Category: Financial role models

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Financial role models

Six money (and life) lessons I learned from my dad

Last year my dad passed away.

He was a great guy, an amazing dad and the reason I became so interested in personal finance. (One of my first posts was about important lessons I learned from my parents.)

In honor of him, I’d like to recount some of his philosophies on money and life and how he walked the walk every day.

Lesson 1 – Save some money

My dad was BIG on saving. One of my earliest memories was a coffee can in his roll-top desk where I’d deposit half dollars that his Uncle Walt would give me at church every Sunday.

In college, he had me open a Roth IRA (they had just come out!) and told me to put money in every month. Even if it wasn’t a lot, that was okay as long as I contributed regularly. In time, when I had more money, I could (and should) contribute more.

You don’t have to spend it all. You’re allowed to keep some of it.

My Dad
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Financial role models

4 Quick ways to be a good money role model for your kids

Being a parent can be tough. You want so much better for your kids than you had and want them to be so much more informed than you were.

But how can you be a good role model (especially when it comes to money), when you’ve made mistakes and aren’t 100% perfect on the topic?

Don’t worry — you still can be. Here are four quick ways you can be a good money role model RIGHT NOW.

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Financial role models

Does Your Money Talk Match Your Money Walk?

If you’ve been around awhile, you know that my focus on National Bank of Mom is 1) teaching my son kick-ass money management skills and 2) fostering good communication between us.

I teach him how to balance his savings, spending and giving accounts, how to plan for a large purchase and how to save at least 10% of his income.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that talk will only get me so far.

If I want to instill these skills in my son, I have to make sure I’m walking the talk. I have to look at my own actions and behavior and ask myself, “Is what I’m doing contradicting what I’m saying?”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

That couldn’t be more true. So much of what we learn is unspoken. We pick things up from our friends, family and society around us — what’s “normal” and expected. How life works.

To that end, ask yourself the following questions and examine your behavior:

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Financial role models

Important Lessons I Learned From My Parents

A few weeks ago, J and I went out to dinner with my parents. When the check came, my dad asked J to calculate the tip. Luckily we had just talked about this, so he was able to figure it out — but it made me think about all of the other money and finance lessons I’ve learned from my parents.

So far I’ve mentioned that my dad would drill me on the rule of 72 and part of any money I received had to go towards opening savings bonds, but there were many more lessons over the years.

My dad was relentless with the sayings:

  • Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
  • You don’t have to spend it all!
  • Don’t spend more than you make
  • Save some for a rainy day

When I was in middle school, he took me to our local credit union and we opened a checking account. He showed me how to write checks and use an ATM card.

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