Submitted by akkarino_beano t3_zxnndj in LifeProTips
When I was 18 I wanted to go traveling before going on to university. I had to work a year doing 50 hours a week on minimum wage, living at home, just to save a relatively meagre £3,000.
Now that I’m a bit older and have a proper career, I can save that in a fraction of the time (a month if pushed).
It became apparent a few years down the line that the year saving was a waste of a year. It was gruelling, not enjoyable nor educating, and the paltry sum it saved would continue to loose its relative value alongside growing earning power.
The travelling I managed to do was one of the best decisions of my life but equally exchanging a year of my life for £3000 was one of the worst. In retrospect, delaying the trip a few years or trying to source an interest free loan from a well off relative would have been the wise thing to do.
I subsequently now often make decisions less so on my current financial position but more on my expected earnings over given periods. I expect this is probably standard for all adults who witness and forecast pay progression.
My slightly less conventional belief though, is that: money allowing, kids should be spoilt with experiences.
Don’t scrimp on your kids experiences for the sake of teaching them work ethics or the value of money - this can be done in other ways e.g. using material objects.
Giving your children experiences will obviously provide invaluable education and horizon broadening, but it also saves them trading (potentially significant) parts of their lives on the labour market when their market value will never be less realised.
This behaviours is already ingrained in parents-with-means in other formats, in how they pay their kids tuitions or help with house deposits, but I suspect experiences don’t always hold the same position in the minds of those parents.
TLDR: Try to avoid paying for anything too big at 18, your earning potential only has upside and most likely the sum will be much easier to come by a few years down the line. Parents, if your kids want to do something valuable and you can afford it, pay for it.
Reddit__Degenerate t1_j21jlqq wrote
Isn't hard work and work itself part of the experience? Working a crappy entry level job is a big motivator for pursing a career, higher education, or trade skills. This is why you see spoiled kids with so many "experiences" but no real world experience, have no idea what they want to do with their life, or get some nonsense degree because they have no idea how the real world works.