Money Advice from Dad

My Dad has taught me a great deal about money over the years, both directly from his words and indirectly from his actions. I know I’m lucky, because not everyone’s father taught them good financial habits. And of course, just because your parents taught you well, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily do it. (I spent seven years of my early adulthood ignoring all that good advice, to my own financial peril.)

?Here are just a few of the gems my Dad taught me about money:

?You always have something to give. I witnessed my Dad being generous on a regular basis all throughout my childhood. He always dropped money in the collection plate at church. He volunteered, taking communion to sweet elderly ladies who couldn’t make it to service. He even opened our home to a family who was briefly homeless due to unemployment.

When I hit financial rock bottom and found myself living back with my parents at age 26, I felt defeated and a little sorry for myself. My Dad reminded me that I had a safe place to live and food on the table, which is more than some people. That’s when he encouraged me to form the habit of generosity, and I started donating $20 a month to the local homeless shelter (because that was really all I had to spare at the time). 23 years later, I still donate to the same homeless shelter each and every month, but the checks are certainly bigger these days!

?Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. My Dad is an optimistic person, always hoping for the best. But he taught me that we should still be prepared, in case things go sideways financially. It might not be fun to buy insurance or have money in savings for an emergency, but you’ll never regret having those financial “safety features” in place if you need them!

??You learn the most from the mistakes that cost you the most. I remember my Dad saying this every time I made a mistake that cost me financially. Here’s what he meant: When a mistake really hurts, we learn that we never want to do that again. And if we learn the lesson and take it heart, it can keep us out of financial trouble in the future. As a kid, if you lose a $1 bill at the county fair because you’re careless, you might not learn the lesson. But if you lose a $20 bill, it’s probably going to be a different story. The important thing is that you actually DO learn from your financial mistakes! ?

?Financial discipline pays BIG dividends! My Dad showed this to my brother, Jim, and I by his example over the years. He also introduced me to this quote from Jim Rohn, “You must bear the weight of either discipline or regret. Discipline weighs ounces, but regret weighs a ton!” Creating “set it and forget it” habits like automatic transfers to savings and retirement lightens the load of discipline even more.

?Here are more excellent pieces of financial “Dadvice” my friends and connections from LinkedIn and Facebook shared with me.

?“Pay yourself first” - My dad always talked about putting money into retirement before you’d even see the money hit your bank. And the way they are living it up while retired, I’d say it was pretty solid advice! ~ Tracy Jepson on LinkedIn

?Save 10%. Give 10%. Live on less than 80% and never charge anything that can't be fully paid off when the bill comes in. Wisest advice ever. ~ Andrea Raco on Facebook

?My Dad talked about ownership. He experienced the benefits of buying stock in his employer and helping it succeed as a part of the management team. It took me awhile to find a path for me to do something similar, but that advice was always there. ~ Philip Kernan, CFA on LinkedIn

?Build credit when you don’t need it so you have good credit if you do need it. ~ Keisha Rice on Facebook

?A couple of dad-isms come to mind: 1. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it. 2. Its' not how much you make, its' what you do with it. ~ Elysia Littlefield on LinkedIn

?Never loan money if you can't consider it a gift. ~ Shawn Jenkins

Unfortunately, there were comments on my posts asking for your money Dadvice that went like this:

“Sadly, my father really didn’t teach me much at all. He was never around.”

“Women don't know how to handle money. I'll talk to your husband about it instead." (Yikes!)

“My dad taught me by example what NOT to do with money!”

Dads are human, and they sometimes let us down. That includes not teaching us about money, or not being a good example.

The good news is that YOU can break the cycle and hand down better money advice, stories, and examples to your kids!

?And to all the fathers out there, of children both human and furry-footed, Happy Father’s Day!?

P.S. Want to discover the Financial Dignity? Formula? Join me for the free Masterclass on June 23rd!