My boy will be paying taxes!

[Sigarms]

Good thing your kids dont seem to be afraid to work. The stories i can tell you about todays youth after owning my own company. One new hire....no previous electrical experience. I told him to get in the trench and work a flat shovel staying far behind the excavator to clean trench for wires. He had the gull to say 努hy dont you do it? It was his first and his last day of work for me. Most new 1st year apprentices wanted to get paid the same as a 4 year journeyman. They dont understand....having to teach a new employee actually slows down a job. I was trying to give the youth some job training, they just are too **** lazy to deal with. My own brothers 3 kids have never held a job until after getting out of college. I worked since i was old enough to ride a bike and deliver papers.

Yes, but my boys have only had a cell phone for 2 years, and they're alreayd spoiled by electronics.

My boy who started was going to text the training hours he would prefer to work, and we made him call his boss directly to tell him. The same boy we had to instruct to CALL the people he wanted to use for personal references (piano teacher and high school teacher).

Seems like kids are use to nothing but electronics for communication and God forbit if you use a phone to actually call someone LOL

When my other boy filled out the application last night at the restaurant, I told him to write as nice as possible so people could actually read what he was writing.

The back up plan is they could both have jobs when they turn 18 in the HVAC industry, as OSHA regulations are pretty strick for high schoolers on job sites on what they can and can't do. I've alreayd mentioned to them that since they know how to operate a zero turn and work a weed wacker, lawn care next summer may also be an option whey they're 17.

One is talking about going into the Marines and the other into the Air Force with the gameplan to go into law enforcement after he gets out. Still too early to see what will play out, but at least they are thinking. The only way we'd cover college is if they had straight A's (and they knew this a couple of years ago) and they are nowhere near there (and one really doesn't try because all he can think about is owning a truck, been there done that myself at his age). Community college is an option to see what they can do with grades, but way too many kids go into college oweing a crapload of money with no good job skills when they graduate, and end up flipping burgers anyways IMO.

Hey, I know about guys looking for work, you hire them, and then for whatever reason, they end up taking off 3 sick days in the first two weeks. That crap don't fly if you're looking for a career IMO. Hopefully ANY job will teach them more responsibilty and what do do when you have to work. Besides that, when they work around the house for me, I'm too much like my father, I make a horrible boss for my kids because I ride them too hard:laughing:

 

[JethroB]

Congrats to your boys and their mom for raising them right. And we will gladly take the help in keeping social security alive a little longer.

 

[Sigarms]

Two for two! Picked up the other one on a "try out" and he got the job. We know the owners of the restaurant (BBQ joint) and they called me and said they'd try him out (I had mentioned a couple of months ago he was looking for a job when I went in to pick up a family dinner meal). We were kind of hard on him because he didn't have to do a job interview and he knows the owners as well. Tried to get across to him that just because you know someone may help you get your foot in the door, but you have to work to keep th job.

Actually proud of him because the owner said he was impressed with the fact that if he had nothing to do, he'd look for something to do (not certain if it was me or not, but I told him that exact same thing before he went in that you don't stand around twiddling your thumbs if you have nothing to do). He also worked with another guy in the kitchen and the co worker gave the boss a thumbs up on how he was working out. It's actually harder IMO when you know the people who run the business because if he didn't meet their expectations, I would of felt that I wasn't hard enough on him when he worked for me.

We only pray that they both can be productive members of society and that they can find something in work that they love to do when they get older. My one boy kind of "dated" a girl whose brother got let go from Walmart, and all this girls 21 year old brother does now is play video games in the living room 24/7 (he finally saw her for the fruitcake we both thought she was, and believe me, after she "broke" up with him, he really got to see a fruitcake). There but for the grace of God go I, but if my boys play video games all day after they get out of high school, they darn well won't be doing it in our house.

I love my wife and my job (and my wife loves me and her job), but we finally feel like we're accomplishing something. It's still a roll of dice, but 4 years ago it seemed the dice wasn't even in our hands to roll and we were scratching our heads LOL

 

[ultrarunner]

Knowing the kids are going to make it is immensely satisfying if not just a relief..

