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Financial Habits Hereditary???

March 29th, 2011 at 03:03 pm

As sad as it sounds, I find myself hoping and fighting to not make the financial mistakes that my parents have made. I don't want to be 60 years old with no house or savings or retirement. I want to leave something to my step-daughter when something happens to me.

My husband has such finacially responsible parents. His dad had life insurance, savings, paid for burial arrangements, gift trusts set up, etc when he passed away. My father had nothing. My mother does not own a home, has no retirement, no savings, no assets. His mother has 100+ acres up north with very little debt. I'm not saying his parents are "better parents", because I love my parents and I think they were always very suppotive and loving. I just wish my parents would have been a little more prepared.

So as I inch closer to my 30th birthday, I realize how important it is for me to be financially secure. And how scared I am of being a failure.

Posted in Debt, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Financial Habits Hereditary???”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    March 29th, 2011 at 03:19 pm 1301411966
    1301411966

    I think financial habits can be learned and unlearned. Sometimes the more we know, the better we do. So learn all you can and make the decision necessary to be in a better place.

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    March 29th, 2011 at 03:31 pm 1301412661
    1301412661

    Thankfully, financial habits are more learned than hereditary. You are only 29 - you have the rest of your life to learn better financial habits.

  3. CB in the City Says:
    March 29th, 2011 at 05:18 pm 1301419122
    1301419122

    Financial habits are definitely learned. My sister and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to handling money.

  4. NJDebbie Says:
    March 29th, 2011 at 11:17 pm 1301440625
    1301440625

    My parents were horrible with their finances. I promised myself that I would not handle my finances the same way. I think you are a step on the right direction. Don't give up.

  5. baselle Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 03:44 am 1301456659
    1301456659

    How were your grandparents? My parents weren't that good; my grandparents were fantastic. Matter of fact, I suspect that my parents not being good with money was a revolt against my grandparents being good. And my sister and I are far apart when it comes to handling money. In short, I don't think the habits are hereditary. It could be though that what you think of money is learned. If your parents feared money and hated to think about it, you might well be the same.

  6. Jerry Says:
    April 1st, 2011 at 08:29 pm 1301689771
    1301689771

    Financial habits are learned, but there are also people whose wonky financial decisions can be directly linked to emotional or psychiatric disorders. Not saying that's the case here, but I have seen it happen before and it leads to real frustration in a lot of cases. Not everyone comes from a family with insurance and savings and investments and all of that... I certainly didn't and I had to learn it later.
    Jerry

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