Money Lessons From my Father

My dad has always been a huge part of my life, partly because if not for him I wouldn’t be here today. But also because if not for him I wouldn't be who I am today. So I am grateful for my DNA.

As a little child, my mother teased me that my feet were like my dad's. And that made me excited because I believed I would grow up to walk just like him. You see I wasn’t around my dad much growing up so I tried to model an idea of him.

Thanks to my brilliant 7 year old imagination, which always came to my aid anytime I had a gap in information; I created a wonderfully glorious story of who is was, what he did, and how much money he had. So parts of this story is still so vivid in my mind that my 30-something-year-old self still believes it to be true.

To me, he was a fine, hardworking and wise. Always generous and happy. He was the life of the party and his energy brought excitement into any room he walked into. To grow up and walk like him was a dream to my 7-year-old self. I was determined to be all this and more.

This week started with father's day and to honour the celebration of Dads, I feel it would be great to share with you 3 lessons I learned from the time I spent being around my dad and the time I spent dreaming about how he lived. Watching him, learning about him and imagining him has shaped some areas of my life.

So here are 3 money lessons I learned from my dad

My Dad taught me how to live and give generously

I learned to be generous to myself and others from watching my dad. When I was around him, he never seemed to allow money to limit him from doing what he wanted to do. He gave freely always expecting more to come to him.

My dad taught me that even when things don't go to my plan, it always works out for my benefit

During my childhood years, I  hoped to switch the image I had made up in my mind with the real deal. That was my plan and I'm grateful it didn't happen. I love my father, even more, today for recognising his strengths didn't lie in raising me. This allowed me to grow up with a mindset that everything always works together for my good.

As long as you believe this you will see it become true in your life. No matter what your finances may look like now, the end will be better so keep working at it.

My dad taught me to live rich & invest

Living a great life is about finding balance in every area of your life. Too much or too little of anything will not bring you lasting happiness, this includes extreme saving over a prolonged period to the point where there is no wiggle room for fun, and extreme spending to the detriment of your savings or investments.

The way our parents treat money greatly affects how we also we treat money. Be grateful for the money lessons they taught you both good and bad will help you understand how your ideas about money were formed.

What was the biggest lesson you learned about money from how your dad earned, spent, saved or invested money?