My parents were always big on work and saving for a house... it was drilled into us.

 

[Sigarms]

Knowing the kids are going to make it is immensely satisfying if not just a relief..

My parents were always big on work and saving for a house... it was drilled into us.

Wife went to her parents yesterday to visit, as my FIL has been having some health issues and they didn't want to come up for Thanksgiving.

This left me playing taxi last night (we want the boys to work for a used vehicle, getting set up with checking accounts, working on following and balancing your bank account...)

Driving home with boy A around 8, on the way home on our rural road, there are two houses with a long fence line off the road that have a buttload of Christmas lights (probably about at least 300 yards worth) strung all along the fence line and then on the roof of their houses. Boy A makes the comment and asks "pretty neat lights dad, why don't we put out Christmas lights?". Driving home with boy B back home around 10:30 last night, boy B sees the same lights and states "look at all those lights dad, man I wouldn't want that electric bill" and chuckles.

Two boys the same age, totally different in habbits all the way around. Boy A, once he has some money, he needs to buy something, and he'll even try to "wheel and deal" with us on money he dosen't have. Boy B hates to part with money and doesn't want to spend a dime on anything.

Thankfully both boys seem to be really enjoying thieir jobs and it appears that their employeers are happy with them as they are picking up more hours.

 

[JethroB]

Wife went to her parents yesterday to visit, as my FIL has been having some health issues and they didn't want to come up for Thanksgiving.

This left me playing taxi last night (we want the boys to work for a used vehicle, getting set up with checking accounts, working on following and balancing your bank account...).

May I add in? Do high schools teach any personal finance courses these days? Banking, loans, insurance, investments, etc. In college years ago I took an elective on the subject. Simple stuff. I thought then, Wow, they should teach this in High School.

And who is this FICA and why are they getting a cut of my check?

 

[two_bit_score]

May I add in? Do high schools teach any personal finance courses these days? Banking, loans, insurance, investments, etc. In college years ago I took an elective on the subject. Simple stuff. I thought then, Wow, they should teach this in High School.

And who is this FICA and why are they getting a cut of my check?

We called those the "DeDucts".

My first job outside of family was at a local grocery store. I was recruited by a friend who worked there. Loved that job.

I think the starting pay was 50 cents an hour and after a week got a raise to 75cents. Big money then and paid in cash on Friday. I worked up to a $1 per hour before I left for college.

I was surprised when later on I got a statement from the Social Security and that guy had actually been paying SS on us.

 

[ultrarunner]

First job with witholding was age 12 washing cars all day Saturday at a dealership... I like cars so it really wasn't work... wet, lather, rinse, dry... repeat. Needed a school work permit too.

Come summer at age 13 I went full time $50 a week of which $20 went to mom for room and board...

Earning a paycheck let me open a Bank America checking account... I would cash my check each Friday and the branch manager said anyone earning a regular pay check was old enough to open an account... simpler times back then but I was a minor so the manager was sticking his neck out.

So 20 to the folks, 20 to savings, 4 and change witholding and 5 and change covered my lunches at the burger counter...

I think many kids are cheated not having any work experience through their formative years...

Good job on the Boys!

 

[Sigarms]

May I add in? Do high schools teach any personal finance courses these days? Banking, loans, insurance, investments, etc. In college years ago I took an elective on the subject. Simple stuff. I thought then, Wow, they should teach this in High School.

And who is this FICA and why are they getting a cut of my check?

Both boys are sophmores in high school. As far as I can tell, they don't really teach financing in high school as of yet. When they work for me doing yard work (they've both let me know they I pay below the minimum wage now LOL).

 

[ultrarunner]

High School so many years ago was Home Economics for girls and Bachelor Survival for guys...

Budgeting, Taxes, Compounded Interest, Credit, etc. included in both lesson plans...