MONEY-SMART KIDS Mission Nearly Accomplished by Janet Bodnar
The real trouble with dispensing advice about kids and money is that people assume my own children are financial whizzes who check their portfolios daily, or that we discuss fiscal policy
at dinner, or that the poor things never get a dime from dear old Mom. To which I respectfully reply: Humbug!
For the record, my children have so far shown no interest in the stock market (although I hope they'll thank us someday for opening their IRAs). If I even try to lecture them about money, their rolling eyeballs make me dizzy. And when it comes to buying them stuff, I can be a real softie.
As my children have grown, they have taught me as much as I've taught them, and these are some of the things I've learned: Forget the finger-wagging and simply tune in when the subject of money comes up -- as it does every day when you shop with your kids, buy holiday gifts or open a bank account. Don't push too hard or too early. Keep things simple. Give them money of their own to manage. Use common sense, and trust your influence with your kids.
Now that my own kids are speeding toward adulthood, I'm also learning that they're never too old to need my help. And here's the most satisfying lesson of all: There is a payoff.
Waiting for the dough
Last spring, my elder son, John, had his debit card stolen at college. He reported the theft within 24 hours -- just about the time the student credit union where he had his account called him regarding $700 worth of suspicious purchases at Kmart, Athlete's Foot and Wendy's. Because John had reported the theft promptly, the credit union promised to credit back the withdrawals.
That was in April. Months went by, and the $700 did not reappear. John fretted all summer about the missing cash -- a huge loss for a basically broke college kid whose main source of spending money is the earnings from his summer job. I suggested that he call the credit union each week and deliver a polite reminder. As the weeks went by, he became chummy with a guy named Kyle, who told him that the credit union had to wait for Visa to authorize the reimbursement.
John eventually decided on his own that he might be better off with a bigger financial institution, so he went online to open a new checking account with PNC Bank. Back at school in September, he e-mailed me that he had finally received his money from the credit union -- but it was $50 short. What's more, he had used his PNC check card for the first time and was charged a $1 fee when he bought a $5 sub at a Wawa convenience store -- even though, he said, the terms of his account clearly stated that check-card purchases were free and unlimited. "I don't have that kind of money," he wailed.
Lending a hand
Time for Mom to intercede. I explained to John that when you report a stolen debit card promptly, your maximum liability by law is $50. As for the $1 transaction fee, I offered to call PNC on his behalf. A friendly young woman named Kathleen explained something that even I didn't know: When you pay with plastic, merchants sometimes run a $1 test transaction to see if the card is valid. The $1 charge showed up when John checked his account online, but Kathleen assured me it would disappear. She also confirmed that John was correct: His check-card purchases are in fact free and unlimited.
And then came the payoff: "I'm impressed that your son realized what happened," Kathleen said. "I get calls from college kids all the time who don't have a clue about the difference between credit and debit cards. They tell me, 'I have a Visa card, so why am I overdrawn?' I ask them if the card says it's a check card. 'Yeah,' they say, 'but it's Visa.'"
As a reward for being my money-smart kid, softie Mom surprised John with a check for the $50 he had lost.
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