Do you have a money mentor?

[teal]

Do you have, or did you have, a money mentor to help guide you along the right path for personal finance issues? Is there a way to better your chances of finding one if you don;t have one, but would like one? I find I'm in a good position without debt, but I'd like someone I could lean on for money advice so I don't have to learn everything the hard way by myself. How should I go about trying to find a person like this?

[Jluke]

One of my best money mentors is someone I work with. He's about 10 years older than me and we have similar views on the value of a dollar.

We bounce ideas off of one another and I can always ask him what he would have done differently or what he did do that really generated positive financial experiences.

And my neighbor across the street who is probably in his 70's. He continually invested in BRK and stocks way back even when his friends told him he was crazy. Now he's crazy... rich.

[teal]

You're lucky. I wish I had someone like that. I've been looking for a couple of months, but finding one is a lot more difficult that it may seem. I'll continue my search.

[rob62521]

I wish I had one when I was younger. Maybe I would have made some better choices overall. I didn't go crazy, but if I had someone who was investment savvy, I might be better off than I am. That being said, a group of us where I work have created a group where we share ideas on money whether it is saving it, investing, and so on, and we created a Facebook page for our group and we share articles.

[bjl584]

My Step dad has taught me tons over the years. He is the main reason that I became interested in finances.

[TBH]

I have an older sister who has always done this for me. We don't agree about everything (she's a much more conservative investor than I am, for example) but she taught me a lot of the basics when I was very young--about budgeting, living below my means, avoiding credit card debt, saving early for retirement, etc. I am in a much better position now than I would have been if it hadn't been for her.

I think if you don't have a money mentor in your life this board can help. If you have questions or need advice, post them here. This board has helped a lot for questions I didn't want to ask my sister.

Then one day you may have a chance to be a money mentor for someone else!

[tripods68]

Our mentor is Dave Ramsey. We began listening only this via podcast year but he has changed our life completely. We are DEBT free except mortgage. But we are using the envelope system to help keep track our monthly spending and savings.

[kork13]

Do DisneySteve, LivingAlmostLarge, MonkeyMama, and the rest of the regulars around here count?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Interesting thread. Kork13 makes a good point that you all are my mentors, including you Kork (lol). Most of the people I know (including family) do not freely discuss their finances so I've never in essence had a mentor. Sometimes I try to break the ice by bringing up topics of personal finances with friends/family and all too often I find the discussion to be one-sided with me being the only one divulging information. I take great pride in my financial situation so I'm not ashamed to share how I'm doing but with some people I know, I get the sense that discussing any to do with finances is embarrassing or even taboo. Some people even have a "deer in the headlight" look on their face when it comes to financial matters.

[Like2Plan]

Yes, I had several folks whom I considered money mentors over the years. It was generally pretty casual--information gleaned from a conversation. But, I found the information was already pretty well researched. I also agree with Kork.

[autoxer]

I don't know anyone personally that is that great with money, but here are some of my mentors:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com

https://www.budgetsaresexy.com

www.stackingbenjamins.com (great podcast)

https://www.plantingourpennies.com

[97guns]

my mom has been my mentor with saving money and later on investing in real estate. she had me saving money at a very early age and it has become a lifestyle of mine as i followed her lead. i can remember going to the bank at age 5 and making deposits with my birthday and christmas money. my brothers were so small that they couldnt even see over the bank counter when they were making transactions.

[jamiesmoneyadvice]

I have a few and they are critical to your growth as an investor and wealth building efforts. They are not easy to find but can best be found locally in investment clubs that focus on areas that you are also interested in such as a local real estate investment club.

[FLA]

My dad, who came from nothing and worked incredibly hard to change that, was my first mentor. Just watching what he did when I was little, taught me his values, he always had at least two jobs, the reserves, night school and somehow managed to volunteer for the fire dept and he made a few comments at PTA meetings, next thing he knew, he'd been elected president! I was so proud of him when he graduated, I think I was ten. Got a state job, worked his way up. My parents can make a dollar bleed and beg for mercy. Constant refrain- go to college, get a job in a promising field, never borrow money for anything but a house and maybe a car, never borrow money from your family or anyone, do not rely on a spouse to support you, save for retirement as soon as you get your first job, and hours more, lol. Took it all to heart, it worked, but he was not a savvy retirement investor, that was not even an option when he started with the State, when he could, I think he played it too safe.

I happened to read Financial Planning for Dummies after graduation, pointed me to Vanguard. So John Bogle and the Bogleheads became my mentors and I think they did a pretty good job helping me learn to invest for retirement and other aspects of financial planning. When I was ready to invest in my 403B, the options were all crap annuities with high fees. I asked the HR guy, isn't there anything better? He said where do you want to invest? I said Vanguard, handed me a form and that was that. I tried to tell friends, you are not stuck with those annuities, go to HR. No one ever bothered. That no longer happens there but I was allowed to do it for 2 decades and by then they were offering Vanguard Index funds.

I have two friends in finance, they look my stuff over and make suggestions periodically.

[ronb]

Yes. And if you want one just make sure to get one who walks the talk. Talk is cheap. Make sure they are actually doing well financially. You don't need to audit them, just get a feel for their situation.