Lessons Learned From Dad

Today's Newsletter:

• Quote From Clarence Kelland

• Money Lessons Learned From My Dad

• A Money Question

Quote

“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it.” - Clarence Kelland

My dad was my hero and a man of few words. His way of parenting was to show us not tell us. As I think about the lessons that have stuck with me over the years, it was the ones he lived day in and day out.

Money Lessons Learned From my Dad

The foundation of how I think about money was instilled in lessons learned from my parents. My dad was a small business owner for more than 25 years and my mom had an accounting background. Two great people to learn to manage money from. The funny thing is we never talked about money. Instead, they taught me by showing me how to do it.

Today we are going to talk about the three biggest lessons my dad taught me.

The Cash Drawer

We live in a world full of automation. Yet, the biggest lesson I learned about money came from a lack of it.

My parents used to keep a “cash drawer”. This was a kitchen drawer that had spending cash for things like going out to dinner or other fun family activities. Each month my mom would put some money into the drawer. We would enjoy it but when that money was gone it was gone.

I can remember my dad asking on a Friday or Saturday night if my mom wanted to take us out to dinner. My mom’s response would always start with “Is there money in the drawer”. That was either the start of a fun night or the end of the conversation. My parents earned plenty of money but learning to budget and delay gratification has always stuck with me.

Lesson learned: Building the muscle of delayed gratification has wide-ranging benefits for managing money.

People Over Profit

Corporate America is full of companies producing massive revenues at the expense of everything else. My dad, a small business owner, always went in the opposite direction.

His motto on money was that it was a tool. It mattered far more how you used it as opposed to how much of it you had. He was great at stopping the “money goalposts”. Find what is enough and enjoy it.

My dad had several employees that worked for him for the entire time he was in business. The constant reason why was that he focused more on them than the bottom line. My dad also only worked 4 days a week to spend more time with me and my brothers. He always prioritized the people in his life over the dollar amount in his bank account.

Lesson Learned: The people you have in your life are far more important than any P&L statement.

Say Yes To Memories

You can have the perfect financial plan and still miss the mark. There comes times in life when memory-making moments arrive. It might be the big game or once in a lifetime experience, say yes.

My dad drove a 10-year-old car he bought used. My dad never hired someone to cut our grass. My dad never flew first class. Yet, give him an opportunity to spend money to create a memory and he was all over it.

There are two memories that stand out from my childhood. One was a playoff baseball game at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals were playing in game 7 of the NLCS and my dad bought tickets from a scalper (that was a thing). It was a memory I will cherish forever. The other was a trip my family went on to Big Sky, Montana. An expensive trip for a family of five. Yet, the memories we created on that trip are the stories we tell today.

Lesson Learned: If you have a chance to spend money on creating memories, say yes if at all possible.

A Money Question?

“What are you teaching the next generation?”

In a world that thinks about me, me, me consider them. Consider what lessons you are teaching the people around you. The words you say matter far less than the actions you do. The same goes for teaching them about money.

Always remember my friends, money is a tool that is meant to be used.

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Until Next Time, My Friends

JL Strategic Wealth, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor, located in the State of Missouri. JL Strategic Wealth provides investment advisory and related services for clients nationally. JL Strategic Wealth will maintain all applicable registration and licenses as required by the various states in which JL Strategic Wealth conducts business, as applicable. JL Strategic Wealth renders individualized responses to persons in a particular state only after complying with all regulatory requirements, or pursuant to an applicable state exemption or exclusion. Nothing in this content is intended to be, and you should not consider anything in this content to be, investment, accounting, tax, or legal advice.