THE ETHICIST TAP : [A]

 

IF PEOPLE GIVE you money to do something and it makes more sense to use it for something else, why not just tell them?

It wouldn't be so terrible if your son's grandparents still insisted that the money go to his 529 plan ; any money left over once he's finished his education can be put into an I.R.A. 

Either way, you shouldn't reallocate the money without consulting them. The instructions that accompanied the check were part of the gift.

The World Students Society thanks Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, who teaches philosophy at N.Y.U.

His books include '' Cosmopolitanism, '' '' The Honor Code '' and '' The Lies That Bind :  Rethinking Identity.''