What a beautiful statement, right?
That is what I try to convey to my 18-year-old daughter who has just recently finished her first engineering course. She still has nine more courses or semesters ahead of her to obtain the necessary knowledge for the profession, then comes the Final Degree Project and later the Master's...
Everything is well planned for the coming years... However, what she still doesn't know is that all this knowledge will most likely not be enough but is an indispensable condition for success.
And when I refer to success, I am not referring only to the professional aspect but also to being as self-sufficient as possible and always having the ability to choose.
Unfortunately, the ability to choose is closely linked to your degree of financial independence... and this degree must be built from an early age.
I am not saying that she should not enjoy her savings now but that she should start thinking about money not only to transact TODAY but to obtain decision-making capacity TOMORROW.
Time preference and Carpe Diem
Youth and the first years of adulthood are possibly the most interesting time of our lives, the time interval where we are going to develop as a person and where our foundations will be solidified affecting our destiny...
It is difficult to convince someone so young that they have to save and invest in order to enjoy tomorrow, but it is something that as a parent and based on the experiences that I myself have experienced, I must insist on.
However, it must be done in a prudent manner.
How am I going to tell someone not to enjoy the present today if tomorrow everything can change?
Especially if the person I'm referring to is so young, with so much desire to experiment, discover, and enjoy...
For me, the main thing is to convey the idea of having budget control... something that I myself developed late, perhaps after 30...
She has the possibility of saving, let's say a minimum of 10% of her monthly income, perhaps allocating it to an accumulation fund, or perhaps to a long-term index fund...not counting on that 10% ever, or at least not counting on it until she turns 30...
Doing what she wants with the rest, spending it on whims, trips, friends, etc., enjoying life to the fullest but not touching that monthly recurrence not to compromise the future and her decision-making capacity.
I hope to succeed in my message to her, at the moment I'm doing well, I don't know if she'll listen to me...but I'm obliged to tell her.
My experience as a father of also a 18 year old daughter is the following: bring the message across but don’t push too hard on them to „oblige“. Every trend is causing a counter trend of you know what I mean. They have to make their own experiences, they will learn from it.
Regarding savings and investing I advised my daughter that she should always put 10% of every money she getauft away and invest it in a World ETF. Thats what she is doing now. Hope she remains consistent but if she spends it all at some point she will have to deal with it. We can only show them the way, they have to walk by themself.
21st century job mechanism is hell, unlike 90s where everything is easy
Nothing certain, knowthing is guaranteed
We only need to do our best for them
Thanks for this..
It is a fact that children grow up very quickly and parents keep thinking about them and then there comes a time when parents get old then this is life. Parents give up their joys in life and give every happiness to their children.
There isn't much you can do other than tell them the information. They will figure out what is important over time and I feel that constantly telling someone the same thing makes them feel bad about it.
Congratulations to your daughter for completing her first engineering course. Education is knowledge which translates into meaning in later life. I wish your daughter a beautiful life.
Thanks
It is a fact that we are here in this world if we don't study and live in the same way then there is no point in our life. Education is very important for all of us.
You say the true
Being a parent is not easy, no one has the right math, you can only do what you think is the best and hope she listens... 18y it's a particular time, expecially nowadays where everyone must show off things