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Parents Promise To Match Teen’s Savings For A Car, Stunned After It Turns Out He’s Saved $35K
Back in high school, I had a friend who never kept any of the promises she made, and when I asked about them, she used to smirk and say, “Promises are made to be broken”. Now when I think about it, although the promises were about something stupid, her breaking them was quite hurtful.
In today’s story, the original poster (OP) promised to match the money his son earned and buy him a car. But after the son got $35k, he wondered if he should break the promise as it wasn’t right for a teen to drive a $70K car, and sought advice online.
More info: Reddit
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The poster’s son had $5K savings when he was 16, so the parents promised to match the amount he earned till graduation and buy him a car
Image credits: Derwin Edwards (not the actual photo)
They thought he’d earn around $10K and they would buy him a $20K car, but he bought smart stock options and earned a whopping $35K
Image credits: ThrowRA29329192
Image credits: senivpetro (not the actual photo)
The couple didn’t want to break their promise but they also felt that an 18-year-old driving a $70K car was a bad idea
Image credits: ThrowRA29329192
Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)
Caught in confusion about whether to break the promise or face their son’s resentment, the father sought advice online
Image credits: ThrowRA29329192
The poster updated that they’ve asked their son’s girlfriend to talk him out of it as they feel it’s a waste of money
In today’s story, Reddit user ThrowRA29329192 expressed the dilemma he was stuck in. When his son was 16, he had $5000 in savings. So, the poster and his wife promised him that they would match the amount of his savings to buy him a car at graduation. Little did they know what they were getting into!
They felt that he would earn around $10,000 total and they would buy him a $20,000 car. But the son invested in stock options and earned a total of (drumroll please!) $35,000. Woah! Even the couple was shocked as now they had to match it and buy him a $70,000 car.
Now, the teen was insisting that his parents follow through with their promise, and since he also secured a merit scholarship, the parents were at a crossroads. They really wanted to keep the promise but also felt that a teen driving a $70k car just wasn’t right. Rather, the poster felt that he understood why his son wanted it but also thought that it was a waste of money.
Probably consumed by this confusion, the poster vented online and asked people for their advice. He also added later that their son was really close to his girlfriend and listened to her. So, the couple had asked her to talk him out of it and she had said that she would.
The Redditors showered the poster with multiple pieces of advice with which the couple could make a way through the promise. Most folks agreed with the poster that the money he earned was out of gambling, not something he worked hard for, and they frowned upon such easy money.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Research shows that 63% of Americans who are in college have already invested in the stock market. That’s quite a high number and it looks like the poster’s son is one of them. But his parents were not really happy with the way he got the money as they felt he was just lucky.
And OP’s argument that it was a waste of money in a car was backed by many netizens. They felt that there was frankly no need for a teenager to get an expensive car. They also stressed the fact that he wouldn’t even know the true value of something so expensive.
According to research, “Consumerism or materialism, referring to conspicuous consumption or beliefs that goods are a means to happiness generally or personally, has been highlighted as one of today’s ‘social evils’ and as detrimental to health and well-being.”
Many people also pointed this out that when kids are given expensive things at a young age, it’s not really good for their well-being. These people were of the opinion that it was better for the poster to face his son’s resentment after breaking the promise rather than just letting him have the expensive car.
However, others commented that breaking the promise would really hurt him. Rather, they advised the couple to keep the promise and give him the $35k, but only let him use some of it in the car while telling him to keep the other for future expenses. It would be like keeping the promise but not really encouraging the expensive purchase.
Picture yourself in OP’s shoes, what would you have done in this situation? Just type away your thoughts in the comments below!
Even folks online felt that spending so much money on a car for an 18-year-old was just too much, they advised the parents to find a way through the promise
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What do you think ?
Sunny Day 1 year ago
Buy him a $35k car. His 35k will just about cover 2 years of insurance for an 18yo male.
Roland Nijveld 1 year ago
I find a 35k car still insane. Wouldn't even do it myself. Waste of money
Load More Replies...
Tabitha 1 year ago
I think starting the nest egg for him would be the better idea. Something he can't withdraw from until he's at least 21, if not older (like when his critical thinking skills mature). Once he's out of college, especially if he goes to medical school or something that takes a while and is expensive, since I have never heard of a full ride scholarship that paid all of any grad school major, he will appreciate it way more.
Scott Rackley 1 year ago
Match the money. Doesn't matter if it was the job or investing. You opened your pie hole with a dumb promise, follow through. Then explain the $600 a month insurance he has to pay, himself. Might even be more than that.
Becca not Becky 1 year ago
In retrospect, putting a cap on the match would have been a good idea. However, since they can match the amount, I'm highly in favor of the nest egg solution. Have him talk to some millennials that can't buy houses so he can see that a house after graduation will go much farther than a 70k car. Spend 20-25k on the car, and save the rest for a house, study abroad, travels during the summer, or so many other options. This is a great opportunity for a finance lesson.
Jonas Fisher 1 year ago
A good talking point for OP would be to point out that if the kid had LOST all of his money in those risky stock options, then mom and dad would have still bought him a car, just a cheaper one. He would have been reasonably upset if they had "matched" the $0 he had left, right? I mean, they would have been technically correct, but it would be a s****y thing to do. By the same token, there is an unspoken upper limit, too.
