Soon my 5th son will be putting in his application to serve a mission for our church. He has completed the application and needs just one more interview before his application gets sent into church headquarters and he is assigned a field of service. He's pretty excited.
Missionaries are asked to pay about $400 a month for their support. So a mission of two years costs about $10,000 plus the cost of the missionary clothing. Some young men I know save enough to pay for their whole mission, but we ask our children to save $5000 and pay for about half of their mission, although they don't end up paying the full amount thanks to donations from other people.
Saving half is very doable! Here are some things we do early on to help our children save:
1. Require and encourage them to save. From ages 4-16, my children receive a small allowance ($10-20 a month), sometimes tied to chores, sometimes not. They have to pay tithing (10%) and then I require them to save 20% in our family bank. As they get older and earn more money from other sources, we continue to strongly encourage them to save. We also set savings goals at the beginning of each year.
2. We set up a family bank. I have to admit, this is a tightly-controlled financial institution! Money can't come out of the family bank until college or mission. When they want to withdraw money, the CFO says sorry, not allowed. She's very controlling.
3. The family bank pays really high interest. It pays 2% interest every quarter, for a total of 8% a year. After they have $3000-4000 in their account, I don't let them put any more in because I can't afford the interest! They have to put the rest of their savings in a regular bank account.
4. We provide our children with opportunities to earn money. About 15 years ago, we started a family lawn mowing business. My husband and I have provided the lawnmowers and trimmers and the kids do all the work. They don't have a big business, but it's enough that they are able to earn some money to pay for their expenses plus save money.
We also require them to pay self-employment taxes on this money. They need to get used to real life and it's required by law.
5. By the end of high school, they usually find another job. My oldest worked for the neighbor's laundry business. Another boy worked at a park weeding all day long. A couple of my boys have done computer programming for local businesses. My seventeen-year-old is a balloon artist for local restaurants. Recently he did lawn-aerating for a very intense four hours one Saturday and earned over $100 after his expenses (renting the aerator, etc.).
What are the benefits? I can't say for sure but this is what I hope is happening for my children:
1. They are learning how to save and live within their means. When they spend their money foolishly, I don't mind as much because I know they will still be paying for their missions and college.
2. They are learning how to work.
3. They're more invested in their missions by helping to pay for it. Some people make great sacrifices to serve and I hope my boys get a little taste of that. Here is a moving video about a boy in the Congo who worked over three years to save for a passport so he could serve a mission: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-06-1150-sedricks-journey?lang=eng. When I watch that video, it helps put our boys' relatively small sacrifices in perspective.
My experience is that teenagers are so capable and we should keep our expectations for them high. I'm really grateful that my boys have been able to serve.
Missionaries are asked to pay about $400 a month for their support. So a mission of two years costs about $10,000 plus the cost of the missionary clothing. Some young men I know save enough to pay for their whole mission, but we ask our children to save $5000 and pay for about half of their mission, although they don't end up paying the full amount thanks to donations from other people.
Saving half is very doable! Here are some things we do early on to help our children save:
1. Require and encourage them to save. From ages 4-16, my children receive a small allowance ($10-20 a month), sometimes tied to chores, sometimes not. They have to pay tithing (10%) and then I require them to save 20% in our family bank. As they get older and earn more money from other sources, we continue to strongly encourage them to save. We also set savings goals at the beginning of each year.
2. We set up a family bank. I have to admit, this is a tightly-controlled financial institution! Money can't come out of the family bank until college or mission. When they want to withdraw money, the CFO says sorry, not allowed. She's very controlling.
3. The family bank pays really high interest. It pays 2% interest every quarter, for a total of 8% a year. After they have $3000-4000 in their account, I don't let them put any more in because I can't afford the interest! They have to put the rest of their savings in a regular bank account.
4. We provide our children with opportunities to earn money. About 15 years ago, we started a family lawn mowing business. My husband and I have provided the lawnmowers and trimmers and the kids do all the work. They don't have a big business, but it's enough that they are able to earn some money to pay for their expenses plus save money.
We also require them to pay self-employment taxes on this money. They need to get used to real life and it's required by law.
5. By the end of high school, they usually find another job. My oldest worked for the neighbor's laundry business. Another boy worked at a park weeding all day long. A couple of my boys have done computer programming for local businesses. My seventeen-year-old is a balloon artist for local restaurants. Recently he did lawn-aerating for a very intense four hours one Saturday and earned over $100 after his expenses (renting the aerator, etc.).
What are the benefits? I can't say for sure but this is what I hope is happening for my children:
1. They are learning how to save and live within their means. When they spend their money foolishly, I don't mind as much because I know they will still be paying for their missions and college.
2. They are learning how to work.
3. They're more invested in their missions by helping to pay for it. Some people make great sacrifices to serve and I hope my boys get a little taste of that. Here is a moving video about a boy in the Congo who worked over three years to save for a passport so he could serve a mission: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-06-1150-sedricks-journey?lang=eng. When I watch that video, it helps put our boys' relatively small sacrifices in perspective.
My experience is that teenagers are so capable and we should keep our expectations for them high. I'm really grateful that my boys have been able to serve.
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