Do you financially mentor?

[dusk_to_dawn]

Unsolicited advice? Yes. I try to get everyone I work with to invest in the 403b, at least to get the matching funds. I just can't keep my mouth shut when 100% matching funds available.

Where family is concerned, no unsolicited advice. My suggestions have been ignored or shot down too many times.

[Arc]

I love to talk money - especially to young people. If I think they are interested I will mentor until I feel that that there really is not interest. Sharing with young people, the principles that most don't learn until their 40s and 50s is a thrill for me.

[Khan]

I had occasionally mentioned LBYM and been told: "that's stupid" "why are you afraid of spending money" "I'll never be able to pay off the mortgage/retire early/do without new car every 5 years".

[Tracy42]

At annual raise time, as I give out the good new to my staff (individually, of course) I always end the conversation with "you know, if you increased your 401k savings by 1 or 2 % you wouldn't even notice it since you're getting this raise." I just can't help myself, I guess. A couple of them have actually done it though

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracy42 At annual raise time, as I give out the good new to my staff (individually, of course) I always end the conversation with "you know, if you increased your 401k savings by 1 or 2 % you wouldn't even notice it since you're getting this raise." I just can't help myself, I guess. A couple of them have actually done it though

Wouldn't it be easier for you as a manager to have indentured servants working for you rather than potential Firees? I had a woman friend who got new job which was quite a step up from her previous career. Her manager really tried to win her over to a higher spending way of living. Finally he even said that she would likely do better if she drove a new car, bought a nice house instead of staying in her apartment, etc.

I just figured he liked to have his minions solidly hooked.

Ha

[Gumby]

As I was informed (only partly in jest) upon starting my first job out of law school -- "The firm likes you to have a big mortgage".

[kjrn]

In our ICU, I was the last (unofficial) stop for new orientees. I had a spiel I would do ("The company has some money they would like to give you, but they're just as happy if you refuse. Did you want to go ahead and let them know that you don't need the extra bucks?"). That led into what the 403B is etc.

Those that wanted to enroll but didn't know how were assisted with logging on/signing up. Target funds were recommended along with a reading list (just in case someone wanted to do their homework).

We had a participation rate of almost 100% (including 20-somethings and lower pay-scale ancillary help). Everybody pretty much got on the bandwagon and it wasn't just my soapbox after a bit. Folks that announced they had raised contributions got lots of positive reinforcement from the whole staff. Neat stuff.

Now my family is a whole different story.

[crazy connie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arc I love to talk money - especially to young people. If I think they are interested I will mentor until I feel that that there really is not interest. Sharing with young people, the principles that most don't learn until their 40s and 50s is a thrill for me.

Same here! I am apalled at some of the ignorance in my childrens friends. We have had many a night discussing broadscale finance. Some have signed up for 401K's from our dinner table chats. My daughter at 23 is contributiong 18% to her 401K. Soon my son may get a job with that benefit. Hopefully my kids will be targeting FIRE at 50 without the inhieritance!

[TromboneAl]

The sax player in my group is off to Berklee College of Music in a few months. I'm thinking of getting him a book on money for a going away present, either:

Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens or

The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of (Motley Fool)

Any other suggestions?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of (Motley Fool)

Our 14-year-old loves hers.

Right now she has more money in her checking account than I do, but then she has one more paying job than I do too...

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Our 14-year-old loves hers. Right now she has more money in her checking account than I do, but then she has one more paying job than I do too...

And marginally smaller expenses, I would think.

2Cor521

[Celany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover "Have you financially mentored in the past

mentored sounds so 'official' to me. If you're asking if I'd spoken openly about my money situation to other people, in hopes that it'd help them, then yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover did you do it unsolicited?"

I don't think so. I've never randomly said "you should spend less money & put it into Vanguard Index funds". Acting like a know-it-all, or even remotely seeming to *tell* someone what to do tends to make them run the other way.

For instance, I am an EXTREMELY health & food concious person, but whenever a vegetarian or raw foodist tries to lecture me about how much healthier I could be, or what I could be doing 'better', I get the urge to run off, buy a big mac & eat it right in front of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Any suggestions for broaching the subject in a way that will be effective?

