It’s true that the benefits of a parent cannot be measured or quantified in any meaningful way. It’s hard to put a price on the emotional commitment and special experience of raising a child as a parent, some of which may not even be realized by the parents themselves until afterwards. But it is undeniable that the experience of parenthood is a rewarding and special time in someone’s life.
This Year’s Richest Kids
For teenagers in Hollywood, life is good if you are one of the top paid actors in the industry. While some people work their entire lives to become financially stable and have a life of luxury and glamor, it comes young for these actors and can be a whirlwind of opportunity. Here is a list of some of the richest and most famed teenage celebrities of 2013.
It’s hard to believe that Dakota Fanning is still in her teen years considering she’s been working in Hollywood for nearly a decade now. However the teen actress still continues to demand big bucks for the big roles that she plays. This helped pave the path for her little sister, Ellie, who has been in a handful of scary movies like “I Am Sam” and “Super 8”. Together the sister’s net worth is over $20 million. And while most of that is accredited to Dakota, Ellie is starting to pull her own weight as she becomes more popular.Willow and Jaden Smith
Another set of siblings makes the list with Willow and Jaden Smith. Granted these two have had a lot of help and opportunity from their Fresh Prince father, but they are sure to keep the ball rolling on their own. The two have both already made their debut on the big screen, have had popular top-radio songs, and continue to diversify with their ventures. With the knowledge they get from their father, the Smith siblings are sure to continue to rack in the paychecks for the remainder of their teen years and beyond.Angus T. Jones
Everyone’s favorite “half-man” from the TV series Two And A Half Men makes the list of highest paid teens, even after he left the TV show in 2013. In 2010, Jones became the highest paid child actor at the ripe age of 17, as he penned a contracted that would earn him nearly $8 million over two years of work. No longer apart of the show, Angus T. Jones looks to find another break that will continue the success he found at such a young age.
Selena Gomez
The last year and a half has been huge for the former Disney Star. While some actors and actresses have a hard time shedding the Disney persona, Gomez has now branched out to more mature film roles and has become a legitimate player in the music industry as well, picking up Choice Break-Up Song and the Choice Music Star and the Choice Hottie Teen Choice awards. As her fame continues to grow, she also works closely with UNICEF and other non-profit organizations, proving that it doesn’t matter how much money you have, you can always do the right thing.
Miley Cyrus
This is the last year that Miley will be able to make the list of wealthy teens, but she is sure to continue to rack in the paychecks even as she enters her 20’s and beyond. A dual threat in singing and acting, she’s another Disney star that has shed the child–star persona and has developed her own new edgy look and identity. And even though she may no longer be the innocent Hanna Montana that she once was, she still keeps her fans entertained and interested with everything she works on. She picked up three Teen Choice Awards this year.
Justin Bieber
You better believe that the Beebs is on this list. Possibly the most loved/hated teenager in Hollywood, Justin Bieber continues to rake in the money that his ‘Beliebers’ shell out to see him in concert, listen to his music and buy his merchandise. You may love him, you may hate him, but either way he’s probably making more money than you and he’s having a great time doing it.
Some teens stars make more money in a year than majority of people will make in their entire lifetimes. This affords them opportunities of a lifetime to enjoy things other people only dream of. But as quickly as they become part of the limelight, new faces appear and take their place. These are some of the hottest faces of 2013, but who will be here next year?
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I Won the Lottery!
No, I didn’t, but this is what I’d do if I won an obnoxious amount of money.
- Take 6 months or a year, hire traveling tutors for the kids, and see the world. This gives the extra benefit of being completely out of reach for anyone trying to borrow money.
- Pay off the mortgages of a few close family and friends.
- Set aside a big chunk to support my decadent, extravagant lifestyle.
- Create a fund.
