First Job: Money Model – “Like a kid in a toy store with 100 Euros and Daddy’s credit card”
(GCC: I recently asked Chief Mom Officer a very pointed question:
Winnie and I both grew up poor, and a big part of our money value system started from a place of deprivation. We ended up in the right place, but not in necessarily the healthiest way possible. Now we are raising our own family with an abundance of money and time… how to instill those same values about saving, delayed gratification, etc… in a positive and healthy way?
What recommendations would you make to families like ours? Today’s post is the answer.)
How do you teach kids the important lessons about money, especially if you didn’t grow up with a great parental example?
Teaching your children important money lessons can be tricky. I would know. As the mother of three boys, ranging in age from 14 down to 3, I’ve had a lot of experience with teaching kids of different ages the basics of smart money management.
(GCC: A few years ago at FinCon, I had a chat with a fiery young woman whose dream was to save just enough $ to leave the corporate world. “I’m going to front load 100% of my retirement savings and then just let it percolate while I pursue other interests.” I loved the idea and the gumption. Fast forward to today: mission accomplished!)
My name is Gwen. I’m 27 years old, and even if I never save another penny I will enjoy a comfortable standard retirement. How did I manage that? I’m glad you asked!
GCC: When we were planning our own early retirement we had the good fortune to meet with people who had already blazed that trail. It was insanely beneficial, and I told myself I would always pay it forward. So when this young Canadian couple emailed to ask if we could meet to share all of our best life secrets (not that we have any), of course we said yes. Fast forward a few years now, and they’ve gone from nascent early retirees with an abundance of vim and vigor into a full on Millennial Revolution.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. –Mark Twain.”
This is the quote I copied into my final work e-mail. It was May 2015, I had given my notice, made up some bullshit excuse about taking a gap year to travel the world and “find myself”, and this was my sign-off to a company I’d given the last 9 years of my life to. But I wasn’t really quitting to travel the world for a year. I was walking out of the corporate world FOREVER.
At the age of 32, my husband and I were retiring with a Million dollar portfolio, enough by the 4% rule to sustain our $40K/year living expenses indefinitely.
But I didn’t tell my co-workers that. They’d find out about it more than a year later, on the front page of the country’s most read newspaper.
“How do you plan extended trips through multiple countries?” is a question we get often.
Sometimes people even ask us to plan their trip for them… which I’m happy to do for a nominal 200% commission.
For those who are less brazen or aren’t into paying triple, I can do the next best thing… here are the process and the tools that we use to plan and organize our extensive travel.
If I could summarize the human meet and greet ritual in a single phrase, it would be:
Hi… So, what do you do?
It’s an interesting question. What is it that we who no longer have jobs do? How can we answer this question in a way that helps us connect with others? What happens when we are completely honest with our new friends?
Over the years I’ve experienced this inquiry in numerous countries, languages, and cultures. Here are a few of the more entertaining interactions.
