Tanya's Money Problem

Tanya's Money Problem

Tanya's Money Problem

Tanya and Thad Fredrickson are twins.Most people think they look alike, but that's where the similarity ends.While Tanya is outgoing and has lots of friends,Thad is shy and has only a couple of good friends.Thad is a good student who works hard to get high grades.Tanya, on the other hand, is an average student who does just enough to get by.Like most kids, Tanya likes to buy things.Thad does, too, but not nearly as much as his sister does.

Both Tanya and Thad earn money each week by doing jobs around the house as well as for a couple of neighbors.At home, Thad washes windows, cleans up the table after dinner, sweeps the floor, and vacuums the carpets each week.Tanya washes dishes, mows the lawn, and takes out the trash.Thad also mows the lawn for two neighbors each week,while Tanya walks a neighbor's dog every morning and evening.Their incomes are good; each of them earns an average of about $35 a week.Thad and Tanya like doing the work because they both love money!

The money they earn pays for going to movies and buying things like snacks, books, magazines, and clothes.Thad spends money on video games, and Tanya buys music and clothes every week.The cash that Thad earns seems to be more than enough to take care of his needs.He also seems to need a lot less stuff than Tanya does.Thad usually deposits about half the money he earns each week into a savings account.

When Thad saves enough money, he uses some of it to buy shares of stock.Owning a share of stock is like owning a piece of a company.So far, Thad owns 25 shares of stock in Disney and 28 shares of stock in Nintendo.Since Thad loves going to Disney movies, watching Disney Channel, and playing electronic games,as do most of his friends, he thought Disney and Nintendo would be good investments.After doing some Internet research on stocks and talking to his parents, he concluded that these companies were good choices.

Thad likes to buy stock because his money grows as each share of stock increases in value.Over time, he expects to see the value of each share go up 20 percent or 30 percent.When Disney and Nintendo earn more money than they spend,the companies sometimes pay dividends to the people who own their stocks.Thad has earned yearly dividends for each share of stock he owns.He always reinvests his dividends into each company's stock and uses the money to buy more shares.If you asked Thad, he would tell you that he plans to be a millionaire by the time he is 25.

Now Tanya is another story.Where Thad is a saver, Tanya is a spender.Money burns a hole in her pocket.She spends almost all her money each week and never saves a nickel.Tanya's spending problem is made worse by the fact that she really wants her own smart phone.She thinks she earns enough money to pay a monthly phone bill for calls and texting.She knows she might have to cut back her spending on clothes and music.She may even have to earn more money by walking dogs for other neighbors, but she thinks she can afford it.However, Tanya can't seem to save the $200 it takes to buy the phone.

Since Tanya is impatient, she can never wait until she has enough money to buy something that costs more than the $35 she earns each week.She has to think of another way to get the $200 to buy a smart phone.One day, it suddenly occurs to her that Thad seems to always have extra money.She decides to ask him to loan her the $200.

She takes the afternoon to work up the nerve to ask Thad for a loan.

"Thad, my dear, sweet, precious brother, I have a favor to ask you," she says with her sweetest voice and most admiring look.

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