How Much Should You Give Your Child?

In last week's e-letter, I wrote about the extravagant birthday gift Sean "Diddy" Combs' gave his son: A $360,000 Maybach luxury sedan. The child was 16 years old and didn't even have a driver's license.

I thought the gift was obscene, even if Combs can afford it, but I wanted to know what you thought. I received quite a bit of e-mail about last week's Color of Money Question, which was, "Would you give your child a sweet sixteen party and car collectively worth what several households make in one year?"

Michael McBride of Decatur, Ga., wrote: "Sean did what he wanted with his money. If I had the money I would do the same. It is only material." Furthermore, McBride said, "That is his money, if he wants to pamper his son go for it."

But McBride was in the minority, to say the least. The overwhelming majority of responses were in the category of "heck no, I wouldn't spoil my child that way!" Here's what some of you had to say:

"There is absolutely no way I would buy a 16-year old a $300,000 plus vehicle," said Sharolyn Dewitt of Conway, S.C. "I wouldn't even buy it for myself, even if I was loaded like Diddy. That is just wasteful spending. There are plenty of nice vehicles that are much more reasonably priced, in comparison. The 16-year old would be lucky if I would buy him or her a $30,000 vehicle."

"I think the celebrities are doing their children a disservice by giving them things of such high value," said Darlene A. Colon of Lancaster, Pa.. "First of all the child has no concept of the price or value of such an item. They have no appreciation for it because they didn't work to get it."

"I would not buy a car worth that much money for my child even if I was able to afford it," wrote Tiffany Beeler, of San Francisco, Calif. "And he doesn't even have a driver's license? Talk about lack of responsibility. Lots of celebrity children never make anything of themselves because they have never had to work for anything, when life's luxuries are at your fingertips it is difficult to go and try to obtain them for yourself."

"I would not supply my child, even if I had celebrity money, with a car that is worth so much," said Nova D. Hurt of Cincinnati, Ohio. "While I will not say that I wouldn't give them things, and very nice ones at that, it is imperative for parents to teach their children the value of hard work."

Julia Howell of Cayce, S.C. echoed my thought: "That's obscene!"

21-Day Power to Prosper Challenge

I've been pleased to hear that so many people are turning their financial lives around after beginning or finishing the 21-day financial fast I wrote about in my new book, "The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom."

Using biblical principles, I show people how to kickstart a plan to improve their finances. So far people have written to say they are saving more money than they ever realized they could just by curtailing their shopping and giving up their credit cards for three weeks. Based on the responses I've been getting, many people have seen three-week savings of $200 to $300.