Do Your Parents Invest?
When I was a little kid, I was sitting on my grandma’s couch showing her one of my toys. In the background, the local news was playing. My grandma was fully invested in what I was saying, until the reporter said, “Up next, finance news.” That’s when my grandma shushed me. And that’s when I knew finance news, whatever that was, was important.
A few years later, my mom and I were sitting in a McDonald’s. I was telling her how much I loved McDonald’s. That’s when my mom said, “If you love McDonald’s so much, maybe you should OWN McDonald’s.” Imagine being eight years old going around the playground telling everyone YOU owned McDonald’s.
Point is: the seed was planted in my head from an early age: INVESTING 👏 IS 👏 IMPORTANT 👏
If your parents invest, there is an increased likelihood of a few things:
They will encourage YOU to invest, speak freely about investments they’ve made, or at the very least, set up an account in your name.
They might speak more freely and openly about money. Financially insecure families view talking about money as a taboo. It’s RUDE to ask. It’s none of your BUSINESS how much your parents make. Don’t be NOSY. Doesn’t mean every single family who invests will discuss their finances in the open, but there’s an increased likelihood that they will.
You’ll have a better understanding of not just how hard it is to earn a dollar, but the best ways to use that dollar. Financially secure families aren’t reckless with their money. You’ll notice that financially stable households still like to get deals. They aren’t reckless with their money and almost never like to overpay for things.
Financially secure families know EXACTLY what they spend and where all that money goes. They have a budget, even if it’s a loose idea of what goes where. Financially insecure families often wonder where their money has gone.
Lifestyle creep is REAL. When my grandpa earned more and more money over the years, nothing changed. He lived the same largely simple life he always lived. Bonus: He always said if you can’t buy it in cash, don’t buy it.
If your parents aren’t investing, they are on the path to working forever. I have a lot of anxious 16 year olds who follow me on TikTok. They want to start investing as early as possible so they don’t end up like their parents: Broke, stuck working forever, worrying about money every single day. To those 16 year olds: If your parents won’t let you invest, don’t worry about it. Start when you’re 18 and can legally open your own account. Those extra two years won’t make a difference. What WILL make a difference is that you are starting at 18 instead of 35.
