Fourteen-year-old Benjamin Stear is a kid who already has
a head start on establishing his financial future. He has
money-earning jobs, a monthly savings goal, investments
in mutual funds and even is starting a new business.
And the 8th grader from St. Louis has a financial advisor
and gets his mutual fund purchases at a bargain rate.
That's because his sister, Hannah, is an investment representative
for Edward Jones Co. She is helping Benjamin establish an
investing strategy. And she can buy mutual fund shares for
family members without them paying a fee.
Benjamin also has other brothers and sisters who showed
him different financial lessons.
One brother, Caleb, 22, did day trading for his own account
in the stock market before going off to college. A sister,
Faith, 20, earns money as a professional "nanny" and a professional
clown.
(Young Saint Louis.com has covered many stories
about kids and money. YSL.com has had several stories
concerning the Stock Market Game. That's a learning exercise
where school kids invest an imaginary $100,000 for a 10-week
period. Their results are compiled and teams are rated against
those in schools all over Missouri.
(However, YSL.com also is interested in stories
about kids who earn real money and then save or invest for
their future. This story is one in what we hope will be
many more where kids earn money and then work to make it
serve their future goals.)
Benjamin started saving money when he was 7 or 8. He remembers
his first money came from street-side Kool-Aid sales. "I
had a good location and made $20 per hour," he said.
Since then, his earnings have expanded as he's added lawn
mowing, daily dog walking and odd jobs around his neighborhood.
His savings account has been turned into a brokerage account
for stock market investments.
He's now invested in a mutual fund that owns shares of
big, multi-national companies. Hannah said, "The American
Funds Capital World Growth and Income invests in the biggest
blue-chip companies all over the world."
Of course, Benjamin's investment is still small. But, he
has a plan to grow it.
He said his goal is to add at least $100 a month to his
investments. "The biggest contribution I've made so far
was $300 one month," he said.
Benjamin said he doesn't research the stocks of individual
companies and is satisfied with his sister's advice to buy
mutual funds. He said maybe he'd consider purchasing shares
of individual companies "sometime later."
Sister Hannah said, "He'll probably stay with mutual funds
until he gets to $10,000 in investments." She has been an
Edward Jones representative for two years.
Also, Benjamin has put off planning for how to spend money
in his investment account. He said he wants to go to college
but the investment money would be for use after that.
Right now, Benjamin is more interested in working on increasing
his monthly income. He's got two new things in mind.
The wife of one of his brothers has a purebred dog breeding
business. Recently, he bred his purebred Shih-Tzu dog. His
dog, Gabi, recently gave birth to one puppy.
That puppy is now being offered for sale on his sister-in-law's
website. Benjamin said puppies of that breed often sell
for about $750. That's good news. But, there was some bad
news also. Shih-Tzu females often have four to six puppies
per litter. His had one.
But, the reduced litter size gave Benjamin another lesson
in business and finances.
He originally planned to sell the puppies and have enough
to buy a new go-cart. But, instead of a potential for $3,000
to $4,500 in income, he's looking at only $750.
But, Benjamin said he's already downsized his expectations
and knows what he wants. "I have an old trampoline that's
about falling apart. I've found a new one that I can buy
for only $200 at Sports Authority," he said.
The plan for the go-cart has been put on the back burner
and will have to wait for a larger litter of puppies. He
said, "I'm already planning to breed more puppies."
Another idea for getting more income involves the mother
of one of his friends. "She's starting a landscape business
and I may work for her this summer," he said.
Benjamin said he began contributing to his investment account
about two years ago.
He has been home-schooled, primarily by his mother, Becky.
He said he expects to continue that education plan through
his high school years.
That will give him time to expand his home-based money-earning
activities.
