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Battlefield Leads to Investments

February 21st, 2012 at 08:01 pm

Video gaming is the scourge of modern teen boys' moms! But wait, those handheld consoles are great for passing the time waiting in lines, or when the child comes with a parent to a meeting or other adult obligation, and of course they are a very effective solution for entertaining kids on long car or air trips.

How many of you have used gaming as a tool for the kids?

It starts in kindergarten. Small kids (6 years old) play on Game Boys (remember those?). Grandparents gladly provide them at this age. The next step might have been a Wii (got one? raise your hand). Some families selected XBox, some picked Wii, others went for PlayStations. And now it's all on, or coming soon to a phone near you!

The usual common sense parenting rules would have to have kicked in at the beginning (and if they didn't woe to those folks):

1. Limiting the number of hours used.
2. Allowing only appropriate type of games.
3. Including as part of a balanced life, which means getting exercise, sleeping enough, and eating well.

The temptation to play is SO GREAT! It is a constant struggle to keep a teen boy off the computer. Is it such a problem?

Well maybe there is a bright side.

My kid is very smart, (knows it all in fact), cooperative in the family (except he hates his sister as is supremely normal at this age), and makes good choices in all aspects of his daily life over which he has control (friends, social settings, etc.). I'd say his weakness is simply being less willing to try new things for fear of failure.

Until now. For the past few months he has been interested in what stocks are, how does a person buy/sell, the workings of the market, etc.

OK. He wanted to try it. I have a portfolio which is managed by a conservative advisor, and am not really fully knowledgeable in doing it myself. WAIT, maybe it is not that I am uneducated, more that I am afraid to jump in myself for fear of LOSING a bundle.

But my kid has saved a nice little pile of cash (even after depositing in his bank account). And how better to learn than trying things??

YES! We spent some hours with the basics (buy low, sell high!), how to look at individual companies, and what to watch in the news as far as indicators.

My bank has a program that gives 100 trades a year fee-free of which we use only a few annually. So it was easy to let him use some of the free trades. See what he picked as his first investment below .....

First, let me show off a new product from my small biz! I saw a prototype of this at a yard sale long ago, in fact I LOVED the idea and purchased the prototype.

Now introducing Daddy's Little Purse Strings - Mini Bags


Sized perfectly to hold a cell phone, a few credit cards or driver's license, each mini purse is fashioned from a fine silk retired men's necktie. Beautifully colored, rich detail, simply carry over your shoulder when walking the dog, on a bike ride, or just want to have the bare essentials with you.



Shown: Diagonal Stripe, pure silk, $6.50
Order:

Text is HERE and Link is http://www.etsy.com/listing/93499557/silk-mini-pouch-diagonal-stripe-daddys
HERE

My 14-y.o. is now a proud owner of stock in...
Text is Electronic Arts, Inc. and Link is http://www.ea.com/
Electronic Arts, Inc.

These are the folks who put out the Madden Football video games, the Battlefield game, etc. Not bad to start investing in what you know well, right??

I'm very pleased he is trying out such a grown up activity and learning some very important lessons at a pivotal time in his life.

Thanks for reading and comments, tweets, FB likes welcome!

1 Responses to “Battlefield Leads to Investments”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1329863927

    My kid was not at all a big game player. You made me remember that in January '02 my 13 y/o pretend picked a defense contractor stock . I just checked and today, 10 years later, it has pretty exactly doubled. He picked it because of the war in Afghanistan. Frown

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