Dad of Influencer Daughter Questions if He’s Wrong for Limiting Access to Her Own Money

A father just took to Reddit‘s “Am I The A**hole” community to post one of the most head-scratching AITA’s yet. His very-2023 question? If he is in the wrong for blocking his teenage influencer daughter from accessing her paychecks until she turns 18.

“[Am I the a**hole] for limiting my daughter’s access to her money based on what her siblings earn?” the 48-year-old father asked the community this month. As he described, his influencer daughter is 15, and has amassed quite a following on social media. As she becomes more successful, she has begun to “get approached by some brands to promote their products.”

Meaning… she is a teenager making “SERIOUS money,” and the dad is at a loss for how to navigate it.

As the dad explained, he is saving his daughter’s earnings in a separate account so she can “access her money when she turns 18.” However, she has now started asking for more of her money, becoming quite a sticky situation.

The father’s stance, though? Unconvinced. “For as long as she’s a minor and unable to make more informed financial decisions, she should get by on her allowance.”

A dad asked Reddit if he is right for blocking his teenage daughter from her money until she turns 18

Looking back at our own time as 15-year-olds, it makes us wince to think what we would have done with thousands of dollars. Spent it all on fruity Lip Smacker balms and Teen Vogue magazines? Or worse, spent it at our local Spencer’s?

That being said, doesn’t everyone — regardless of age — have the right to access their own money? And this Redditor’s daughter just may have financial wisdom beyond her years.

In his controversial Reddit thread, the dad explained that social media has actually been beneficial to his daughter. “I don’t know the first thing about this digital influencer culture, but I like that she’s happy creating her content,” he explained.

The father also added that his first wife passed away three years ago. He said that social media has “had a major positive impact” on his daughter’s life through the tough times.

However, all that social media dedication has reaped major rewards for his influencing teenager. “One thing that surprised me, though, is that some of those offers involve SERIOUS money,” he wrote. “So I told my daughter from day one that I will put it all away for her so she can access her money when she turns 18.”

The dad also explained that he helps his daughter with her contracts. Still, he seems to see her job as no different than her siblings’ jobs babysitting or working at restaurants. For this reason, he believes she should only have access to her allowance, “just as [his] other two children do.”

However, as the father put it, his 15-year-old is not having it. As the influencer pleaded with her dad, her sister gets to “spend the earnings from her babysitting gigs.” Why can’t she spend her influencing cash, too? While the father called it a “fair point,” he also said that is a “ridiculous comparison.”

“A teen having some pocket money from babysitting as a complement to their allowance doesn’t even begin to compare to the kind of money my other daughter is making now.” Okay, now we’re wondering… how much do teenage influencers make?!

In the end, it seems like they came to an agreement… sort of. The dad will “take an average” out of the 15-year-old’s bank account every month that matches her siblings’ smaller paychecks. This would amount to “what most teenagers would realistically be expected to earn in this phase of life.” It would also “complement her allowance,” while most of it would be saved until the influencer turns 18.

The daughter’s response to the proposed solution, though? Her dad wasn’t “taking her seriously.”

Opinions are divided about who is right and wrong in this scenario

As you can expect, many Redditors voiced their opinions on whether this dad is, in fact, “the a**hole” here.

One Reddit user commented that the father might just be “the a**hole” because he is “treating [his daughter] with a double standard.” They explained, “Just like she is too young to be expected to manage a large sum of money, many would argue that she’s too young to understand the implications of being an influencer.”

Basically, the user believes that if this dad allows his daughter to be a social media influencer, he should allow her to handle her finances. “If she’s not mature enough for one is she really mature enough for the other?”

However, one other commenter pushed back on this “weird” notion. “This is like child actors, clearly they are working in the adult world but decent parents won’t just let them go wild with no oversight or control.”

Another said that if the dad is not “doing active money management with her and a financial advisor,” then he is in the wrong. However, if he and his daughter are going to an advisor to “make a savings, investment, and spending plan,” then he is simply “preserving her wealth as a parent should.”

Many other Redditors believe the 15-year-old should have access to at least some of her money now. “Maybe she wants extra money for things that would help her make better content?” one asked. Still, they assured: “A 15-year-old does need help managing large amounts of money, so you’re not wrong.”

Yet another vouched for a “three-way split on her earnings.” They described, “33% is hers to spend, 33% for a college fund and 33% in a trust fund that she has access to at 18.”

However, not everyone believes a father should control his daughter’s finances in the first place. “It’s her money. If this were a regular paycheck, would you take her money and put it in an account to ‘keep safe’?”

“If she doesn’t want you accessing the money and putting it aside for her, then you have no right to do so,” they added.

Another, though, believes the situation is complex. “I don’t think anyone is really the [a**hole] here.. .I understand you not wanting her to have full access to her earnings as she’d likely learn bad spending habits, blow too much of the money, and so on.”

However, they still said the teen influencer should “get some of the reward from her success.”

And yes, many people think saving all that money for the daughter’s 18th birthday is “a disaster waiting to happen.” Others think the dad should allow his daughter to “splurge a bit,” and “have her feel rewarded.”

It’s clearly a mixed bag — what do you think about this father’s plan?