My son is 14y/o, works his butt off, and made his high school soccer team. He's quite the entrepreneur, and has a pretty good bank account. He cuts yards, dog sits, and referees soccer games. And he goes to the gym with me at 5am.

Awhile back, I told him I would take him to buy a rifle with his hard earned cash. Tonight, I changed the story. I told him I would sell him my rifle, dirt cheap, and then we could buy something we don't have. He agreed to it, after I told him eventually they will all be his anyways...

Right now, an AK-47 is in the lead, but I'm promoting an 870. We don't have either.

Since he is hard working and responsible, maybe it would be nice to give him one? He'd remember it.

Every patriotic, freedom loving, American ought to own a Kalashnikov, the right arm of the Revolution, bought with can-buy-burrito dollars. Take that, Lenin! All the better that it's bought with money made from entrepreneurial effort.

He got a pistol a few years back.

He wanted to spend his money on AirSoft stuff, we play a lot. That's when I changed my tune to say he could buy something to pass along to his kid(s).

He also got a Ka-Bar for his 14th birthday from a USMC Viet Nam Vet.

I'm trying to make him realize his hard work will pay off.

Does your son want a rifle, or do you want your son to have a rifle? In other words, what does your son want to spend his hard earned money on?

Dan

Show him this article.

https://www.daveramsey.com/blo...-become-millionaires

Open a Roth.

Out of those two I would go with an AK, especially with a lot of mags.

But I like heisrizn's idea, too about investing. Maybe match him up to a certain % on some steadier stocks like Apple? Great chance to teach him about compounding if he doesn't know already.

In fact, I don't see why he can't do both, get a long gun and do some investing.

Yeah, a little in a Roth IRA at a young age is a great idea. I like Vanguard.

I've been passing a few guns the last 2 years, mostly to the older Son. The younger Son has a job & likes mil-surps, he bought most of an Arisaka, a K-31 Swiss, and a Bulgarian Makarov pistol.

I'd key off what he likes. There are the few staples most collections should start with, rifle, shotgun, rimfire, & then a handgun or two.

Very good advice about investing, we will do that shortly. He honestly has 3 different bank accounts.

I'm not expecting my son to pay for this, just divert his funds. I have a rifle that will be his eventually, so I'll cover the cost of whatever we get next.

I mentioned to him, instead of buying airsoft stuff, he could get something real. An M4 was his first suggestion. I told him I already have one, so what else would he like. He suggested an M1 Garand, which is a possibility, just need to find one. But an AK is a contender.

Buy it for him, and save his money.

I went to college with 10k. My folks never let me spend any birthday/graduation/whatever money. I didnt understand it at the time but it saved me a lot in loans during college. My only regret was I didnt realize I should have worked during college cause I came out basically empty.

He wants a Garand, that's what he should get. In fact, so should I! PING!

I would get him a rifle that he could learn serious marksmanship. AR Service Rifle perhaps. Or a good bolt gun. Having a rifle is one thing. Shooting precision is another.

quote:

Originally posted by heisrizn:
Show him this article.

https://www.daveramsey.com/blo...-become-millionaires

Open a Roth.

This is absolutely true, but at 12% rate of return hasn't been seen in I don't know how long and I wouldn't bet on seeing a double digit return anytime soon.

That said, one of my favorite quotes is "The difference between rich people and poor people is the direction of the compounding of the interest." I wish I could remember the correct attribution.

quote:

Originally posted by barndg00:
He wants a Garand, that's what he should get. In fact, so should I! PING!

I resemble this post.

CMP is dishing out very nice service grades right now. $730 to your front door via FedEx and it will even come with a certificate with your name on it.

ping is something that everyone should hear

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by heisrizn:
Show him this article.

https://www.daveramsey.com/blo...-become-millionaires

Open a Roth.

This is absolutely true, but at 12% rate of return hasn't been seen in I don't know how long and I wouldn't bet on seeing a double digit return anytime soon.

My 401k has averaged 14.51% since 2009 when I started making contributions.