Father’s Day: Financial Advice from Dad
Categories: Blog, For Students, For College Students, For High School Students, For Parents and Cosigners
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Whether it’s your father or a father figure, the men who help raise us tend to sneak in a life lesson or two. Those nuggets of advice can sometimes be personal finance-focused, too.
To celebrate Father’s Day, we asked our team to share the best financial tips their dads have passed on to them over the years, and that are still true to this day.
Think big.
“My dad grew up in a single-parent home with a depression-era mother so he was, and is, extremely frugal. Many people advise not to be “penny-wise and pound-foolish”, but my dad taught me to flip that thinking on its head. We were very frugal in my childhood on smaller creature comforts (we ate most meals at home, clipped coupons, drove inexpensive, economical cars, and limited unnecessary expenses), but we weren’t afraid to spend money on large, important expenses like education, international travel, and our home. Those critical, large expenses we were comfortable making because we didn’t waste money on the little things.”
– Dustin Varty | Senior Director of Marketing
Do what makes you (and your wallet) happy.
“My mom is the one who manages my family’s finances. There’s this one Bob’s Burger episode where Linda Belcher (the mother character) is paying the family’s monthly bills and has this entire process to it where one check clears but another bounces so it gives them more time to find the money. Linda is laughing and joking with the person at the bank like it’s their routine together every month – that scene hit close to home and reminded me of how my mom would pay our bills growing up too. We always struggled but we always had food in the fridge, a roof over our head, and clothes to wear, so my brothers and I never complained about it.
As I started my own career and to earn my own money, my mom shared with me her definition of happiness. “It doesn’t matter how much money you have, just make sure you never sacrifice your own happiness to get there. Buy the things that make you happy even if you don’t have a lot of money in your bank account. As you get older, you’ll remember how happy you were and how you lived your life – that’s what I choose to remember too.”’
– Alicia Chavez | Content Marketing Manager
Plan for your future.
“Whenever I’ve been at any job, I’ve always skimmed past the retirement or 401K program because it was too confusing or I didn’t fully understand what I was doing. I never made the time for it. Any time I had a question about how much to take out of my taxes, my dad was the first call, so I asked him about my 401K, and not only did he walk me through how much to put in, what the terms meant, but he gave me the advice to take as much out as I could. “Plan for your future. It may suck to have money taken out right now, but it will set you up for when you’re older and need it.”
– Erica Arvanitis | Content Creator
Invest in experiences.
“Minimize expenses and invest savings. No need to purchase expensive clothes, cars, or luxuries that don’t add value (sometimes high-end things are good purchases that will last longer – but sometimes they are excessive). Investing in smart assets like real estate and stocks as early as possible helps build wealth. Spend the extra money on traveling and experiences instead of luxury material items.”
– Ryan Pearson | UX Front End Developer
Don’t put things off.
“If I have questions or I’m not sure about a certain bill I’m paying for, or plan to pay for in the near future, pick up the phone and call the company. Don’t put it off. You can learn a lot through a simple phone call conversation (and save yourself a lot of time).”
– Casey Miller | Marketing Operations Specialist
Moral of the story: listen to Dad. Whether you’re a master in money habits or just starting out, remember it takes time – and practice – to reach higher goals of financial wellness. You got this!
For more financial wellness tips and advice, check out our Financial Wellness resource page:
