Dad's Secret Father's Day Wish
DEAR ADVISORS,
Father’s Day is June 20th this year. Have you thought of the perfect Father’s Day gift yet? As I write this post, my dad is actually going into surgery. His colon ruptured a few months ago, so this surgery is to reconnect his colon so he doesn’t have an ostomy bag for the rest of his life. (Yay!) Say a quick prayer for his recovery this week! Since he’s going to be out for a while, he probably won’t read this blog post, so I can secretly tell you what I got him for Father’s Day! I found some of the dark chocolate he likes at our farmer’s market, plus some bleu burger seasoning for grilling. He’s going to love it! I want to share another Father’s Day gift idea that I think my dad would also love and (my favorite part!) it’s totally free!
As a former actuary and current financial advisor, one of the things my dad cares about the most is that me and my siblings are wise with money. It sounds boring, but if we are educated about money, we’ll be set up for success in a lot of other areas of life. It’ll make marriage easier, we’ll have options in life and retirement, and most importantly, we’ll have the skills to teach our own kids about money. Those are the things my dad truly cares about, but he doesn’t always know how to say it. As a dad and an advisor, he speaks the language of money.
So my idea for the perfect Father’s Day gift is to connect with your dad about money. Set aside time to ask him any financial questions that are on your mind, or hear his life stories, about how he made certain big financial decisions. I’ve never done this for Father’s Day, but I’ve done it at other times and I always come away feeling better prepared to make my own big life decisions, as well as learning family stories and understand my parents values. The by-product is that I often learn more about their financial situation which could come in handy down the road.
Before becoming an adult, I hadn’t realized how my dad made it so easy to talk about money in our family. I’m appreciative of that now! Here are some of the things dad would do to help teach us about money without making us feel awkward:
Elementary aged kids -
My dad’s philosophy on allowance is that we could have our allowance when we were able to identify each of the coins, their value, and calculate what percentage would go into giving (10%), saving (20%) and spending (70%).
My dad loves board games! He found several games to teach us about money, like Pay Day, Monopoly, Presto Change-o, and Life (my least favorite because it was soooo long!)
High school aged kids -
The money topics moved from fun to practical. Dad helped us file FAFSA, and watch over our shoulder as we filed our own taxes.
When it came time for me to pick a college, dad helped me look at the expenses of each school on the list. He set the expectation that I was responsible for paying 50% through scholarships, loans, or working part time. That meant I cared about the cost!
If you’re trying to think of a great Father’s Day gift, you can always try one of those board games! But I’m willing to bet that almost every dad’s favorite thing would be to sit down to talk with you and give you financial advice. If you’re a dad reading this blog, you might ask them if you can have a conversation about money instead of spending money on a gift. I hope this helps you secure the future of your family and, if you want to work with your kids someday, your financial advisory firm as well!
Warm regards,
Brooklyn
P.S.
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