Are you a product of your family tree, or did you plant a new one?

[GoodSteward]

As the title suggest, were you raised with wise financial counsel, or did you have to figure it all out on your own? I'm curious how many people are doing well because they were taught how, or is it because they decided/had to figure it out.

I had to figure it out, and I'm still working on it. I was raised debt was a way of life and zero about savings, especially retirement. My wife was raised with zero knowledge of finances outside of a little savings account. Her parents didn't share any personal financial info, good or bad.

[97guns]

being asian i was raised at a very early age to save money and put it to use and that making your money work for you is much better than working for money. this concept started with my grandparents where they were house flippers basedn neccesity and always upgrading because of a large family, never knew my greats but have uncles/aunts/cousins and distant relatives that are all financially driven

when i was 5 years old my best friend, a caucasian boy gave me a smurf holding a penny, he said it was because im always keeping money, it was very apparant at that age

[GoodSteward]

being asian i was raised at a very early age to save money and put it to use and that making your money work for you is much better than working for money. this concept started with my grandparents where they were house flippers basedn neccesity and always upgrading because of a large family, never knew my greats but have uncles/aunts/cousins and distant relatives that are all financially driven

when i was 5 years old my best friend, a caucasian boy gave me a smurf holding a penny, he said it was because im always keeping money, it was very apparent at that age

That's awesome. lol I have to be careful I don't get jealous of others. There is no telling how far ahead I could be right now if I had someone with some wisdom that had come my way early on.

We are going to open savings accounts for my oldest two kids soon since they are getting birthday money this month and next. I'll give them a checkbook ledger each, and they can use my card to buy with(obviously they have to be with me). I will pull from the account once or twice a month to account for the spending and make it similar to a checking account. They are only 9 and 10, so they can't legally have a checking account yet. We are also going to add a financial class to their homeschool curriculum that my wife wants me to teach. I just learned that my son is wanting to save for a truck! My daughter usually will get a little over 100$ for her birthday, and come Christmas usually still has a little left. She is also always trying to make money somehow like figure out a fundraiser for church, and back when she was still in public school she was selling drawings for 10 cent or 25 cent each.

I am determined to change my family tree!

[97guns]

your kids appear to be on the right path in my book, for me saving became a way of life, saving is a game, as is life the ultimate game and you should be in it to win it

[Fishindude77]

Yes, was raised by pretty smart parents, but unfortunately the financial training didn't rub off on all of my siblings.

[GoodSteward]

Yes, was raised by pretty smart parents, but unfortunately the financial training didn't rub off on all of my siblings.

What little training I did get was mostly in the way of pay your bills, don't be late. My dad bought me my frsit car, and handed me the payment book. It was a used camry for 149$ a month. I never missed a single payment, and had a strong concern for not watnting to mess up my dads credit. I didn't ask him to do that, but he did it.

My brother...lol well, let's just say he is 3 years older and lives with his in-laws. has 4 credit card collections on his credit within the last 2 years(all under 800$ limits!!), got a brand new Hyundai Accent @ 27% for 7 years a couple years ago, and is trying to move out finally but no has savings. He makes 40k a year working as a restaurant manager. He works hard, but sucks with money. I mean even the basic concepts of paying your bills he and his wife struggle with. THey have had numerous bank accounts due to a lot of overdrafts and never paying them off. I have loaned him money, and even sold a car cheap on more than on occasion, and every time I end up having to forgive the loans due to some new hardship. It's pretty amazing actually how many bad things keep happening to him, most of which are from poor choices previously.

My favorite motto I have posted at my desk at work: "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you're stupid and make bad choices."

[moneybags]

Self taught, and pretty good at . I'm from a large family, there was not a lot of money, and not a lot of money management. My parents always had a car payment or two and credit card debt. There was a lot of living check to check. I grew up knowing that I did not want to live that way. I put myself through college and read a lot of books (now internet) about personal finances and financial planning. Living debt free and hoping for an early retirement!

[41Fin]

Product of my family tree.

I came from one of those households where I didn't know we had money until I became older. I can't say I've always saved like I should but because of my upbringing I have no problem with a modest living.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DH and I semi product of families. Savers and not spenders, but spendier than our parents. And much bigger risk takers.

[Fishindude77]

The biggest thing I probably got from my upbringing, was "get out of bed, and get your butt to work". Hard work cures a lot of problems, and a lot of life's problems are money problems, so get your butt to work and get some money coming in.

The average person can work a whole lot more than 40 hours per week too, and starting out, if you want to get ahead that's usually what it takes. When you're working all the time, you don't have a lot of extra time to blow money either, so that further improves the situation. Money management was mostly self taught, but it's a whole lot easier if you've got a steady flow coming in.

[phantom]

My parents were always good with money, but not great. In some cases, they taught me what to do by example, and in others, they taught me what NOT to do by example. Sometimes I wish they'd been able to teach me a bit more than they did. But, the lessons they taught me on delayed gratification and using caution when making big decisions have served me well.

[Eagle]

As the title suggest, were you raised with wise financial counsel, or did you have to figure it all out on your own? I'm curious how many people are doing well because they were taught how, or is it because they decided/had to figure it out.

I had to figure it out, and I'm still working on it. I was raised debt was a way of life and zero about savings, especially retirement. My wife was raised with zero knowledge of finances outside of a little savings account. Her parents didn't share any personal financial info, good or bad.

Both my parents and my wife's parents are very frugal. I was raised with the knowledge of how to budget and save for a rainy day. My wife didn't know much about finances when we got married.

Good thing is no matter where you start in life there's always room to change your family tree!

[dawnwes]

My parents raised me to be careful with money. They are very good with money. They never owe, pay things off, give generously, etc....

I didn't quite listen or follow for a long time! :roll eyes: But I wised up. Thankfully I never made horrible mistakes, but I did buy cars with payments, use credit cards and not pay them off immediately, etc....

Dh's parents were very careful and lived below their means as well. He has always done better with his money than I have.

But overall, we grew up with wise parents and are now much wiser with our money as well.

[corn18]

My parents taught me how to spend all my money and when that ran out, find someone who would give you credit and keep on spending. When my dad died, my mom turned out to be exactly opposite of that. She paid off all her debts, saves money from her measly SS check and pays cash for everything. Who would've known?

I followed in their footsteps until 2013 and now am on track and teaching my kids how not to do it and to save. I hope they haven't been ruined.

Tom

[Jluke]

Planted a new one, kind of. We're all good with money/math...

I am the extreme saver case... but also the only stock investor (outside of 401k) in the immediate family.

It all started with me around 8th grade or so... I would get $2/day for lunch. I didn't skimp on what I bought, but managed to only spend $1.40/day.

So I could save $0.60/day, $3/week. The money added up "fast" for a high schooler who only started working summers starting 11th grade.

There were other financial lessons I learned from observing my parents (good and bad).