{"id":3066,"date":"2013-06-16T01:39:27","date_gmt":"2013-06-16T05:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2013-06-16T01:39:27","modified_gmt":"2013-06-16T05:39:27","slug":"the-5-money-lessons-i-learned-from-my-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=3066","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Money Lessons I Learned From My Father"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"John<\/a>
John “Jack” Hannon, father of Kerry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One day in the early 1960s, my dad arrived home from his Pittsburgh engineering and consulting firm and brought along a beautiful English leather saddle. He put it on the back of a living room chair with great fanfare. Mom laughed and asked what the heck he planned to do with it. \u201cWell, someday we\u2019re going to have horses,” he replied, “and this was a good buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not many years later, his dream came true. In 1968, Mom and Dad built a home where they raised four children and kept up to six horses in the stables.<\/p>\n

Father’s Day Reflections About Dad\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Father\u2019s Day approaching, I\u2019ve been thinking about my dad a lot. His money advice helped me see the importance of becoming a personal finance journalist, the career I\u2019ve loved for decades. In a minute, I\u2019ll pass along five lessons I learned from him.<\/p>\n

(MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0From Dad to Grad: A Few Words of Advice<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Dad was the quintessential self-made man. A child of Irish immigrants, he began working at age 12, during the Depression. After high school in Pittsburgh, he rose from a clerical job at an engineering and consulting firm to owning the company, with global clients and offices around the country.<\/p>\n

Not the Perfect Money Role Model, but …<\/strong><\/p>\n

Was he the perfect, frugal financial role model? Absolutely not. After all, horses aren\u2019t cheap. And he rarely said no to his children\u2019s requests. When you asked Dad for something expensive, he never said, “We can’t.” It was always, “How can we?” Dad was all about finding solutions.<\/p>\n

My dad was a great example of how to balance your wants and needs and invest in your life.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0values<\/a>\u00a0inspired me to learn the meaning of money; determine what (and what not) to spend it on and understand how to save, which generally required working hard along the way.<\/p>\n

Dad’s 5 Money Lessons That Have Stuck With Me\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are five of his financial insights that resonate with me today. I believe they\u2019ll help you, too.<\/p>\n

1. Support yourself.<\/strong>\u00a0From an early age, Dad instructed my older sister, Pat, and me never to be dependent financially on anyone \u2013 not our parents, not our spouses, no one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essential that you support yourselves,\u201d he told us. \u201cThat will give you the freedom to do the things you want to in life without having to ask permission.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he was right. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, I don\u2019t think many dads were passing along thismessage to their young daughters<\/a>. None of my friends\u2019 fathers were \u2013 I know that.<\/p>\n

To this day, I still maintain my own bank and credit card accounts separate from my husband, Cliff, even after more than 20 years of marriage. If you\u2019re married or have a partner, I advise you to do the same.<\/p>\n

I love Cliff and have nothing to hide; we discuss our finances all the time. But I think Dad was right about being financially independent.<\/p>\n

2. A big paycheck can\u2019t buy happiness.<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, your salary is important, he\u2019d say, but not at the expense of your soul.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ve\u00a0followed my passion<\/a>\u00a0and have my dream job (technically, jobs) as a retirement\/personal finance\/jobs and\u00a0career transitions<\/a>\u00a0expert; author (my new book is\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy … and Pays the Bills<\/em><\/a>); speaker and journalist, writing columns and blogs for a wide range of national publications, from\u00a0Next Avenue<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Forbes<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0AARP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I work hard and enjoy being my own boss as well as making a difference in people\u2019s lives by helping them manage their finances or find a job.<\/p>\n

Am I making the sort of income I might in a lucrative field where I could use my same skills, like writing research reports for a consulting or financial services firm? Probably not. But I\u2019m OK with that.<\/p>\n

