I started teaching summer math camps in 2002 for elementary aged kids.\u00a0 I must admit the reason for teaching them was selfish.\u00a0 As a former classroom teacher who emphasized hands-on learning I wanted my two boys to be exposed to the activities I taught my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.\u00a0 My boys are older now (13 and 15) but they still come with me when I teach the camps.\u00a0 The reasons are different.\u00a0 Working with small groups of kids, Nathan, my oldest earns community service hours and Ryan earns a litte extra cash.\u00a0 So it was normal for both my boys to be sitting in the back of the room this summer when I started teaching my money management camps.<\/p>\n
My husband, John, and I have always talked to our kids about money.\u00a0 And we designed KidsSave while our kids were watching.\u00a0 So they already know a lot about saving and spending money and they’re pretty good at it.\u00a0 I like to pat myself on the back knowing they have savings accounts that are growing and a Vanguard 500 Index Fund that they contribute to when their KidsSave Account reaches a certain balance.\u00a0 So I was a bit annoyed with myself when, after camp one day, Ryan approached me about the stock market.\u00a0 That it was Ryan didn’t surprise me.\u00a0 Nathan approached me after class also, but he was fascinated with putting $100 into an account each month hoping to earn 6% annually and then waiting until he was 65 to pull it out.\u00a0 Ryan is my little risk taker and he wanted in with the stock market.\u00a0 The part that annoyed me was that with all this money management stuff I’ve been doing over the years, I never really talked to the kids about owning individual stocks.\u00a0 How could I miss that one?<\/p>\n
So apparently during\u00a0the talk to my campers about ways to invest and earn passive income the little ears that pricked up were those of my son.\u00a0\u00a0 He wanted to invest $500 in Chipotle.\u00a0 I have always read that kids can be pretty good predictors of how individual stocks will do since they pick companies that appeal to them which means these kids will be buying their products.\u00a0 And Chipolte, well Ryan LOVES Chipotle.<\/p>\n
Before I would let him invest I asked that he read The Motley Fool’s Investment Guide for Teens which he did and we discussed.\u00a0 Our next step was to open a custodial account at Schwab where he could then be able to buy his shares on line.\u00a0 I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for him to talk one-on-one with a financial consultant so we set up an appointment to open the account.\u00a0 I was proud that when she asked him the ticker symbol and what he thought the shares were trading, he knew the answers.\u00a0 What he didn’t know was how Chipotle had done over time and\u00a0that the rating that Schwab had given it was a ‘D’.\u00a0 His eyes got pretty wide when he saw that big ‘D’.\u00a0 The consultant tried to assure him that just because it wasn’t rated high didn’t mean it wasn’t a good buy.\u00a0 But I’m not sure that convinced him.\u00a0 And although it’s been almost a week since our visit, he still hasn’t asked to buy the shares.<\/p>\n
In the car ride home we talked about some of the reasons Chipotle may not be doing well.\u00a0 It was hard for him to think that maybe others didn’t like it as much as he did so he went with “it’s the economy, stupid” .\u00a0 And it very well may be.<\/p>\n
He’s now considering other areas that may be better at this place in time to invest and I’m not sure where this will go.\u00a0 The account is ready for him to make his first move.\u00a0 And I’m pleased that even with his risk-taking tendencies, he is considering his options.\u00a0 After all, $500 is a lot of hard earned money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I started teaching summer math camps in 2002 for elementary aged kids.\u00a0 I must admit the reason for teaching them was selfish.\u00a0 As a former classroom teacher who emphasized hands-on learning I wanted my two boys to be exposed to the activities I taught my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.\u00a0 My boys are older now (13 and 15) but they still come with me when I teach the camps.\u00a0 The reasons are different.\u00a0 Working with small groups of kids, Nathan,…<\/p>\n