Diary of a mother, Jayne, who is also author of Kids and Money: Giving Them the Savvy to Succeed Financially (Bloomberg Press), and her son, Ryan, who just turned 14. I will mostly discuss financial parenting issues, as they come up -- what works, what doesn't, what drives me crazy, what drives Ryan crazy, discussions with his friends, what I'm reading, people I meet as I give workshops, etc.
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This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
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Monday, November 01, 2004
Check This Out!
So my son is 16, and for half his life I've been recommending that once their teens get a job, parents get them a credit card (so they can practice using it sensibly) and a checking account (so they can pay the credit card bill and practice using a checking account responsibly).
So my son is earning money. His band plays at many local venues and he gives guitar lessons. So we went to the local bank branch with two forms of ID, ready to sign on the dotted line. I expected I'd have to co-sign on the account. But I didn't expect to get turned down.
I was told that our state (Massachusetts) law requires that one be the age of majority to have a checking account. Even college students who are under 18? Yes, I was told. So if you're allowed to make an exception for them, why can't my son have a checking account? He can't, I was told.
I went to a different branch, where I knew the tellers and managers a bit better. Same answer.
Then I went to another bank across the street. They offered a solution: that I open a new checking account and add my son's name to the account. I thanked them, said I might be back, and went back across the street to the first bank.
I told one of the managers what the other bank was willing to do. "Oh, I'm sure we can do it that way, too." I didn't understand why, if she knew what my objective was, she hadn't suggested this in the first place. But I was just glad we could do it at that point.
Lesson? There's probably more than one, but the main lesson I came away with was not to take no for an answer.
Next, we shop for a credit card for my 16-year-old. "Check" back soon for news on that front!
10:53 PM
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