Selfish parents. If you're old enough to take their names off the account, DO SO. That's a shitty thing to do, especially to your kid.

And to everyone who clicked the "you deserve it" button, I'd like to hear why you think so. That's patently ridiculous, the OP can't help his parents' decisions.

I have learned that you should never let your parents have access to your bank account. They will take money, and they will feel as though they are entitled to it because they have "done so much for you".

THAT'S HORRIBLE.

@ iDontFail_XD - when I was 13 I had my own bank account too. but I went with my mom to set it up and it MUST be in their name, but it's your account. 78 - wow. okay I go to a private school, but I'm not spoiled. I plan on using the college money I've saved and getting scholarships. Not everyone is irresponsible and doesn't save money, or their parents/grandparents don't save money for college. I'm not saying people who get student loans are irresponsible, just you made an extremely general and stereotyping assumption. Asshole.

if it was your parents' money that they were saving for your education, they have every right to spend it on whatever they want. Parents are not obligated to help you through higher education at all. if it was actually your money, then that sucks but YDI for not changing the account from a joint account to yours alone as soon as you were old enough (depends on the bank- I got my own account at 16 but some banks require you to be 18).

#177 (Merri)...I'm SO sorry, that's your parents using the fact they're your parents to take advantage of you and STEAL money that wasn't theirs to take because they think you have to love them anyway. I hope you can get them back for that one day, somehow. They should really give you that money back. OP: That's HORRIBLE...I'm shocked. I can't believe they would do that to you, it's selfish, mean, and just terrible parenting. I completely believe that money was not for your parents to take under any circumstances, even if they helped set up the account. If their excuse is that they've paid your expenses all these years so you owe them, they're just rationalizing it in their own heads, and trying to come up with any reasons that would justify what they did being okay. They think since they're your parents, you have to go along with it and can't retaliate. It's bullshit. And sadly many of the commenters here are idiots x(. Saving money since you were a kid? - Birthday money from grandparents, etc. (I had a bat mitzvah...I got money from that. It is possible for kids to have money to save from a young age.) TV and pool for under $10,000 - Not only is it possible, but they may have just taken some of the money out for the pool and paid for the rest of it themselves? I don't know hot much a pool costs, but with $7,000 once could be well on their way to having enough for one. Think, people, think! "Why do your parents have access to your account? YDI cause obviously your parents were going take it" - Maybe the OP under 18?? I'm 17 and going to college in the fall. I, too have been saving since I was a child, and my parents wouldn't dream of taking the money in that account for personal use, because they're decent human beings with consciences who actually love their kids and want them to be college-educated. So, posters, even if the account primarily belonged to the OP's parents, they wouldn't clean it out if they cared about the OP's college education at all. The main FML here is not entirely the fact that the parents cleaned out the account, but that they don't care enough to help their kid save money for college and bought a TV and pool instead. So for the people saying "you haven't been saving money since you were a kid, your parents have", if it was indeed an account to save for college, even if some of parents' money was in there, they wouldn't want to suddenly clean it out for superficial luxuries if they are what anyone would consider "good parents". If they have jobs, and even if they don't, $10,000 is not a lot to put aside to invest in their child's future, but to a child it seems like a lot. To clean out that account of $10,000 for their own use was just stooping to a new low and giving parents everywhere a bad name...I don't know what kind of monster would say the OP was in any way at fault for this or the parents were in any way justified in taking that money out of his or her account.

That's ****** up....

#68 & 170 I don't know where you go to school at, but for me, $10,000 would pay for more than THREE semesters. And that's at a good university, not a community college. Not everyone pays for school with loans either-all my birthday and Christmas money went into a savings account since i was little, and when I started babysitting and later working, all that money went in there as well. There are also scholarships to help pay for school, not to mention the fact that you can still work while you're in college, so you can save up quite a bit of money that way. And to #78-I guess that knowing that I want to graduate from college debt-free and working to make that happens makes me a "spoiled American brat."

oh my god this is just a total FML i feel sorry for you. considering that it was YOUR money from whatever jobs you used to do in highschool or w.e. that pool & HDTV is yours