This fund will have the purpose of making all of my descendants live life on the easy setting in perpetuity. It will give them enough money to cover the major hurdles everyone has in life, without giving enough that they don’t have to work. Here’s the money I see them getting:
- Upon the birth or adoption of a child with my last name (Because I’m a jerk like that. My name will last forever!): $10,000
- Graduate high school with at least a B average: $5,000
- Attending college while making progress towards graduation: $10,000 per year, up to 8 years(to allow for doctors and rocket scientists and stuff)
- Graduating college: The amount of college costs (tuition, room & board, etc.) up to $200,000.
- Marriage, provided my descendant maintains my last name: $20,000
- Starting a business, up to twice in a lifetime: $50,000
Each of these items that occur after the recipient becomes an adult would have the stipulation that their will gifts half of their estate back to the fund. That way, everyone who got this headstart will help pay it forward.
This will require management, so I would appoint trustees to manage it. Their job will be to grow the fund and adjudicate any requests. They will have the authority to buy property, invest in businesses, or whatever will grow the fund to support future generations of my spawn. Three, because that way there can be no ties. Each of the three will have a named successor, who must be one of my descendants. They will, of course, earn salaries. I don’t see this being part-time work. A salary that puts them at the 80th income percentile in the US seems fair. They won’t have the ability to give themselves raises, beyond a statistical adjustment.
Amounts can be adjusted to cover rising costs, inflation, or potential depletion of the fun upon the majority vote of the Council of Three, with the overriding goal of making sure the fund survives to help future generations.
I actually see the organization of this being a corporation built around the management of a trust fund, but I’m not a lawyer or an accountant, and this is a fantasy, so I can see it however I want.
Yes, I follow the patriarchal model of maintaining my last name. Sue me. My last name, a parent who is descended from me and has my last name, and a will that states you’ll do your part to continue the awesomeness isn’t a high price to pay to avoid nearly all of the expensive things that hold people back.
That’s my master plan to take over the world, in the future, by proxy.
A Perfectly Maid Home
Last night, I got home after a 13 hour day at the office and found a spotlessly clean house. The laundry was folded. The dishes were done, and everything was put away.
It was great.
I work 80 hours a week, 90 if you count commuting time.
That’s about 50 hours at my day job, 10-15 hours working on this site, and 20-30 hours working on my other side hustles. Some weeks, my volunteer geek skills get put to use for a local non-profit, too.
My wife works at least 40 hours every week.
We chase our kids around, plan or birthday parties, visit family, take care of the yard, and do everything else that every other family does.
The difference is that, if I take work in all of its forms out of the equation and give myself permission to get a full night’s sleep every night, I have a total of 20-30 hours per week to eat, socialize, and spend time with my family. That not a lot.
I hate cleaning.
Between my work schedule and my cleaning aversion, I’m not always a lot of help around the house.
Half of my work time is spent at home. It’s hardly fair to expect my wife to clean up after me.
This has been a huge point of contention between us. She sees me on the computer and gets frustrated when I’m not helping her clean up. I get frustrated because I’m trying to make us some extra money, but she’s complaining that I’m not cleaning.
About a month ago, we hired a housekeeper. She comes every other week for a few hours and does a phenomenal job cleaning our house. We pay her about $150 per month for the work.
It’s been great.
My wife is happy because the house is clean. I’m happy because the complaining has stopped. Our housekeeper is happy because it’s more money. It’s a win/win/win scenario.
Now, $150 is a decent amount to add to our debt snowball, but paying for the cleaning services facilitates my side hustles, which bring in quite a bit more than $150 per month, so it’s even a good idea financially.
Even if it’s not, the peace of mind of knowing that I didn’t have to fold all of the laundry that was waiting for me yesterday makes it worthwhile.
How about you? Would you consider hiring a maid? Why?
Emergency Fund Goodness, Reasons #491,207 and #491,208
When you run a big company that handles a lot of one-year renewable contracts with the government at every level from city to federal, you tend to expect that you’ll need to do some legwork on the contract renewals before they expire. Preferably, you’d do this a few weeks before they expire so the bureaucratic mess that is the federal government can process the renewal on their end.
