SW17LS

That's a totally different situation. I would never expect my child who is involved in my business to bid on it alongside everybody else when I go to retire. He would have earned the right to have it by having been involved in it leading up to my retirement. If he weren't involved in it then I would sell it, and that money would become part of my wealth that they would get (whatever is left lol) when I'm gone.

When we die, everything we have will go to our kids. We intend to give them every opportunity in life and help them wherever we can, and where that "help" actually helps. Buying a teenager a BMW doesn't help them at all, it hurts them. Buying them a good reliable, enjoyable mainstream car to start them out helps them, and that we will do.

Letting your kid live off of you when they're 25 with no job isn't helping them. Getting your kid involved in your business and having them work towards a future where that business would be theirs is helping them. I think that's 100% fantastic.

That's part of being a parent. Doing what makes you and them feel good all the time often isn't actually the right approach.

mmarshall

Well, with your own kids, at their age, you probably have at least a dozen years left (perhaps more) to prepare them for that.

I agree to an extent, but that's one reason why the ObamaCare bill (ACA), when passed, had the provision that kids could stay on their parents' health-insurance policies until they were 26....many of them, in fact, WERE still living at home.

mmarshall

Back on topic, in the original post, perhaps I did not make clear enough that there were also many other good, inexpensive cars available in today's market for teens and/or college students. Imprezas, Crosstreks, and Foresters are great as inexpensive, safe, reliable snow-cars, but, of course, many parts of the country don't get much snow or icy conditions. In fact, many smaller inexpensive cars and sedans today are at least fairly reliable, though I would avoid the Ford Escape/Fiesta for the troublesome and clunky dual-clutch transmissions, Fiat products for their unreliability and sparse dealer-network, Nissan Versa for its excessive cheapness inside and out, and, of course, the Smart-for-Two for many different reasons.

Johnhav430

I know we can dance around it, in my day, it was ok for a kid to be 28 living at home, because heck, look how expensive rent was in NYC and Long Island. But somehow this perpetuated to now it's ok to be 43 and living at home, because the parents have a room anyway and they'll be giving you the house someday. And the new expression is not failure to launch, but failure to reach the launch pad.

I'm still of the camp where a kid turns 18, it's time to come home only for holidays and summer breaks, and living permanently at home is a thing of the past. What I truly believe, is that there are parents who are ok with kids living off them, they have enough and it's not necessary for the kid to sustain themselves, and they do love their kids as much as anybody else.....that's just not me nor my parents I guess....you get a foot in your rear end the fall after you turn 18....

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

agree, sounds familiar...

many parents need to be needed, especially by their kids, but in the end it's not helpful to the kids, it's co-dependence.

SW17LS

I don't have a problem with kids living at home, it's the not working. You can live at home with your parents when you're young to save money, hell, it's expensive out there. That's an example of helping kids who are willing to help themselves.

If you are 25 living at home and doing nothing. No work, no school, etc. THATS a problem.

mmarshall

A lot of young people would be ashamed to admit they are in that position. It's embarrassing, at that age, to tell their friends that they still have to clear things with Mom and Dad LOL. Part of it, though, is the simple reality of today's economy and living-costs. The days are gone (or almost gone) when one could enter a high-paying unionized or blue-collar job (autos, coal, steel, railroads, etc...) right out of high school, work for decades in that field, make a lot of money/benefits, and retire comfortably.

Och

iTrader: (3)

There's also the cost of living. Here in outer boroughs of NYC a STUDIO starts at 1,600 in neighborhoods with long commute to manhattan. College students cant afford that on part time jobs without their parents assistance.

mmarshall

Sure does.....Gee, at one time I even recommended the JGC.

mmarshall

Yeah, I did mention that, Och...in another post. But, yes, you have a point about NYC....it's the most expensive place I've ever seen.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

for college students? I don't follow.

mmarshall

I was just kidding with you....since you like to use the ( ) symbol on so many of your replies.

Nothing against the JGC, though...it's a superb vehicle in my book, arguably, along with the Fiat 124 Spyder, FCA's best American-market product (you've read my reviews and others). But, yes, perhaps a little too much vehicle as a new-car gift for college students.


Interestingly enough, the Day-Manager of a local pizza/sub shop I like (I've known him for a number of years...he's way up in age now and a little slow on the feet, but just doesn't want to retire) has a JGC, a couple of years old, that is actually the reverse of the thread-topic here......(his daughter bought it for him). He just loves it....though he could have done a little better job of avoiding curb-rash LOL.

roadbike56

I guess I'm old school. When my son went to college, I gave him a used TREK 800 mountain bike. I told him that was his "car" while we paid for his education. In less than a year, he told us to take the Trek home, he didn't need it.
Near the end of his sophomore year, and after posting grades that showed he was on track to graduate *** Laude, we gave him our aging, eleven year old Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the four years it spent at school (he went on to obtain a Masters Degree) the Jeep had three issues, front brakes, battery and a blown starter motor. However, that poor Jeep was neglected because a college student isn't focused on taking care of a car. By the time he moved to Europe to work and returned the Jeep to us, the paint was peeling, the interior was a mess and it needed other attention/repairs.
If I had it to do over again, I would do it the same way, prove to us you can handle college and focus on grades your freshman year, then we'll give you a reliable, but old car so that when it gets trashed, as it should while you're focused on getting grades, we won't regret it.
I guess I'm of that school that feels paying six figures for an education is enough of a burden for parents. No new car for college was in our plans.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

roadbike56 - well played.

oldcajun

My Dad paid my way through college the old fashioned way - he got me a summer job! I worked on offshore oil drilling platforms for 3 summers and made enough to pay my way through school. My first car was a 4 year old Chevy and my first car payments were $250 per month. Of course the loan duration was 3 months for a total of $750. At the time I was unhappy with having to work my way through when many of my classmates played all summer, but in retrospect I wouldn't trade the experience. When I went to job interviews, it paid off. The recruiters were impressed that I had real world work experience along with an engineering degree. My first new car was one a bought at graduation with money I had left over from the previous summer and the trade-in of my old Chevy. It wasn't very practical (a Pontiac convertible) but it was really pretty and it was all mine. It represented pride in accomplishment.
Steve