Modern Family: New Life
Chapter 149: Andrew’s Capital

Chapter 149: Andrew’s Capital

June 12, 2010

After coming back from school, one of the last days before summer break, and also one of his last days at Palisades, Andrew was in his room with his computer on, reading the comments on a farewell video to Palisades he had uploaded to his YouTube channel.

[YouTube]

📺 GOODBYE PALISADES: BEST MOMENTS OF MY PALISADES CAREER (Freshman and Sophomore Year)

👤 Andrew Pritchett-Tucker

📌 2,013,592 subscribers

👁️ 1,942,178 views | ⏳ Posted 32 days ago

💬 18,392 Comments

[Comments Section]

@SoCalGridironFan:

Watched him from his first game all the way to breaking every record... This channel is history. Thank you, Andrew.

@HorseExterminator2000:

Did this video cure my scoliosis? Maybe.

@JackStu04:

I’m gonna watch this video every time I feel like skipping training. We’re gonna miss you at Palisades.

@RyngoKS:

Paused the video at minute ten, my blood sugar spiked and I had to go run. Pure motivation!

@Lexer1:

Traitor!

@AndrewFanPage1:

A tear slipped out! But a new Chapter begins at Mater Dei! #beenherefromthestart

@Haterbynature:

You’ll warm the bench at Mater Dei!

@K4tie88:

I cry every time it shows the final touchdown and you hugging your teammates. This isn’t a channel, it’s a movie. #cinema

...

Andrew smirked slightly. Not out of vanity, but because of how strange it was to see his life turned into history for others. Into inspiration, into content, into motivation, into funny comments... or into a target for hate. He closed the comment tab.

It was impossible to read them all. Maybe Cam could manage that.

He swiveled in his chair a little and stared at the ceiling, a thoughtful expression on his face as he did some mental math.

"Twenty months and fifteen days..." he finally calculated.

That was how long it had been since he created his YouTube channel.

Almost 21 months. In less than two years, he had hit the major milestone of 2 million subscribers, just a few days ago, in fact.

The second million had come faster than the first. Maybe two or three months less. Which meant he was improving, and that YouTube itself was becoming more and more popular.

The pace wasn’t slowing down. He was still uploading 3 to 4 videos a week: workouts, vlogs, tips, challenges...

There hadn’t been any highlight videos since January, the season had ended, but his content was still going strong. He tried to keep innovating, always thinking of something new to avoid falling into monotony.

Considering he uploaded around 12 to 16 videos a month, and his channel had been active for almost 21 months, he probably had somewhere between 252 and 336 videos on his channel.

’That’s insane...’ Andrew thought, genuinely surprised at how many videos he had already uploaded.

It was like a part-time job, except there was no clocking in and no boss.

He recorded, edited, brainstormed ideas. Tried new angles, wrote mental scripts while training.

And the best part?

He loved it.

And, of course, he was making money too.

In terms of total views across all his videos, he had surpassed 60 million.

Since he was part of the YouTube Partner Program, he monetized all those views, except for the earliest ones, which were the least significant anyway, since that was when he had just started out.

In these 21 months, he had earned around $75,000 in total. That averaged out to $3,571 per month, not even counting sponsorships.

As for sponsorships, it was still relatively new on YouTube for brands to pay creators, but it was already happening.

And his channel wasn’t just any channel. He was currently top 2 worldwide in subscriber count, and #1 in his niche: a teenage athlete, with charisma, discipline, and a deeply engaged community.

Most of his audience was made up of young people interested in healthy living, fitness, school sports, and personal growth.

That’s why, starting around mid-2009 when his channel began to gain traction, brands started reaching out.

It wasn’t immediate, during the first six months there were no offers. But in the following 15 months, he worked with at least four types of sponsors:

-Youth athletic apparel (emerging or growing brands looking for a young, authentic face)

-Energy drinks

-Sports equipment (like balls, gloves, and protective gear)

-Natural supplements (aimed at young athletes)

He wasn’t making millions, of course. But he wasn’t doing it for free either.

For brand mentions, wearing branded gear in videos, recommendations, giveaways, and a few more elaborate integrations, his sponsorship income ranged from $1,000 to $2,000 per month, depending on the contract and exposure.

In total, over those 15 months, he made about $28,000 from sponsorships.

Combined with YouTube ad revenue, that added up to $103,000.

That’s $4,904 per month, as a teenager who hadn’t even turned sixteen yet.

The best, or maybe the craziest, part was that that wasn’t even all. He still had Flappy Bird, which kept generating passive income, even though he had finished developing the game over a year ago. A video game he created himself, knowing the idea from the future, with help from Pippa, as a programming project.