That’s a reasonable expectation after 30 years in the industry.
If, instead, you wait until the expiration date on the contract to submit the renewal to the federal agency in question, you’ll have a department to shut down for a week due to lack of work.
Then, at the end of that week, you’ll be reminded that the wheels of the federal government grind. very. slow.
So slow, in fact, that the department in question gets to stay shut down for at least another 2 weeks.
If you haven’t been doing the math, that is a surprise, unpaid, three-week vacation for my wife.
Our emergency fund hasn’t grown to the size that can handle this, but it is enough to take the edge off for a couple of weeks. Yay!
We’d already decided that we would be skipping a vacation this year, to give us more time to deal with my mother-in-law’s estate and hoarding remnants, so the vacation fund will be tapped. That should cover the rest, assuming her job does come back.
That’s part 1.
Part 2 is the story of a cat whose butt exploded on our bed at 1AM last week.
Poo–the cat named for her coloration–has been acting funny. She’d suddenly sprint in a circle around the room, then poop on the floor. Irritating.
One night, her sprint crossed our bed, so my wife pinned her down, hoping to break the cycle.
The cat screamed, then sprayed blood from her butt all over the pillows, blankets, sheets, and my wife.
That’s called a midnight visit to the emergency vet.
See, cats have anal glands that they use to sign their work when they are marking their territory. Sometimes, these glands get infected. Sometimes, the infection gets so bad the glands kind of…explode.
On my bed.
While I’m sleeping.
Pop.
Fixing that involves sedation, an ice cream scoop, and a sewing kit. Or something. I wasn’t really pushing for details when my wife called from the vet’s office.
For those of you who’ve never had a cat’s butt explode in your bed at one in the morning (and if you have, I’m not sure I want to hear the story), the emergency vet isn’t cheap. This visit cost us $500. It probably would have been half of that if we would have waited until the regular vet opened, but…ewww.
We’ll be starting our emergency fund from about 0 in the next few weeks, but it beats going in to debt over a couple of setbacks.
How’s your emergency fund? Is it enough to carry you through any unexpected setback?
How We Handled The Windfall
Three years ago, my mother-in-law died. She didn’t have a will, but that’s a story for another day.
My wife, being an only child, inherited everything. All of the assets, and all of the problems.
She inherited the house, which was completely paid off. That was nice.
My mother-in-law was a hoarder who didn’t buy into the idea of maintaining your property. That was not nice.
Between the life insurance policies and the ready cash, she inherited about $60,000. Also nice.
It’s all gone. Not so nice.
Now, I know you’re asking where it went. Lucky for you, that’s what this post is about.
We paid off the last $10,000 of our credit card debt, and haven’t accumulated a balance since. Now our cards are paid off in full every month.
We put $5,000 down on the Chevy Tahoe we bought in 2012 and paid off in full 9 months later.
Every last cent of the rest went into the house we inherited.
Huh? 45 fricking grand to get the house ready to rent?
Yep.
- $3000 to clear out the brush and landscape the yard
- A few hundred to have the hardwood floors sanded, stained, sealed, and buffed
- An intense carpet-cleaning
- Painting every single room
- 3 large dumpsters to handle the garbage we pulled out of the house
- New refrigerator
- New washing machine
- New boiler
- New stove
- New patio door
- New locks for the doors and windows
- Security lights
- Food for all of our helpers whom we can never thank enough
- Finishing the basement
All of that pretty, pretty money, gone in less than a year.
What did we get out of it? A rentable asset that is bringing in $1200 every month, with minimal work.
We could have chosen to sell the place, but we would have had to do nearly all of that work, anyway, so it wouldn’t have saved anything.
I like having the new stream of income, even though it will take several years to turn a profit. That house isn’t going anywhere, and since it’s only 3 miles from Minneapolis and 5 miles from downtown Minneapolis, it will always be an in-demand area for renters.
It was just a lot of work turning it into a useful property instead of a year-long drain on time, patience, and money.