Family upbringing is your lifestyle

[97guns]

I just had some deep thoughts by myself about my moms side of the family and how all my cousins mirror their parents and upbringing. Moms oldest brother is a hardhead and his son was the same, always would say what's on his mind and an unbelievable memory of jokes, her older sister was a low level con and scammer, going as far as trying to put her name on her friends Deed, always a wheeler and dealer and her son is the same, exactly.

Her older brother had 8 children and was very busy with his business, he had no time to teach anything about finances and although he is very well off all of his children have no savings. 3 that I know of rent and I consider them to be in very bad financial shape.

My mom has always taught my 2 brothers and myself how to save and right from wrong. We all have substantial savings and assets created by savings. Not to brag or toot horns but I think my mom did a great job and it was very fascinating to see how all my cousins have totally lived their lives exactly how they were taught. (Daydream over)

[disneysteve]

I think you're absolutely right. Certainly there are exceptions, but in general, we learn what we are taught and what we see modeled for us.

My parents were very responsible with money, frugal, shopped at flea markets and discount stores, and always saved and invested for the future. It probably helped that my father was an accountant who was a child during the Depression. My mom was a SAHM and cooked and baked every meal from scratch (still does at 86 years old). So that's how I was raised and it is clearly evident in how I live.

We've also strived to raise our daughter the same way. I've shared before how I would do "Dad's financial academy" with her as she was growing up, teaching her the basics of saving, investing, debt, interest rates, etc. The result? She is now 21, has over $10,000 in savings, has a Roth IRA that she started when she was 17, owns her car outright (bought used for $5,000 with some help from us and Grandmom), and is finishing her junior year of college currently with only about $4,000 in student loan debt. So far, she seems to be following in our footsteps.

[AJ444]

It is likely mostly true but my wife and I are two exceptions. There are some people who are wired to seek out the knowledge on their own.

I grew up middle class but my mom and dad spent themselves silly into debt. They still have cash flow problems and my dad still can't retire and is 69.

My wife grew up extremely poor and her parents didn't provide much guidance, not that they had much to provide.

[Fishindude77]

As they say ...... chickens don't have ducks.

[moneybags]

It is likely mostly true but my wife and I are two exceptions. There are some people who are wired to seek out the knowledge on their own.

Sounds like me. My parents were awful with money - lived check to check, lots of credit cards, car payments, etc. I did my research early on and have been a saver & investor ever since I started working.

[~bs]

mostly true, although the individual themselves matter a lot. I'm a lot better with money than my brother is, although he somewhat does consider his future.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

our parents on both sides are extremely frugal. We follow the same thing. Read post about $15/bag of starbucks coffee. Habits are hard to break.