Comments on: Have Your Parents Ever Talked To You About Money?

By: He-river

He-river — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:08:31 +0000

I think it’s important that Parents and children discuss finances throughout life, even through retirement.
My parents gave me advice when I asked for it, but rarely exposed their financial situation…until 2 years ago when my Dad revealed the financial trouble his business was in (too highly leveraged compounded by some poor accounting practices). At that point, I had been independent for nearly a decade and had begun studies for my MBA (with a concentration in Finance). The revelation came as a shock since my Dad had been the first to walk me through the financial situation analysis and decision making. Until then, he was my example of a wonderful business man.
A year later, my parents decided to put their house on the market to inject some much-needed capital into the business. Through this process, they were forced to share their financial situation with our entire family (including extended) and friends.
This was around the time that She and I were preparing to be engaged, and presented the opportunity to discuss finances with my (now) in-laws. While the conversations were never too detailed, the door is now open. While we don’t agree on everything, they trust I am doing what’s best for She and I, and that makes a huge difference.

By: Get Rich Or Die Trying » Blog Archive » Posts Of Interest

Get Rich Or Die Trying » Blog Archive » Posts Of Interest — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:43:49 +0000

[...] Have Your Parents Ever Talked to You About Money? @ Broke Grad Student – I actually talk to my dad quite a bit about my finances and my mom quite about hers. I’d say that we’re all open about our finances now that I’m an adult and on my own. [...]

By: Stephanie PTY

Stephanie PTY — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:30:13 +0000

My parents have always been fairly open with me about money, although specific numbers didn’t come into play until I was in my late teens. As I entered college, the dialogue became a lot stronger, because my mother had me do all of my own financial aid paperwork. Now, my family knows about my blog, and so they tend to come to me when they want to talk about money stuff. Not all of them, of course, but I think the ones who do appreciate talking to someone who knows the concepts and won’t get confused or have to stop and ask what something is!

By: cybermedievalist

cybermedievalist — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:56:35 +0000

My parents acted like their personal finances were a state secret, and still do. I don’t feel that this was healthy at all, because I went off to college with no real concept of how much “real-world” things cost or how to budget or how to manage money at all. Now that I am preparing to live on a graduate school fellowship, a substantial reduction in my household income, I’ve had some pretty frank discussions with my 14-year-old daughter about how much money will be coming in and how much our various expenses will be. This has actually turned her into my partner in figuring out how to spend less money and get along on less, rather than an adversarial and selfish teenager with an endless list of demands and little understanding of why they can’t be met. Well, most of the time anyway. I think that she will likely be more prepared to manage money and budget than I was, because she’s involved in the process already with me. I think that parents really do themselves and their children both a disservice when they are secretive about financial matters.

By: paranoidasteroid

paranoidasteroid — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:14 +0000

My parents didn’t really talk to me about money until I graduated from college. My dad has recently gotten into finance a little more (he recently bought an investment property), so when I have question I’ll talk to him. He’s the only person I know who will be genuinely excited that I save $1000 this month, for example.