Your Kid Has An I-Phone. Who Pays The Data Plan?

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Your Kid Has An I-Phone. Who Pays The Data Plan?

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January 13, 2012

I'm pretty sure Apple can't be hurting even though Steve Jobs is not at the helm anymore. My kid's went back to school last week and mentioned to meet the glut of Apple products that other students got from Santa Clause over the holiday season. Apparently, even the elementary students stocked up on I-Pads, I-Touch, and the middle/high school students racked up on the I-Phones. We all know that none of these technology gadgets are cheap to buy. However, one of the topics that people don't like to discuss is who will bear the cost for the data plan. This is where the real dollars and cents add up over the long term.

Parents will have varying opinions on this, but I'm of the opinion that when you child hits high school that you want to have them own part of the monthly data plan. Each year that they get older, you should have them bear more and more of the cost of the plan until they can handle the monthly bill on their own. That means by the time they get to college, you'll put them in a position to make sure they have some responsibility over the monthly bill and what it really costs to have the technology they use every day. Otherwise, the I-Phone will be just another leaf on the money tree in your household.

I caved in over the holidays and let my daughter get the I-Phone. I was smart enough to let family members know my oldest daughter wanted an I-Phone, so they all sent various forms of gift cards to make the purchase of the actual I-Phone. Since we are on a family share plan, the cost of the overall data plan was about $30 per month. What I agreed to with my daughter was to pay for $20 per month of the plan and she would pay for $10 per month of the plan. Every year she advances in high school, she'll pick up an extra $5 per month on the plan until she goes off to college.

I often think about how she must feel my I-Phone charging policy is unfair since I'll bet most of her friend's parents just pay the bill. We all get to make our own choices about what we'll provide our kid's, but I just don't think she will learn the value of a buck unless she has some ownership and responsibility in the bill. It will just make her value that I-Phone much more than if I was just paying the bill myself.

Just like a chip off the old block, my daughter accepted this news with the maturity of a 25 year old. She figured out if she babysits a couple of times per month, paying me $10 (roughly what she makes per hour) shouldn't be a problem. The best news is that I see her treating that I-Phone like it's the best present she ever got in her life! Who pays the data plan? You can choose for yourself, but we really value most in life the things we work hard for to pay for ourselves.

Written by:

Ted Jenkin, CFP®, AAMS®, AWMA®, CRPC®, CMFC®, CRPS®

Co-CEO and Founder of oXYGen Financial, Inc

Visit to www.oxygenfinancial.net to request a free consultation with the leading financial experts for people in their 20's, 30's, and 40's in the country.

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Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. oXYGen Financial is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS. Kestra IS and Kestra AS do not provide tax or legal advice. https://Bit.ly/KF-Disclosures

This site is published for residents of the United States only. Registered Representatives of Kestra IS and Investment Advisor Representatives of Kestra AS may only conduct business with residents of the states and jurisdictions in which they are properly registered. Therefore, a response to a request for information may be delayed. Not all products and services referenced on this site are available in every state and through every representative or advisor listed. For additional information, please contact Kestra IS Compliance Department at 844-553-7872.

PLEASE NOTE: The information being provided is strictly as a courtesy. When you link to any of the web sites provided here, you are leaving this web site. Kestra IS and Kestra AS makes no representation as to the completeness or accuracy of information provided at these web sites. Nor is Kestra IS and Kestra AS liable for any direct or indirect technical or system issues or any consequences arising out of your access to or your use of third-party technologies, web sites, information and programs made available through this web site. When you access one of these web sites, you are leaving our web site and assume total responsibility and risk for your use of the web sites you are linking to.