I'm sure they have been ripped off already. They don't even seem to realize it. Some of their friends seem a little squirrelly and I could easily see one of them slipping something into their purse or pocket.
The kids have bank accounts, but they think its a joke whenever they see the statement where they earn 80 cents in interest. They also see it as a one-way funnel; If their money goes in, its next to impossible to get it back again (mostly our fault). I tried to get them interested in investing by letting them research and chose stocks that we buy. They picked Walmart and Underarmor, but don't know or care how their picks are doing.
One thing is for sure, we are putting off the co-signed debit card thing for as long as possible. Their older brother put everything on his bank card, producing 5-page statements, along with many $35 overwithdrawal charges. He too suffers from the same syndrome, but he's across the country now in college, opened his own student account and hopefully being smarter about it.
Maybe I'm expecting too much.