I encourage you to do the type of work you love, too \u2013 if possible, with\u00a0autonomy<\/a>. That holds true for part-time\u00a0work in retirement<\/a>. You\u2019ll get paid in less tangible, non-monetary ways that will bring joy to your life.<\/p>\n

(MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0Why You Need to Love Your Job More<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3. Educate yourself throughout your life.\u00a0<\/strong>Dad was a big believer in learning. \u201cInvest in knowledge, so you can keep growing into your future,\u201d he urged. \u201cYou can\u2019t stand still.\u201d Another one of his gems: \u201cThey can never take away from you what you have between your ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dad paid for all four of his kids\u2019 college educations, plus private school for my older brother, Mike and me. I, in turn, am a loyal alum and board member of both institutions.<\/p>\n

When I tally up the sum of money Dad spent on tuition, I blanch. But to him, a college degree was nonnegotiable. Excelling with top grades was all he asked of us. Pat and Mike went on to add prestigious graduate degrees \u2013 much to Dad\u2019s delight and pride.<\/p>\n

Some of his obsession with education may have been because his family couldn\u2019t afford to send him to college and he regularly worked with colleagues and clients who had impressive degrees.<\/p>\n

To Dad, education was more than just\u00a0getting a diploma<\/a>, though. He kept up with the latest trends and technology by serving on boards, reading voraciously and attending lectures. He was a self-directed scholar of the highest order: a recipient of the Society for Advancement of Management\u2019s Gilbreth Medal and a contributing author of numerous management handbooks and publications.<\/p>\n

Dad felt you should continually improve what you have to offer by\u00a0learning new things<\/a>\u00a0and building on your skill set. Even into his 70s and early 80s, Dad was studying up on robotics, wind power, aviation and medicine.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always looking for ways to keep educating myself, whether it\u2019s through reading, attending lectures or taking online courses. You should, too.<\/p>\n

4. Give back.\u00a0<\/strong>Dad showed by example the importance of assisting those less fortunate and aiding causes you care about with your financial resources and time. He was a tireless volunteer, particularly for the blind (a concern of his because he battled vision issues), and regularly tithed to his church and other nonprofits.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Dad, I learned that you don\u2019t need a fortune to\u00a0make an impact on your favorite charities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every year, I earmark a percentage of my income for my designated charities, like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a women\u2019s shelter in Washington, D.C., and causes that directly impact my life, like breast cancer and Alzheimer\u2019s research.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019ll want to try giving strategically, too, and help a group that makes a difference in your community, like a hospice or homeless shelter.<\/p>\n

(MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0How More Women Can Become Philanthropists<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5. You can’t take it with you.\u00a0<\/strong>I loved this expression of his about spending money. Dad would shrug and out would come those words when he was faced with writing a check for a new car, a horse or a dress for Mom.<\/p>\n

I admit it: Dad didn\u2019t teach me to live beneath my means. \u201cSpend on what you love,\u201d he\u2019d say.<\/p>\n

While I do follow Dad\u2019s spend from the heart advice, I\u2019ve also learned there are limits to freewheeling it, as I recently wrote in my blog, \u201c11 Essential Money Tips for New College Grads<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u00a0must\u00a0<\/em>have the discipline to save if you really want to spend without worrying.<\/p>\n

What I Remember Most About Dad<\/strong><\/p>\n

Money and wealth don\u2019t make the character of a man or a woman.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s true that Dad taught me some valuable financial truths, frankly, that\u2019s not what I remember about him today.<\/p>\n

Instead, I think of some of the words my three siblings and I, plus his eight grandchildren, used to describe Dad in a brightly colored book we made for his 80th birthday in 2000: \u201cEncouraging, compassionate, religious, intelligent, family-oriented, supportive, joyful, loyal, confident, nonjudgmental, and of course, chocolate-lover, dog-lover, horseman and Irishman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dad died May 29, 2008, at 88, after a long illness with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

If your father is still alive, I hope you have the chance to say Happy Father\u2019s Day! I wish I did.<\/p>\n

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