Should I charge DS rent?

martinthebandit

To be honest, treating them both the same is not the same as treating them both fairly.

It is much better (and fairer) to treat them both according to their need and in the long run it is not doing either of them any favours if you give them more help then they do need.

Mojisola

the_cat wrote: »

I guess it all boils down to whether DS1 will save for his own future or not. We wouldn't keep any rent money long term whilst we can afford not to, although it may help for him not to know that and to think that he is taking responsibility for paying his way a bit.

This is the essential part for me. If your sons are good with money, understand how much things cost, save a reasonable amount of their own accord and spend wisely, they're going to be able to cope in the future.

If you think they need the discipline of handing over some of their money every month, the learning value of that can be beneficial.

tesuhoha

I think that I would not charge him rent but would say to him that it is on condition that he saves what you would have charged him in an ISA account. I would tell him that this money is the rent money but he can have it in savings, otherwise you want it in rent. If he elects to pay you rent then take the money but open a savings account and save it for him anyway.

Incidentally, my daughter who is 24 is working and insists on paying me £50 a week. My husband is totally against this and thinks I am wrong to take it. However, I buy all the health food that she likes and often take her to the cinema and out to eat. I never save the money as I use it to make her life better.

forgotmyname

I would love to do that for my daughter, She will have 4 years at college though, I can dream.

SunnySusie

I would not charge rent. I want to support my kids to the best of my ability until they are in full time employment.

I appreciate the importance of learning about financial responsability but I would rather that was learnt through eg mobile phone contract, car ownership, etc. He might also chose to pay for cable sports channels, faster broadband, luxury food items, booze etc. I certainly wouldn't advocate making home too comfy!

Mind you, my attitude is highly likely to change given my son is only 7 months old !

scooby088

When i first started work at 16 i was £80 per week i gave my mother £25 per for my keep it does stand you in good stead and i was allowed to keep my first weeks wages. As i see it i had a free ride for the first 16 years of my life, so i needed to man up and start contributing to the household.

ElleR

My brother was charged rent when he finished college and started work. But he had no idea about money so that's why my parents did it! It wasn't about the amount, more learning about money. There was a discussion about it so everyone knew what was going on.

You say your son is good with money so it depends on whether you think it would be good as like a 'practice run' for the real world.

I didn't pay any because I went to uni (pretty much paid my own way) then moved out straight after but there was some tension when I was back in the hols! I promptly detailed what it cost me to live at uni (in the real world) and he shut up then. :j

He did move out, still got a shock, muddled his way through rent and bills for a couple of years and now he's moving back home! I guess some people never learn, lol.

liney

I would not charge my child when in education or training because I would would to encourage him to finish his apprentiship. I'd be concerned that by taking some of what little money he was earning, the idea might pop into his head that he'd be better off in a minimum wage job instead.

Pee

I would take the money off him and save it for him so that you can give it him when he is ready to buy a house. You can also add the equivalent of what you have given his brother for uni costs as you go along.

Tropez

Personally, I would only start charging a child rent once they were earning minimum wage.

As far as I'm concerned training/apprenticeships are a part of the child's education and should be treated as such. He is going to learn skills that will help him in his career so I think that should be supported and providing he isn't asking for any money to get to work (which would be adequate proof he isn't throwing his cash away) then I would have no issue in waiting until he was earning the minimum wage rate to begin charging rent.

I understand the learning the value of money argument but not being charged rent doesn't automatically mean that somebody will fail to understand, nor does being charged rent mean that someone will understand. I have friends who were charged rent and to this day on well paying jobs they are constantly skint. I was never charged rent and do okay for myself.

I think it is more conducive to learning the value of money to actually sit down and educate the child about the family bills. Explain to them how income tax rates work, how NI works, how VAT is added and how budgeting for household expenses works and explain that in time they will need to contribute to these bills themselves with a clear time frame set out based on the length of the apprenticeship and the expected wage threshold. If a child knows in advance of what is expected of them in the future, then they might just be encouraged to start saving what little they will have left over now.