Your child’s current job is mainly to eat and sleep. But one day, you’ll need some money and life advice. As a father who has spent most of his career researching and writing about money, behavioral finance, and business, I want to tell you a few things:
Don’t underestimate the role opportunities play in life
It is easy to assume that riches and poverty are our choices, but underestimating the role of opportunities in life is even more likely.
The families, countries, and generations we are born, as well as the people we meet along the way, all play a big role in the outcomes we achieve.
Although you should believe in the values and rewards of what you do, it is important to understand that not all success is the result of hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness. Keep this in mind when formulating opinions about others, including yourself.
Return is the ability to control time
The thrill of having things you love quickly fades away. But a job with a flexible time and a short commute is necessary. Have enough savings to spend when hardship is essential. Being able to retire whenever you want is also practical.
Achieving independence is our ultimate goal in life.
Don’t believe you’ll be pampered
No one can understand the value of money without exerting effort for it. So while the parents always do their best to support the child, the parents won’t spoil the child either.
I understand that not giving you everything you want is the only way for you to know the difference between wants and needs. Over time, your child will learn how to budget, save, and value what she has.
Knowing how to save is an essential life skill that will be helpful throughout your life.
Success doesn’t always come from big action
Napoleon’s definition of a genius was someone who could do the ordinary when everyone around was out of his mind. Money management is the same as well. You don’t have to do big things to get results, you just need to stay calm so you don’t ruin things.
Avoid big mistakes, the biggest of which is burying yourself in debt, which is more important than any financial strategy.
Live below your own income
The ability to live below your income level is one of the most powerful financial levers because your child will have more control over things like your income or return on investment.
One who makes $ 50,000 a year, but only needs $ 40,000 to be happy, richer than someone who makes $ 150,000, but needs $ 151,000 to be happy. How much you make does not determine how much you have and how much you have does not determine how much you need.
Change mind
Hardly anyone has the life they thought of at age 18, so it’s not the end of the world if you choose a major you don’t end up with, or get a degree in a field you’re not passionate about.
You may acknowledge that your values and goals have evolved. Forgiving yourself for having changed your mind is a superpower, especially when your child is young.
Everything has its price
The cost of a busy career is less time spent with friends and family. The price of long-term market returns is uncertain and volatile. The price of spoiled children is that they live a protected life.
Everything has its price. They are sometimes worth paying for, but you should never ignore their actual costs.
When you accept this, you will start to see things like time, relationships, autonomy, and creativity as valuable currencies like cash.
Money is not the biggest measure of success
Warren Buffett once said: “Real success in life is the number of people you want to love and they truly love you.”
That love comes from the way you treat people rather than the wealth you have. Money won’t give you what you want most. No amount of money can make up for a lack of character, honesty, and genuine empathy for others.
This is the most important financial advice I want to give you.
Don’t blindly believe all the advice
All of the lessons here, including this last one, are things most people learn too late in life.
The world of a different parent, like the world of a different parent’s. No one is the same, no one has all the right answers. Therefore, you should never accept anyone’s advice without contextualizing it with the values, goals, and circumstances in which you live.
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