Yesterday I heard Tim Ferris’ interview with Mr. Money Mustache
While the entire episode is worth listening (just like each one of the episodes of this podcast) what caught my attention was the following points:
- Mr. Money Mustache pays his son allowance as “per mile”
- His son has a pedometer
- He gets paid based on “per mile” cycling or running he does.
- Tim Ferriss wondered whether the son is “rigging the system”
- Mr. Money Mustache's answer surprised me even more, he said :
- Although it is a possibility, he doesn't need to.
- The son wants to buy 20-30 USD worth video games every now and then
- Son aleady has USD 1000 to his name.
- He already has a lot more than he needs to spend.
- and then Mr. Money Mustache made a comment that made me chuckle : “In that sense, he is already retired” 😁
Other interesting things he mentioned were that this “method”
- Makes the son understand that “You have to work to earn your living”
- Keeping the money in father's bank earn him interest (Vs spending it)
- They keep a spreadsheet of his earnings and spendings (and interests, I suppose)
I think this is an excellent idea to teach one's kids the value of money.
While he didn't mention it, this specific idea also help inculcate the habit of physical exercise especially when kids these days spend a lot of time sitting, be it in school, homework, TV or mobile.
If only you and your spouse agree on how to raise the kids 😉
Photo by Micheile Henderson