It sums up his life and work after the White House and is a good companion to Edmund Morris previous 2 books.

My parents don’t give him an regular allowance or anything like that though. It’s more like buying his plane tickets home for Christmas, or giving him their old car when they bought a new one, stuff like that.

If I had a child in a similar situation I would want to do the same thing. I guess it’s technically not “fair” to my other children but if they’re like me and my siblings they wouldn’t care at all.

Second, I am a big history fan and believe we can learn much by going “old school” . . . those who came before us knew a thing or two.

I wholeheartedly agree. Perhaps because I am idealistic, my life has not followed the trajectory of college, upwardly-mobile job, family, etc. After college, I worked for several NGOs, then as a fulltime lay missionary for 10 years and now work as a writer and editor for a Christian publication. I sleep well, I earn enough to let me live, I lead a significant life. I don’t regret the choices I’ve made.

This is the first time that I leave a comment here. Thank you for your articles. The past two months (I think) that I have subscribed to your blog, your articles have been consistently well thought out, non-commercial, and really helpful in daily living. Thank you. God bless you!

As I see it, it doesn’t matter whether what Rossevelt’s Father did is appropriate or not in child education. It was a consciencous choice, Roosevelt didn’t squander it and the whole episode turned out to be the best thing for America after all. Not a bad example if America is going to produce more “science” driven leadership.

However,I had saved money and after 1.5 years of saying I would quit. I finally pulled the trigger. I quit to figure out what I wanted to do. As it turns out, I like what I did but I was just overwhelmed by the workload. I could continue to consult in my field. My goal was to make half the salary I made and work half the time. We decided to eat out less and buy less. The result is…yes I make lesss…but…. I work far less and have a much richer life. I wish I had done it sooner.

While I have strong opinions on whether or not to assist a child who chooses a low salary career, I will leave those questions to the parents. However I will say that I do agree with the point of it being about balance.

I know of situations where one adult child has been given his inheritance over the course of the years because “he needs his now,” and then the parents manage to outlive their money so that the remaining children receive nothing. I believe this type of arrangement in which one child seems to be preferred over the others rarely ends well…..Just my opinion!

You never know where volunteer work will lead you–someone I met in animal rescue passed on my resume and that’s how I got the great paying job which now allows me to give back even more in the volunteer areas.

I remember hearing a quote once that said “if you marry for money, you’ll earn every penny” (meaning you’ll pay in other ways-like your happiness) and I think there is a parallel to be found in careers.

I have to disagree with several of the commenters about support of adult children pursuing careers with low wages and high societal impact. Such arrangements were very common in those days among the scientific community and clergy with extremely low wages. Remember this is pre “tech boom” and unbelievable salaries that followed it.

We must remember that Roosevelt’s parents were exceptionally wealthy and influential and had more assets than they could practically spend in their lifetimes. People in Roosevelt’s class were also not particularly compelled to work for wages which was considered beneath their social strata.

An unusual situation by today’s standards.

While in school, my son is involved in a number of volunteer and non-profit “causes”. An employer who will give him the flexibility for both school and volunteer work is impossible. He picks up odd jobs (usually manual labor) for cash. My ex-husband and I have made the decision to supplement with a small “allowance”. It’s enough to put gas in the car and not much else. But we believe in the non-remunerative work he does and wish to support those endeavors. He is still very, very frugal.

We believe this solution provides balance and will help prepare him for the next phases of his life.

I think if you’ve raised your children to have a firm grasp of their personal finances and possibly supported them through secondary education then, if they choose to enter into a lower income but passionate endeavor, they will do so with a rational understanding of their decision and will adjust their life accordingly. Thereby eliminating the need for “backup” from their parents.

Conversely, a child that has not received or ignored financial advice should not feel entitled to the things that they have not worked for and does not deserve regular support from their parents (extenuating circumstances not withstanding).

My sister and brother-in-law both received their BAs with family support and now choose to do missionary work outside of their fields of study. They do not expect nor ask for help (though my parents donate to their cause irregularly)and they have adjusted their lives to minimize expense.

Good to see the opportunities opening up. I think we can all agree that the advancement of science is certainly something that benefits society in general and so society ought to reward the members working for that end.