Not only did he get the highest grade on that assignment, he also made a lot of money from the game... and was still making money.

Flappy Bird had more fluctuation in monthly revenue. The game generated income through two main sources:

-Premium sales (an ad-free version for $1 USD)

-In-app advertising in the free version.

Since its launch, Flappy Bird had generated a total of $47,780 USD.

Because the deal was 50/50 with Pippa, Andrew had earned exactly $23,890 USD from that game.

So in total, Andrew currently had $126,890 USD in earnings, but not all of it had been saved.

Even though his parents covered food, clothing, school supplies, tech, and even hobbies like consoles and comics, over these 21 months he had made some personal purchases:

-Gifts for his family, gifts for Pippa, new video games, including special or retro editions he collected, sneakers, clothes...

In total, he had spent around $8,500 USD, spread out over nearly two years. Nothing excessive. Nothing he couldn’t afford.

Which meant his total savings amounted to $118,390 USD.

Dividing the full $126,000 over 21 months, that came out to $6,000 per month, more than what most college graduates earned in their first job.

Of course, it wasn’t more than what his father Mitchell made. As an environmental lawyer with over ten years of experience, Mitchell earned $10,500 per month working at a private law firm.

Environmental law wasn’t the highest-paying legal specialty, like corporate law or commercial litigation, but it was respectable, and it allowed Mitchell to maintain a home in Los Angeles, pay the mortgage, and raise two kids with stability.

Neither Mitchell nor Cam had ever asked Andrew for a single dollar.

Not to help with household expenses, not to cover utilities, not even for his own personal things. Never.

"That money is yours. You created it, you earned it. Our job is to teach you how to use it wisely, not take it away from you," Mitchell had told him in his usual serious tone.

They trusted him.

Of course, they still supervised him, and they would talk to him anytime he considered a major purchase.

But if he wanted to spend on comics, games, sneakers, or lunch with friends, he was free to do so.

In fact, he had stopped asking for allowance over a year ago. There was no need.

All that money was held in a custodial account. It was in his name, but since he was still a minor, it was supervised by an adult, in this case, Mitchell.

The money belonged to him, but Mitchell managed the account until Andrew turned 18.

And Andrew had a debit card to use for purchases.

’Over a hundred thousand dollars...’ he thought, gently rocking in his desk chair.

He could keep spending, of course.

Buy a rare comic. Pre-order a limited edition of that new video game coming out in July. Take Pippa out to dinner at that new Italian restaurant. Get Lily a new toy.

But even if he did all of that, he wouldn’t spend much.

So... what should he do with the rest?

Mitchell had talked to him about investing: index funds, bonds, long-term growth.

It wasn’t something that gave instant results, obviously.

With his dad’s help, he’d need to open a basic investment account and put some of that money in there.

Not a huge amount, but enough so that it wasn’t just sitting idle, slowly losing value to inflation.

Still, he wouldn’t invest all of it in that account, since investment was meant to be long-term.

And in the world of investing, "long-term" didn’t mean six months. It meant five, ten, even twenty years or more.

In other words: money you can’t touch if tomorrow you suddenly want to buy a car, move out, or fund a new project.

That’s why it didn’t make sense to move all his savings into that account. The reasonable approach would be to choose a percentage.

Maybe 30%, like Mitchell had suggested when they talked about it a few weeks ago.

College? That wasn’t a concern either.

At first, his parents were planning to pay for college, but even that might not be necessary.

Andrew was fully confident that he’d earn a scholarship that covered 100% of his college expenses: Tuition, housing, meals, everything.

Because once he finished his year at Mater Dei, he knew that multiple colleges would fight to recruit him and they’d have to offer the best.

That was the level of his confidence. Not arrogance. Not ego.

Just pure, honest confidence, because he knew what he was capable of.

So then...

What could he spend his money on?

He also didn’t want to leave all that money just sitting in his account, slowly losing value to inflation.

And while investing a portion of it seemed like a smart, mature idea, he didn’t want his only relationship with money to be about saving it for "someday."

He wanted to use at least a considerable part of it.

In his past life, he had never had that much money. He could barely afford a few things related to his hobbies.

Now, however, with money in hand, he had parents who paid for absolutely everything: from food to comics, from clothes to video games.

Even his hobbies were already taken care of.

And aside from the occasional impulse buy or special collector’s edition, there really wasn’t anything he needed to buy himself.

But he wasn’t going to fill his room with figures he had nowhere to put, or buy twenty games he’d never play, or get so many clothes he’d run out of space or forget to wear them. That would be stupid.

He kept staring at the ceiling, slowly spinning in his chair.

