Financial Lessons From My Father

June 20, 2013

With my colleague Greg Ward’s post yesterday about teaching his children the value of a dollar and Father’s Day still in my recent memory, I reflected on what financial lessons my own father passed on to me. After all, he was a former stockbroker and is now a successful investor. Here are some that have stuck with me:

Your health comes first. My brother and I grew up hearing those words as a kind of family mantra. While it doesn’t seem to be financial advice, the point is not to be penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to health-related spending. It may be cheaper in the short run to eat junk food and skip dental cleanings and preventative medical treatments, but it will cost you dearly in the long run in both medical costs and quality of life. After all, what financial asset is more valuable to you than your own life?

Always be prepared. As a former Boy Scout master, my father drilled this one into us as well. We learned to stash emergency supplies and to never go anywhere, whether it was camping in the mountains or a on a road trip to visit my grandparents, without having everything we might need. He particularly stressed the importance of carrying lots of cash in case of an emergency in which the ATM and credit card machines weren’t working. To this day, in addition to my insurance coverage and emergency savings, I try to have at least 2 credit cards and 2 ATM cards on me, lots of cash, and even emergency supplies in my backpack and the trunk of my car.

Research before you buy. My dad is an avid reader of Consumer Reports and always does a lot of research before a major purchase. I inherited this trait, sometimes to a fault. The good news is that I probably saved a lot of money on things I never bought simply because I never finished researching them. This is particularly useful when it comes to my favorite area of consumer research, technological gadgets, since the prices tend to come down over time.

Be skeptical of Wall St. Since my dad used to work on Wall St, he learned firsthand that they don’t always (or usually) act with our best interests in mind. While our investment philosophies aren’t always the same, we both agree that Wall St analysts and most investment research is pretty useless when it comes to making sound financial decisions.

Finance can be fun and interesting. My dad first sparked my interest in finance when he gave me a book on investing in the 4^th grade and I actually read it. To this day, we both look at finance as a hobby (albeit we focus on different aspects of it) rather than as just another chore to do. I hope to inspire the same interest with the employees I talk with and you, the readers of my blog posts.

What financial lessons have you learned from your dad? If you’re a father, what lessons do you hope to pass on to your children? Share your thoughts in the comments section below