Teaching him right
Question: Leah gave a son up for adoption, and he will turn 18 this month. She gives him a gift every year, and this year she wants it to be a Roth IRA or something. What's the best way to create a teachable moment for him?
Dave Ramsey's advice: If he doesn't have an earned income, he can't do a Roth IRA. You can ask him for a book report on The Total Money Makeover, and if he does then you'll fund a mutual fund for him. You could put some money in your name in a mutual fund and be in control of it. If you put it in his name, he could clean it out the next day, and there would be no teachable moment. A savings bond won't earn anything. Find out what he needs and what his motivator is and use that to get him headed in the right direction.
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I just wanted to pass along that those of us in the adoptive community prefer the phrase "made an adoption plan" or "placed for adoption" as opposed to "gave a child up" in reference to adoption. For those of us who have experienced the joy that comes from building a family through adoption, this phrase more accurately reflects the courageous decision birth mothers make out of love for their child to provide for them when they are not able to parent the child themselves.
# Posted by Laura
| 2/21/08 5:19 PM
That's a good point, but I should also point out that the caller used the verbiage "gave a son up for adoption" herself.
# Posted by Katie
| 2/22/08 1:22 PM
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