A Few of the Finer Things - September 2016

This is my “End of Summer Potpourri” column-contains a little bit of everything!

4 out of 5 kids are back in school…YEA! WE LOVE ROUTINE!! Even if it still feels like the heart of summer (104 and sunny as I type this)…the 5th kid (Jonah, 21) just finished up an internship and is visiting friends on a cross-country swing before going back to U of A for his SENIOR YEAR-seems like just yesterday I posted in this space about dropping him off for his freshman year (Finer Things - Sept 2013)! Jonah spent the summer in Los Angeles working for CBS Broadcasting/Syndication in their marketing department (he is a marketing major). He had a great time and learned a lot. He especially liked attending tapings of shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Jeopardy and The Late Late Show with James Corden-for fans of Carpool Karaoke, Jonah was at the taping where Michelle Obama was James’ passenger! One of the great things about kids growing up is watching them learn financial responsibility and truly preparing themselves for life as adults. Jonah was on his own financially this summer. He saved enough to go visit some friends in Chicago (with a quick trip to his old camp in northern Wisconsin), visit more friends in Boston and then even more in Washington, DC, while leaving himself spending money to get him through the school year.

Financial responsibility is one of the best things we can teach our children. No matter their age, we try to teach them different levels of saving, philanthropy and when it is ok to splurge a little on spending.

Abrie (17) spent her summer working as a camp counselor at the JCC. She too was extremely financially responsible and is on a very good path to having a nice discretionary spending account of her own when she goes to college next year. She chose to reward herself with some athletic clothing from lululemon, a brand that she loves but doesn’t have much of due to high price tags.

Brett (15) spent the first half of his summer in his high school baseball summer program before heading to northern Wisconsin for 5 weeks-his final year as a camper. He recently got his Learner’s Permit and is going through Driving MBA’s D.R.I.V.E. certification program and once again, I cannot recommend Driving MBA highly enough-an extremely worthwhile program which I previously wrote about in this space as well (Finer Things - March 2015). While Brett did not have a job this summer, he practiced financial responsibility when he took his girlfriend to the movies, dinner or for ice cream. Not only is he learning chivalry and etiquette, he is on the road to spending his savings wisely.

Seth and Evan (13) had the summer of their lifetime (so far)…they were treated to two spectacular vacations by their grandparents for their B’nai Mitzvah. The first started with a trip to Boston (Freedom Trail, Fenway Park) followed by a road trip where they hit the Basketball, Baseball and Football Hall of Fames with Niagara Falls mixed in for good measure. Then they went to their summer camp in Northern California for 4 weeks. They topped their summer off with a trip with other grandparents to Hawaii! We had many discussions with them about the privilege of spending four weeks at summer camp and the financial sacrifices we make in order for them to do so.

Debbie and I are almost 20% of the way to empty nest-hood. We continue to try to teach our children by example-though not always perfect (progress, not perfection!)-and let them know that learning from mistakes along the way is just as important as making good choices!

- Gary Weiss, September 2016