“Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.”
Hello, friends!
Our surprisingly damp Southern California winter continues to dump much-needed rain on us. Fortunately, there was enough of a break in the precipitation for me to run the Ventura Marathon yesterday.
Ventura’s course lends itself to PR’s (“personal records” in runner parlance), and it delivered. I finished my fastest marathon in 3:24:10, and I even BQ’d! 🥳
BQ’ing means I ran fast enough to qualify for the hallowed Boston Marathon. Although this feat wasn’t a particular goal of mine, it’s an exciting achievement in my running journey. So I may take a shot at the Back Bay next year. I love Race Day atmosphere, and Boston is probably an experience like no other.
Now that I’ve recounted my tales of middle-aged athleticism, it seems only fitting that I share some insight from a fellow financial fan who began his career in truly rarified sports air: that of an NFL athlete.
Jedidiah Collins joined me on the podcast to discuss his transition from pro football player to Certified Financial Planner®️ to creator of the Your Money Vehicle program. As you can probably surmise, Jedidiah is often called “the hardest-working man in personal finance.”
I hope you listen to my full conversation featuring Jedidiah’s money-smart play-by-play, as it’s packed with useful insights.
Fittingly, this week’s newsletter features three video highlights I hope you will find worthy of saving in your memory banks and sharing with not only your family but also one friend or colleague.
— 1 —
Inflation as Teacher: Inflation is hitting our digital wallets hard right now. I can remember when a slice of pizza was a buck. And I finally understand why my grandfather was gobsmacked when McDonald’s coffee went up to fifty cents. He could remember when a cup of joe was a dime!
Author Joan Didion quipped to Charlie Rose in a 1996 interview that “we felt rich [in the go-go 80’s] and then we didn’t,” referring to the economic downturn of the early 90’s. And although we may not have been wealthy in the 2010’s, we certainly feel a big change in 2023.
Still, inflation underscores the importance of investing because, as Jedidiah told me on the podcast:
“The only guarantee I can make about money is your expenses are going to go up. That is the only guarantee you can make in finances. Anybody else makes other guarantees, run away. They’re probably trying to sell or steal something from you.”
So we discuss how to use the pain of inflation to help teach important lessons to our kids.
— 2 —
Principles, Behaviors and Habits Matter: I was excited to have Jedidiah on the podcast in no small part because he’s been similarly influenced in his financial thinking by Morgan Housel’s wonderful book The Psychology of Money.
In it, Housel emphasizes that money advice is often doled out rationally. (With questions like, “What is your risk tolerance?”) Yet we interact with money emotionally. So we don’t really know our risk tolerance until we’ve experienced the feeling of watching our investments plummet before our eyes.
Therefore, we can help ourselves and our kids by focusing on principles, behaviors and habits. For example, the principle of “paying yourself first” can be introduced early by “nudging” our kids towards the habit of choosing to save money with each allowance distribution. Get started here.
And while this habit certainly isn’t a guarantee that our kids will continue such money-smart behavior as adults, it’s setting a foundation upon which they have the opportunity to build a more solid financial structure.
My discussion with Jedidiah further emphasizes these points:
— 3 —
“Be a Doer”: This is a family phrase that originated with my younger daughter. She likes to invoke it when my wife and I don’t feel like making dinner. And we invoke it in return when she bristles at emptying the dishwasher. Of course, these examples are fairly trivial, as they belie the phrase’s true value.
On my podcast, I ask every guest some form of this question: “If you could transmit a message that everyone would see, what would that message be?”
Jedidiah’s response was simple yet profound. You don’t want your child just to think like an investor. You want him or her to …
Or to put it another way, “Be a doer.”
Before we go, I want to thank you for being a part of our money-smart journey. I appreciate your continued attention, and I hope you find these three weekly ideas engaging and useful. If there’s anything I can do to help improve your family’s money-smart journey, then please let me know.
I also want to thank the many friends and family who have helped me achieve my recent running goal:
- My wife, Eileen, for getting up early to drop me off and driving home so I could soothe my barking legs
- My coach, Steve, for helping me overcome my mental hurdles
- My brothers, who tracked me during the race. (Their back-and-forth text thread was hilarious to read afterwards. Knowing they were noting my progress while I ran helped me push through those many moments when I questioned my sanity for choosing to put myself through such suffering. 🤪)
Until next week, enjoy the journey!
John, Chief Mammal
P.S. Please consult with a financial or investment professional before engaging in any decisions that might affect your own financial well-being.
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