The Barefoot Investor for Families. We have two children, aged 3 and 5, so we started the jam jars with them. Today we all went to Target, and when we were in the toy section, instead of saying “Mummy, can I have ...” they were saying “I’m going to save up for this”. How powerful is that? We are determined for our kids to be financially savvy, and now we feel we can do it.

Layla

Hi Layla,

Thanks for writing and telling me of your win. You see, I got a letter from another parent this week who told me that I was corrupting the youth of Australia. Her basic argument was that making kids work for money is too full on: “Why not just let them be kids ‒ they’ve got the rest of their lives to worry about money?”

That’s certainly one approach, yet for me it’s code for “Don’t worry, shnookums, here’s twenty bucks”.

What you’re doing, on the other hand, is teaching your kids self-reliance. More importantly, you’re giving your kids self-confidence, and there’s no age restriction on that. I’ve always said that an amazing thing happens when kids save up and buy something on their own steam. It’s not only a proud parenting moment for you, but it’s a life-changing experience for them. You got this!

Scott

The Barefoot Kid

Hi Scott,

I am so proud of our three-year-old! Scarlett saved up her pocket money from doing her ‘jobs’. We took her to our local tip shop and she selected a second-hand bike for $5 (see picture). She’s a Barefoot Kid!

Emilie

Hi Emilie,

That’s awesome! As a fellow parent of a three-year-old, I can attest that there’s something amazing that happens when they work hard, save up and buy their own stuff. I love hearing stories from families who’ve read the book. Now it's time to hit the schools as well.

Thank-you for reading, and sharing.

Scott