Money matters are one area where most of us have turned to our fathers for invaluable advice over the years. Of course, it goes without saying that these are part of the overall encyclopedia of life lessons that they’ve given us throughout their lifetime. This Father’s Day, let us take a look at the best money advice we’ve got from our dads.
Father’s Day Money Tips- What Our Dads Taught Us
While it will be hard to compile everything that our dads passed on to us in terms of financial advice here, there are still a few universally applicable tips that everyone should identify with.
- Never neglect savings– It’s easy to forget savings when you’re young and earning your own money. However, that’s where dads have played a vital role in helping us understand how we must save and invest at least 30-40% of our corpus every month.
- Build an emergency corpus– Our fathers have always emphasized upon the importance of an emergency corpus for situations like job losses, sudden expenses and all. The best target is to build a corpus that is at least 3-6 months of your current salary. This should be accomplished first before you turn to investing and other financial matters.
- Keep investing– Much to our chagrin (we now realize why), our dads have always been after our lives to keep investing instead of spending money on unnecessary indulgences first. So, one of the biggest lessons is to diversify our portfolio. This means investing in life and health insurance adequately as a financial safety net, followed by a mix of market-linked and safer instruments, including PPF, FDs, ULIPs, mutual fund SIPs, gold, and so on.
As almost every father would say, sacrifice indulgences but keep the investments flowing for the long term. This will ultimately help you build a large corpus due to the power of compounding, something that will enable greater financial freedom later in life.
- Keep debt at bay– Most fathers insist on avoiding debt as a matter of principle. They frown upon piling up credit card bills and personal loans with high rates of interest. Instead, they’re all for waiting and investing until financial and life goals are achieved. So, a major lesson that you can learn from your dad is to avoid unsecured debt as much as possible. It’s okay to have secured debt like a home loan, which appreciates in value and helps you build an asset. However, avoid credit card and loan spending for discretionary purchases unless it is absolutely urgent.
A Tribute to Our Dear Dads on Father’s Day
Now that you’ve seen how our fathers have always had our backs in terms of money matters, it’s time to pay tribute to your dad for his contributions this Father’s Day. Let him know how his invaluable advice has taught you money management while taking a pledge to follow these financial tips as much as possible in your working years. As our dads would say- good financial planning is all about saving for a rainy day while mentioning how a penny saved is a penny earned!
