Good Advice is Like a Gift

Once people read To Whom Do You Listen, they were invited to share the best advice they received from family, friends, or colleagues.  Most financial advice is derived from parents’ and grandparents’ experiences, both good and bad.  Their advice, both inspirational and cautionary, is shared because family members love their children and want only the best for them. Their sincere intentions are to protect them from making bad decisions.
 

Good advice doesn’t cost anything yet it can also be an expensive gift when applied.  During the Christmas Season, we have a tradition of sharing gifts.  Are there any gold nuggets of financial wisdom in the list below which you can use?

Best Gifts of Advice My Colleagues Received From Others:

• Start saving your money from your early years, the beginning of your working years.

• While it is important to save, it is still important to live in the moment and spend some of your money to enjoy life and create memories because you can’t take it with you.

• Life is short; don’t be afraid to enjoy the money you’ve earned but most importantly, don’t forget to save it also.  Find a good balance.

• Don’t be afraid to take “educated” risks while savings and investing.  Educate yourself through research or asking people who are trained to help.

• Every penny saved counts.

• Don’t buy something if you can’t pay for it with cash.  This meant non-essential items.

• “What are your priorities?” “Slow down.” If you know what your priorities are then it is easier to allocate funds for those things.  If you slow down you do not spend as much on extra things and make better choices on where you do spend your money.

• Prepay your mortgage by at least one payment (just in case) or have it available in a savings account as back-up.

• See an estate planner.

• If you want something bad enough, then buy it (or do it), even if you can’t really afford it.  If you wait until you can afford it, your health might not be there for you to enjoy it, and you will live with regrets for not doing it when you could.  Just be careful not to use this as an excuse to buy anything and everything.

• Farming philosophy is not getting into too much debt; just keep building slowly and your asset base just keeps building. (The turtle and hare philosophy!)

• Start putting some money into RRSPs from a very young age once you have completed university.

• Pay more than the minimum required on debts even if it’s only an extra $5 or $10 each payment. These little bits will add up over the long haul.

• “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”  This means don’t take on more debt than you can handle. 

• My Grandmother started me on the path to having a “save-something-for-a-rainy-day” mentality from an early age.  Her advice of “a penny saved is a penny earned” has taken me far in the area of family budgeting.  She taught me that the “early bird catches the worm” phrase applied to learning to save some money at a young age as well.  I continue to teach my grandchildren the same principles of “counting the cost before going ahead”, both in finances and relationship decisions. 

As this year comes to a close, you may be seeking good advice to apply in the new year.  Although you may want to make many changes, I recommend only starting with one.  Too many changes at once may cause you to become overwhelmed which in turn may lead you to do nothing.  What’s the point in that strategy?  As you look back on this year, examine your experiences, both good and bad.  See where a change is necessary and accept some worthy advice.