I Bought A MacBook. My Son Asked Why He Couldn't Have One Too.
Mike bought a €2,000 MacBook Pro for work. His 13-year-old son asked why he could not have one too, then asked the question that stopped Mike: “But you had the money for you.” The episode explores financial education for kids, spending, saving, investing and the idea of enough.
What you'll learn
- Why children learn money habits by watching adults
- How to explain the difference between having money and having a reason to spend it
- How a fixed debit-card allowance can make spending limits visible
- How matching a child’s saving can reinforce the habit
- Why the question of “enough” matters in financial education
I Bought A MacBook. My Son Asked Why He Couldn't Have One Too.
The MacBook question
Mike bought a MacBook Pro for roughly €2,000 because he uses it for work and video editing. His 13-year-old son wanted one too. When Mike said he did not have the money, his son pointed out the obvious inconsistency: he had money for himself.
The real lesson was about purpose
Mike realized that the useful explanation was not simply that the family had money or did not have money. The distinction was what the spending was for. His laptop was connected to work; his son’s request was primarily about wanting the same object.
When small yeses become a system
The episode looks at how children can learn that asking for something and receiving it are almost the same step when every small request is answered with another payment. The problem is not that parents are generous. It is that the child may never experience a visible limit.
The debit card experiment
Mike and his wife moved to a fixed monthly amount on a debit card. Their son could spend it without asking for every small purchase, but the amount was not topped up whenever it disappeared. When the money ran out, the limit became real.
Saving became visible
Once his son began holding some money back, Mike introduced an investment match: for each euro his son chose to save and invest, Mike added another euro. The lesson was not simply about the match. The system came first; the match gave the saving decision a visible reward.
The question adults avoid too
The episode ends with a question that is bigger than children’s money: what does enough actually look like? Mike argues that children can start thinking about that question long before they understand investing in detail.
What Are We Teaching Our Children About Money?
The deeper personal essay connected to this episode, exploring the idea behind the numbers and the financial psychology underneath the story.
Read the essay →How can I teach my kids about money?
The episode uses practical systems rather than lectures: give children a visible spending limit, let them make choices within it, and allow the consequences of spending to be real.
Should kids get an allowance?
The episode does not present one universal allowance rule. Mike describes using a fixed monthly amount on a debit card so his son could spend independently while learning that the balance would not simply be topped up.
How can children learn to save and invest?
Mike describes matching each euro his son chose to save and invest. The key lesson was making saving visible and repeatable rather than relying only on a one-time explanation of investing.
Educational and entertainment content only. This page is not financial advice. Mike Petry is not a licensed financial advisor. Do your own research or speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.