Thanos'Fingers 1 year ago
I don't buy for a single second that ANY kid under the age of 18 spent years saving up $10,000 working actual jobs, to then go and drop it all in the stock market and miraculously earn a 350% return in such a short time frame, while under the age to even have a brokerage account. This is fake or the kids dealing dōpe.
Load More Replies...
PFD 1 year ago
"Financially, it's not a huge dent for us" - Why the f**k are we being asked to give a s**t about someone who can easily afford $35k?
CF 1 year ago
PFD, my best guess for why I care at all (having had zero financial help from my single mother for my 1st car, which was a $600 piece of junk '84 Ford LTD old lady hooptie, back in 1996) is that we are going to have to deal with this guy's already quite entitled child as it is set loose into our world. If we can give any advice that maybe makes this kid a little more tolerable.. shrug.
Load More Replies...
Jane 1 year ago
I'm not sure why dad thinks investing in stocks is gambling. I used to teach teens how to research before investing, so maybe the kid is smarter than dad realizes. Or maybe he has a secret youtube channel. Whatever. It's okay for dad to just say he won't be giving him over a certain amount of money, and congratulate him on his financial success.
dayngerkat 1 year ago
Post is from 4 years ago. I'm guessing he got in with the GME AMC craze. Since he couldn't drive it to school until 2nd year, I'd tell him to wait a year and see if he still wants the same car. Maybe he would've grown up a little and realize it's not in his best interest to buy
Sand Ers 1 year ago
“I don’t want him to think that gambling pays off”. Says the man who has “gambled” in the stock market many times more than what his son did. But that’s different. Just one of the many ways dad revealed himself to be an aßhole in his comments.
CF 1 year ago (edited)
Sand Ers, his parents most likely bought him a brand new sports car as a teenager, based on his update comment "I wanted a car like that ... and my parents did end up indulging just a little bit". Which means he was probably incredibly sheltered financially his entire life. I'm not surprised in the least.
Load More Replies... Sunny Day 1 year ago
Buy him a $35k car. His 35k will just about cover 2 years of insurance for an 18yo male.
Roland Nijveld 1 year ago
I find a 35k car still insane. Wouldn't even do it myself. Waste of money
Load More Replies... Tabitha 1 year ago
I think starting the nest egg for him would be the better idea. Something he can't withdraw from until he's at least 21, if not older (like when his critical thinking skills mature). Once he's out of college, especially if he goes to medical school or something that takes a while and is expensive, since I have never heard of a full ride scholarship that paid all of any grad school major, he will appreciate it way more.
Scott Rackley 1 year ago
Match the money. Doesn't matter if it was the job or investing. You opened your pie hole with a dumb promise, follow through. Then explain the $600 a month insurance he has to pay, himself. Might even be more than that.
Becca not Becky 1 year ago
In retrospect, putting a cap on the match would have been a good idea. However, since they can match the amount, I'm highly in favor of the nest egg solution. Have him talk to some millennials that can't buy houses so he can see that a house after graduation will go much farther than a 70k car. Spend 20-25k on the car, and save the rest for a house, study abroad, travels during the summer, or so many other options. This is a great opportunity for a finance lesson.
Jonas Fisher 1 year ago
A good talking point for OP would be to point out that if the kid had LOST all of his money in those risky stock options, then mom and dad would have still bought him a car, just a cheaper one. He would have been reasonably upset if they had "matched" the $0 he had left, right? I mean, they would have been technically correct, but it would be a s****y thing to do. By the same token, there is an unspoken upper limit, too.
Thanos'Fingers 1 year ago
I don't buy for a single second that ANY kid under the age of 18 spent years saving up $10,000 working actual jobs, to then go and drop it all in the stock market and miraculously earn a 350% return in such a short time frame, while under the age to even have a brokerage account. This is fake or the kids dealing dōpe.
Load More Replies... PFD 1 year ago
"Financially, it's not a huge dent for us" - Why the f**k are we being asked to give a s**t about someone who can easily afford $35k?
CF 1 year ago
PFD, my best guess for why I care at all (having had zero financial help from my single mother for my 1st car, which was a $600 piece of junk '84 Ford LTD old lady hooptie, back in 1996) is that we are going to have to deal with this guy's already quite entitled child as it is set loose into our world. If we can give any advice that maybe makes this kid a little more tolerable.. shrug.
Load More Replies... Jane 1 year ago
I'm not sure why dad thinks investing in stocks is gambling. I used to teach teens how to research before investing, so maybe the kid is smarter than dad realizes. Or maybe he has a secret youtube channel. Whatever. It's okay for dad to just say he won't be giving him over a certain amount of money, and congratulate him on his financial success.
dayngerkat 1 year ago
Post is from 4 years ago. I'm guessing he got in with the GME AMC craze. Since he couldn't drive it to school until 2nd year, I'd tell him to wait a year and see if he still wants the same car. Maybe he would've grown up a little and realize it's not in his best interest to buy
Sand Ers 1 year ago
“I don’t want him to think that gambling pays off”. Says the man who has “gambled” in the stock market many times more than what his son did. But that’s different. Just one of the many ways dad revealed himself to be an aßhole in his comments.
CF 1 year ago (edited)
Sand Ers, his parents most likely bought him a brand new sports car as a teenager, based on his update comment "I wanted a car like that ... and my parents did end up indulging just a little bit". Which means he was probably incredibly sheltered financially his entire life. I'm not surprised in the least.
Load More Replies...
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