I talk about myself. I've practiced confidently saying things like "I can't eat out tonight, I already ate out once this week & I want to save my money for other things" or (in the bookstore) "wow, that looks like an awesome book...I'm going to look it up on half.com when I get home" or (when asked about my tax return) "I put my tax refund into investments. It looks like I'll be able to retire X years earlier now, as long as the market doesn't crash".

I've found that, over time, some people have been curious to know more. I generally point them towards Personal Finance for Dummies, Mutual Funds for Dummies, & Your Money or Your Life. I also practiced some "soundbites" little things to talk about that aren't too detailed, to whet someone's mental appetite (when they've indicated that they're interested) without bogging them down with too many details.

[Alex]

I've taught the basic principles of money management to many friends and family members and recommeded books. But only at their request. I don't offer unsolicited financial advice to anyone, ever.

[citrine]

Trombone Al.....these two books really helped me out:

The Millionaire Next Door
Your Money or your life

I understand that sometimes the best way to show someone is by your actions. However, I have heard of so many instances where the women are just left without money, left with the kids, no retirement funds, and no current job skills.
It kills me to see young women be so apathetic about their financial lives.

I have also been on the opposite side of this....when I was 25, my father would hound me all the time about contributing to the 401K and once that was done....he hounded me about increasing my withholdings....by the time I got to 15% it became a game for me....now I contribute 25% and my quality of life is pretty darn great!

[LOL!]

Our second in command at our company took me to lunch today specifically to ask me for investment advice for his personal accounts. It's amazing how much information about asset allocation, low fees, tax efficiency can be conveyed without ever mentioning dollar amounts in the "assets under management". Simply using a range of percentages gets one almost all one needs to know. The only note he wrote down was "Vanguard".

[Donzo]

Yep, everychance I get...in a fun "what if" kind of way. I have had calls after a general discussion for more info. Don't wanna be pushy nor aloof. If I can change anyones attitude towards their own future/savings, in a positive way ---it's all goood 8)

[kcowan]

I have attempted to mentor my sons about investing. They are not receptive. They were given strong financial principles when they grew up so they save and buy little on credit. But they are now in the 30s and I want to help them get richer than by chasing stock tips. They are proud and self-sufficent so I guess I should be happy and leave them alone.

I guess I will just recommend indexing for their company pension plans while paying off the mortgages as fast as possible.

Once in a while others ask for recommendations and I say very little. I talk about the 70/30 split and going for low MERs in broad asset exposure funds. But I avoid specifics. I have found it too complex to get into the details about our strategy.

[Andy H]

It's funny, even as a successful financial advisor, I'm occaisionally frustrated at the resistance that family and friends as well as aquaintances have to listen to "free" expertise.

I think the problem is that most people believe themselves to be adequately educated on the "conservative" approaches to finance (eg: save more, spend less, buy low, sell high, pay extra on your mortgage, yada yada), and have an equal amount of professional skepticism that results in their inability to HEAR or to a greater degree TAKE ACTION on anything that challenges their self-proclaimed "conservative" nature.

What I find in my practice, is that people ARE NOT conservative...rather they are CONVENTIONAL. Meaning simply that any advice that would require that they do something "different" presents them with a monumental challege. They fail to recognize that doing what they've always done and doing more of the same, will result in exactly what we have as a nation: More credit card debt than ever in our history, less equity in our homes than ever in our history, a negative savings rate, underfunded retirement accounts, a social security system and tax system that will eventually fail us without major reform etc.

We have to do something different but different does not mean RISKY or less conservative!

Occaisionally I have the opportunity to speak in public forums and I preach the following: financial success is ultimately largely governed by two components: 1) CONTROL over one's finances and 2) understanding Conservative vs. Conventional and overcoming resistance to change.

I have a good little story about lemmings and conservative vs. conventional but I'll save that for another post.

[laurence]

I can't help it, I'm the financial advice equivalent of the crazy cat lady down the street. I can't stop babbling about it. I've even given "4 pillars" as a wedding present (along with a Home Depot Gift Card - I'm not that bad). At first I was discuraged by the lack of response, but I think a lot of people have made little changes due to me. Getting out of or not buying crazy annuities, consolidating debt, increasing 401k contributions a % or two, finally enrolling in the pension at work, that type of thing.

[cj]

Laurence - I'm like you. There's a young woman I've worked with for about a year who swears that before I even said "hello", I asked her if she signed up for the 401K.

CJ