Today we began to give our five-year-old daughter an allowance. It was a formal event with a long explanation while the family sat together on the couch. The conversation began with us offering two Singapore Dollars each week and Citrus immediately lobbying for three.
We stuck with two, equivalent to about US$1.50. Just enough to buy a small treat for instant gratification or set aside a dollar for a larger purchase.
We can always increase it later, perhaps by adding a matching contribution. She can be vested after about five years. Can you tell that I worked on financial and retirement security issues for years?
We patiently explained the prices of some of the things that she likes or has wanted to purchase. A can of Milo from a vending machine, a bag of potato chips, a Kinder Joy – banned in the United States! — or two turns on the kiddie rides at the mall. Alternately, she could forgo some treats and save up for the Dora Bubble Machine sitting on a shelf in our Navy Exchange. It turned into a small math lesson, adding by twos.
She was very excited with the opportunity to have her own money and make her own choices. But she does not want to spend her allowance quickly. Instead she wants to save it all so that she has “lots and lots of it and is very rich.”
We asked her what she planned to do with all of her money.
I am going to save it so that I can buy some of the things that you will not buy for me!
Oh? Like what?
Like pears! And long bread! And book holders!
Our poor daughter. Deprived of fruit, baguettes and book-ends to tidy up her book shelf.
We managed to stay in our chairs while trying not to laugh.
