Dear Eric: We have two nephews, 17 and 21, and felt it was time to teach them money management skills and saving for retirement. At Thanksgiving, we funded two brokerage accounts for each – a $7,000 Roth IRA and $3,000 brokerage. We also gave two books on long-term investing.
Given the 40-plus years until they retire, the funds, if added to, could easily grow to more than a million dollars and be tax free. For Christmas we gave each a new laptop. After much effort, I was able to finally walk them through how to use some of the tools in their brokerage account for research and how to purchase a stock.
In addition, I was able to show the younger one a separate stock-charting program. Until recently, I sent one-to-three weekly articles on financial news that would be of interest. I gave them a list of 50 well-rated ETFs (Exchange-traded funds) and told them to select 10 to 14 for their Roth. I put together in my account a $7,000 portfolio of 13 ETFs and shared the weekly gains I was getting and encouraged them to beat me.
Their response has been almost zero. And they have indicated they don’t do email and only read very short texts. This was a test, and we hoped to contribute to their Roth this year and perhaps put them in our wills, but I’m thinking we’ve made a bad investment and the timing is wrong. Any ideas, or write them off?
– Invested Time
Dear Time: This is quite a generous gift; your nephews are lucky to have you, but it’s important to right-size your expectations. It’s only been a couple of months. While you have the benefit of years of experience, conceptualizing compound growth over 40 years when one is 17 or 21 is sometimes hard. So, I’d caution against cutting them out of the will just yet.
What you’re offering is foresight. (Well, foresight and quite a bit of money.)
It’s not your job to teach your nephews the value of wise financial planning, but this is the task you’ve set out for yourself. If you want to continue, good pedagogy suggests you start with assessing where the students are. Also clarify your objectives. Are you testing them to determine a skill level or to make sure they have the same interests as you?
Ask them what they are hoping to accomplish. If, for instance, they’re saving for a purchase or for school, a CD or bond might be an accessible entry point that teaches a graspable lesson. This will have a more modest rate of return, obviously, but it may grow their interest (excuse the pun) and help to reinforce what you’re trying to teach. Like any worthwhile fund, teaching financial literacy can be a longer-term investment but it pays off.
Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.
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Source: Asking Eric: We’ve given our nephews $10K to invest, but so far they are failing the test
