Here's a piece from Marketwatch where the author gives money advice to recent high school graduates. There is lots of good stuff in this piece and I want to highlight (in green) a few of the parts I like best. I've added in my commentary where appropriate as well. Here goes:
Financial success starts with spending less than you earn, and using the surplus dollars to reduce debt or save for the future.
Bulls-eye!!!!!! It all does start with spending less than you earn -- it's the one way people of almost any income can become wealthy. But if you over-spend, it doesn't matter how much you make, you'll still be going backwards.
If you couple spending less than you earn with a great saving and investment plan, it's easy to get rich and earn a million (or two!).
If friends, neighbors and acquaintances are fortunate enough to do a little better financially, feel free to applaud their efforts, but don't try to keep pace. Most people feel like they are entitled to nice things; the truth is that they are entitled to what they can afford to pay for while still protecting their future. Allowing someone else's priorities and earning power to set your own financial life off-kilter is dumb.
Yep. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons so many Americans carry so much debt -- they see a friend get something and they want it (or something better). They don't worry about the financial consequences -- they just borrow to pay for it. Bad move.
Today's graduates will know they have reached a new level of money maturity when they are able to give some of their cash away. "Giving til it hurts" actually can feel pretty good, even if the money involved is a small amount. The sooner someone learns that, the better they will feel about how they handle money.
It's nice to see a financial advice piece talk about the advantages of giving. Not only does giving help others and make the givers feel good, but some think that giving is one of the keys to getting rich. Some call this the power of giving.
The graduates I was talking to may have gotten a good education, but it didn't include 10 cents worth of information on managing money. They don't know how to balance a checkbook, make and keep a budget, or invest in a stock that Grandpa didn't pick for them. That has to change, and the sooner the better. They won't actually learn those lessons while taking college classes, but if they are lucky they will learn them during their time in college, so that they can be prepared to move on when next they graduate. But regardless of when someone learns money management skills, the important thing is that they figure it out, and the sooner the better.
I've discussed this a few times and several people have commented on it. Our education system does a poor job of teaching kids about how to handle money. That's why we, as parents, need to be sure we do it. The only problem with this is that many parents don't know what they're doing when it comes to handling money. Yikes!!!
Money provides opportunity, but it doesn't guarantee happiness. And until someone can put a price tag on what it takes to be truly content and happy, it will pay to remember that adult life is not all about the pursuit of greenbacks.
True. That's why I have a whole category here at Free Money Finance devoted to things that are more important than money. A few things on my list: time, health, kids, mind, and happiness.
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