What My Parents Taught Me About Money
About a week ago, Mrs. Micah wrote What My Parents Did and Didn’t Teach Me About Credit and Money Management and that got me thinking about financial lessons that I learned from my parents. I can definitely say that I didn’t learn anything about investing, budgeting, or building alternative income streams from my parents. They are not the kind of parents that’s real savvy about money and wealth building. However, they did teach me a lot of valuable lessons — stuff that are even more important than practical money management.
Lessons I Learned From My Parents
Family Above All Else
The most defining characteristic of my parents, especially my dad, is their love for my sister and I. We didn’t have a lot of money when we grew up, but they didn’t let it affect our family. This is especially true when it comes to education. Despite their hardship, they did whatever it took to ensure that we had good education. This include sending both of us to college. In term of the sacrifices they have made, there’s nothing more you could ask from them.
Perseverance
My parents believe that failure only happens if it stops you from achieving your goals. When you try something and didn’t succeed the first time (or the first few times), they are called setbacks – not failure. Just because a toddler couldn’t walk the first time he tried, doesn’t mean he can’t walk — he just has to keep trying until he could.
My parents definitely faced many setbacks during their lifetime, but they didn’t let that stop them from achieving their goals.
Integrity
My parents are very honest folks with great integrity. They never cheat, lie, or do anything illegal to get ahead. This is almost to the point of being detrimental, since there are some real predators out there. However, this is a quality that I really admire about them. And like them, I always strive to do the right thing; especially when it comes to earning money honestly and with integrity.
Don’t Gamble
My dad often said to me that you could never go broke if you don’t gamble. Of course, this was before the age of easy credit and overwhelming amount of financial distractions. In any case, it was a great advice that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Be Wary Of Partnership With Friends
My dad is the real entrepreneur in our family. In his youth, he tried his hands in many different businesses. Some were successful, and some were not. Unfortunately, he had no luck with any business that involves a partnership. Even worse, these were his friends that cheated him out of his fortune. As a result, I am quite set on not starting a business if I can’t do it on my own.
I really think this is a great subject to talk about, so I would like to encourage you to share your own story about lessons you learned from your parents below. If you are a blogger, why not write an article about it.
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Your parents gave you much more than the basics and sound like you learned a lot from your dad’s business ventures. It seems tempting to start a business with a friend, but the fear is that relationship could be impacted if the business went sour. I’ve also considered buying real estate with friends as well, but then thought I might want to settle for another investment that is more affordable. If you purchased investment property with your spouse, would you consider this mixing business with a friendship?
I didn’t have the same advantages you had but I did learn that I wanted to work smarter instead of harder as I had seen my mother work very hard physically all her life. I also chose to be a principled person that applies honesty.
You had very nice parents that taught you some excellent lessons. We tried to give our sons pretty much the same things and managed to get them through college, smart, good work ethics and morals. They also know that money is just a tool and not the important thing in life. I know your parents are proud of you because I am proud of my sons!
@Scott — I think that’s a good decision. Beside the potential financial loss, you could be losing a friend. That’s something we need to consider when going into a partnership with a friend.
As far as business with a spouse, I think it’s different. I wouldn’t hesitate to going to business partnership with my wife.
@Data Entry Lady — I think working smarter is a great lesson to learn. Likewise, I am hoping to teach my son good life and financial lessons.
In my nuclear family I was the first person to get past third grade. As you can imagine there wasn’t much in the way of financial expertise. Primarily the lessons were things like work your job and pay your bills. And large doses of “Trust in Jesus”. A few others were: Own your own home; Neither a borrower nor a lender be; Get your education; and Be your own boss.
That last one is interesting since nobody in our family was in that position, and we only knew one or two people (small grocers) who were. How to be your own boss was never discussed, so I guess it was merely an ideal.
By reading this blog I am still working on Get your education. Nobody ever gave me permission to stop.
Just had to comment Zeke. Perhaps there was a lot of good counsel from some people that wanted the best for you but for what ever reason didn’t have the opportunities themselves. My husband’s mother went to 2nd grade because they were very poor Appalachian farmers and that was the best they could do at that time. She was a smart lady with a lot of sense and did the best for her 8 kids though she couldn’t read. She had one of the best senses of humor too. Not all education comes from a university.
Hang in there with your education and remember the important things.
@Zeke — I think you have a great attitude. And there’s nothing wrong with being the first to past third grade. Where I came from, not many people in my parents generation have a lot of education, but many of them made it somehow.
I agree with your opinion about family is above of all. I think family is very very important for me. When we have happy family, everyday we will feel happy stay in our home, kidding with children, parents, even with our neighbours. We will not feel alone in our life. Our family will help us and beside us when we need, and vice versa.
I wish money management was better taught to me. At 21 I’m 17k in debt and jobless fighting my way back to fit. hopefully.