Why it's difficult to talk to family about money

re: Why it's difficult to talk to family about money

kaybtt — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:50:29 GMT

If someone squanders their funds, you should be cautious about loaning money to them as that can also put you, the lender, in a precarious position. You don't have to hate them -- just make sure you don't find yourself in a similar position trying to bend over backwards to help out. I have relatives who just "know you have the money" to loan them whenever they get into trouble. I've known people who've lost their homes because they loaned their mortgage payments to people or co-signed on loans they shouldn't have. It sounds ridiculous to reasonable people, but has occurred. And that's why you should keep your financial business to yourself so others won't be trying to get into your pocket book -- which is none of their business.

re: Why it's difficult to talk to family about money

Mike — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:34:14 GMT

I think it is really important to talk to kids about how you save, invest, decide what to spend money on, how you defer gratification... My dad never talked about money at all. I remember asking him, when I was about 12, "how do you get started?" When my son first asked me that question, I was thrilled. Even though he seems to think everything is easy for me and hard for him, we talk a lot about savings and investments. If you don't talk about it, it never becomes part of their mind set.

re: Why it's difficult to talk to family about money

Randall at CreditWithdrawal — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:25:48 GMT

Thanks for highlighting my post. That was a VERY personal one that I'm hoping helps other people out there.

I'm happy to say that so far, my kids know a lot more about our finances, at a much younger age, than I did.