’Just a hundred thousand dollars, and I don’t know what to do with it...’ Andrew thought.

What would happen in the future if he landed a million-dollar NFL contract?

Then he mumbled, "A car?"

It would be useful for getting to Mater Dei, for going out, or just getting around.

Of course, Jay had already told him he’d buy him a car when he finished the school year, an early birthday present, and mainly so he’d have a way to get to Mater Dei the following year. That was the purpose.

Andrew had thanked him but said the car should be shared with Haley.

After all, she’d be turning 16 too, and they were both his grandchildren.

And Andrew, as her cousin, didn’t want Haley to feel like Jay was favoring him.

Haley happily accepted the idea, thrilled about it, and Jay agreed as well. It seemed like a good solution, a generous, family-minded decision.

Since then, they had started looking at cars together, excited, but that’s when the problems began.

They couldn’t agree on anything: not the color, not the model.

If they already couldn’t agree at this stage, Andrew knew that sharing a car with Haley was going to be difficult.

He needed the car Monday through Friday to get to school, that was non-negotiable. But he had already told Haley she could use it on the weekends.

But what if he happened to want to use it on a weekend too?

He knew that with Haley, that could easily turn into a whole drama.

Not out of malice, but because they were both teenagers, with social calendars and intense personalities. And while they usually got along, whenever they clashed, neither of them backed down.

So maybe he should just use his own money to buy himself a car.

And let Jay gift the car to Haley.

That way, both of them would have independence, and they could avoid future problems over a shared car.

Andrew wasn’t a huge car guy, which is why he hadn’t thought about buying one himself to go to Mater Dei.

His mind had been on other things, and Jay had offered first, so he just accepted.

Driving didn’t bother him, but if you gave him the choice, he preferred his bike. The old reliable. Pedaling cleared his mind, kept him connected to his body, made him feel free.

But of course... riding 50 kilometers a day, round trip to Mater Dei, wasn’t realistic, not even if he had legs of steel.

With that new decision in mind, he sat up straighter and leaned toward his computer.

He opened the browser and, without wasting time, started looking up models, prices, reviews.

Tabs began stacking up across the top: Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, car forums, local classifieds.

He checked out Toyota Corollas, Honda Civics, Mazda3s...

Practical, reliable, sensible cars, but none of them spoke to him.

Until he saw it.

Chevrolet Camaro LS (2010)

3.6L V6 Engine – 304 horsepower

Base price: $22,000 USD

His heart gave a small jump. Not because of the engine. Not because of the specs.

"Bumblebee..." he whispered.

It wasn’t like he expected the car to transform into an Autobot and take him off to save the world...

But the thought of driving through Los Angeles behind the wheel of a real Bumblebee gave him a geeky thrill he just couldn’t ignore.

A Mustang? Nah. That was Decepticon territory.

A Corolla? Useful. But boring.

The Camaro, on the other hand, had presence and style.

He could even slap an Autobot decal on the rear window, and if a kid saw it drive by... maybe, just maybe, they’d think Bumblebee was hiding among the humans.

He smiled to himself.

And then, as always, his mind took it one step further.

"What about Optimus Prime?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow with a serious expression... though only on the outside.

Can you imagine it?

Driving a massive, chrome-covered truck, with metallic blue paint and red flames on the front...

Parking it in front of the school every morning like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Sorry I’m late, teacher... my trailer got stuck on the 405."

First, he searched:

"What truck is Optimus Prime in Transformers?"

Answer: Peterbilt 379.

Perfect. Next step:

"Peterbilt 379 truck price used."

How expensive could it be to own Optimus Prime?

He didn’t have to look long:

Peterbilt 379 – 2006 model – used – $58,000 USD

18 wheels. Diesel engine. 475 horsepower.

Weighs as much as five cars. Fuel consumption: absolutely obscene.

Andrew stared at the screen.

He blinked a few times.

He pictured the massive steering wheel, the steps to climb up, the roar of a thousand mechanical demons every time it started, the nightmare of parking that beast, spending nearly half his savings...

"Yeah, no. I’ll pass. Bumblebee’s fine."

Now came the hard part.

Not hard because it was impossible, but because the explanation was so ridiculous.

He had the money, and it was ultimately his decision.

But he was about to try and justify buying a $22,000 sports car...

just because it was Bumblebee, a character from a sci-fi movie about alien robots that transform into vehicles.

He thought it over again.

Vehicle: Chevrolet Camaro

Reason for purchase: Because I’m a fan of Transformers.

He was going to have to give it everything he had to present that argument as mature, reasonable, and financially responsible.

"Time to convince my parents," he muttered, and walked out of the room.

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