Parental Guidance Recommended!

[Alan H]

Did anyone see the above article and front cover of the April Property Investor Magazine?

[For those that didn't, the article was about various ways of helping your kids into property investment and this certainly included education etc. not just cash! The front cover shows this young girl, with the most knowing look on her face, holding her first set of house keys!]. Wonderful!

Being the father of two young girls(yes......yes......I know....I'm sure the teenage years will be fun! ) , I must admit that the front cover struck a chord with me regarding ONE of the things I'd like for my girls. In fact, I'm keeping that magazine aside to remind me every now and again(not over the top) that it may be time for another game of 'Cashflow for Kids'/Monopoly or time to see if they're ready to learn a new concept.

I would hope(?) I can instill an attitude in my kids that developing a passive income asap is a GOOD thing. NOT so they can sit around and do nothing, but so that the time they have on this earth can be used as productively as possible doing things they have a PASSION for. Whether it is becoming a ditch digger or a brain surgeon(I really don't care), surely one of our jobs as parents is to help our kids find what they may be good at(have a passion for) and if they have some passive income, they don't need to worry about what the occupation pays. Note: They would need to be VERY good at digging ditches and be VERY passionate about it though.

It was interesting in the article, to see how some siblings really took to Investments, while others took totally different paths. For those investors out there with older kids, have you also found this to be common?

 

[Brizzy Boy]

Hi Alan H,
have not bought this months API mag yet, "a today job as i am still on holidays things happen a little slower". Have been married twice so between my wife and I we have 6 children, 2 boys both 24 and 4 girls youngest being 18, oldest two being 22.
I have had a rough trot through life so I was always going to give guidance to my children so not to have to experiance what I have been through. But there comes a time, where you have no control anymore, you can only advise and they make their own decisions, all went through to grade 12 but one as she rebelled and had herself expelled in year 11, I try hard with this one as she lives with her boyfriend and has a bub too! Have had them save to get into their first home but when they seem to be getting there, "they give in to the marshmellow test and blow all their savings on material things". 3 went on to uni but all dropped out!

Two other daughters one turned 22 last week and has her first IP which she bought with a cousin and is now in the process of buying her out, setting herself up so to be able to buy again. It is hard for me as she is not very motivated and needs prodding along,"sometimes I think she resents this". Her birthday was last week and I bought her 2 books, "Rich Dad Poor Dad & and 1 of Jan Somers books", my daughter said thanx dad but the look on her face was "please lay off a bit".
The other daughter needs no pushing she has things all planned and is following it to the letter, she should have her first property wiyhin the next few months and she is only 19 will be 20 in November.

The boys, well they are boys only one thing on their minds "Girls", one saves and is a real tight *ss, a good start. His girlfriend wants to buy a unit and is working at it okay and should manage it within the next 12 months but he is not interested. As for my son well he spends, spends, spends in total contrast to what he was like, "man! he had thousands of $ in the bank and blew it all over night". His girlfriend comes from a family of property investors and her dad has taken him under his wing so there is hope yet.

As you see Alan, their final path is theirs to take we can only provide the tools for them. It is their choice if they want to use them or not.

Many Kind Regards
John

 

[kissfan]

Hi Alan.
I have a 17 yr old (18 in a month) and one thing I have found is that you can only teach someone what that want to learn, a bit like nagging someone to lose weight, no diet will work until the person decides that THEY want to lose weight. Over the years, I've tried to include my son on visits to solicitors, accountants, real estate meetings etc just to get him thinking about what I do but now he is at an age where I think he must start making his own decisions about his future. He has started working but in my opinion (admittedly I'm a very hard taskmaster) hasn't saved what I think he should have. I realise that he is still young but when I read about people his age already investing, I think to myself I wish that was my son. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud of the person that my son has/is developed/ing into and every now and then he'll say something that makes me think that maybe some of my "lessons" have worked. Fortunately in his job (he works as a personal trainer in an inner city (expensive) training studio) he meets with a lot of very motivated people and trains corporate lawyers, celebrity managers, and even one very well known property guru. So of course I tell him to talk to these people as much as possible and learn what you can off them etc.
Sometimes I think as a parent that we can only do so much then just have faith in our kids and give them all the love possible and keep telling that no matter what, we will be there for them.

Regards
Marty

 

[Alan H]

........
As you see Alan, their final path is theirs to take we can only provide the tools for them. It is their choice if they want to use them or not.

Many Kind Regards
John

Yeah .....that's right John. I want to try and strike the right balance. I can only pass on the little I know.......what they do with it is up to them.

With two kids, one of the only things that I know for certain is that they will be different.

Hopefully they'll both have nice taste is old people's homes for their dad though!

 

[Lissy]

So far my 7.5yo son is very interested in house plans and architecture magazines, he regularly looks at houses we drive past and says you could knock that down and build "whatever" - so I have high hopes of turning him into a developer.
My 4yo daughter is very creative at this stage, always likes to decorate things to make them look nice. So I think she would be good at turning my son's developments into attractive developments, particularly the interiors.
They've only just been talked out of the idea that they should marry each other when they grow up (hehehehe the innocence of youth) but maybe I should highlight the advantages of forming a business partnership.