My 16 year old cousin from the " I wanna be rich like you post" turned 17 yesterday and to celebrate, we had small family gathering for dinner at the restaurant where he works. It was a very nice dinner and I got to see some family I had not seen in awhile.

I got him a birthday card with a $25 gift certificate. He also got me a card. At the end of the dinner, he presented me with the card. Inside was a "Thank You" card and a copy of his savings account statement. He has managed to save up a total of $1000!!! I was so impressed! He does not like it when I give him a regular hug and prefers a man hug (you know, the handshake and a pat on the back) but I could not help it and gave him a regular hug anyway. He said that thanks to me, he is starting to save more and more money. He no longer thinks that he needs to "wear" his wealth.

I told him that I was VERY proud of him and asked if he was going to continue to save. He said his next goal is to save $2000.

I asked his mom later if she told him to do it and she said no. He asked her to make a copy of his bank statement and when she asked him why he said he wanted to give me a copy to show me how well he has done with saving his money.

I am so proud of this kid. I guess we have a special connection as I used to babysit him when he was little. I always joke with him that I had to change his diapers and now he is taller than I am.

12 comments

  1. Anonymous // October 9, 2007 at 8:39 PM  

    What an awesome story. It's an amazing feeling when you know you have helped another person in their life. I have a warm fuzzy right now. :) Thanks for sharing.

  2. Anonymous // October 9, 2007 at 9:15 PM  

    What a fantastic story, thank you so much for sharing it!

  3. Anonymous // October 10, 2007 at 3:02 AM  

    It's a moving story. You did a great service to your cousin and his parents.

    Once he saves enough for investing you should teach him a few things about how to invest (don't let him "gamble" on Wall Street).

    If I had a cousin like that I might be tempted to give him $500 as a start-up capital or play a game, like letting him "manage" $500 dollars for me in the market, with strings attached, so he can learn to invest and be responsible about investing.

  4. SingleGuyMoney // October 10, 2007 at 7:17 AM  

    @Patrick - Yeah, I almost shed a few tears but I had to "man up" LOL.

    @debtdieter - Thanks for reading.

    @Mr S - That's a good idea. Thanks.

  5. Chitown // October 10, 2007 at 11:36 AM  

    That is amazing!

    The next millionaire in the making. =)

  6. Anonymous // October 10, 2007 at 5:43 PM  

    very impressive - I can't, for the life of me, get my younger brother who is 20 to figure it out. There is just no good way around it I thought, but you've proven me wrong!

  7. SingleGuyMoney // October 10, 2007 at 7:10 PM  

    @chitown - When he is a millionaire, I hope he doesn't forget me.

    @hank - Just keep trying, maybe he will come around.

  8. Anonymous // October 10, 2007 at 10:40 PM  

    Bronx Chica- loved the post and congrats on your cousin's saving! Thanks for the update!

  9. bob // October 13, 2007 at 11:55 AM  

    that's great! it's cool to see the impact you have on those close to you. i'm sure you'll be seeing more of this kind of thing. i always get encouraged hearing people's success stories as well.

  10. JvW // October 14, 2007 at 9:09 PM  

    How inspiring! I hope I can infuse the same lesson into my 18 year old brother.

  11. Green Panda // October 20, 2007 at 8:49 AM  

    Wow, that's fantastic that your advice got through to your cousin. It'll definitely help him in the future.

  12. SingleGuyMoney // October 20, 2007 at 9:21 PM  

    @Green Panda - I surely hope it helps him. Maybe when he is my age, he will be in a very good place financially.