Practical Money Advice from Dads

Dads are a source of infinite wisdom. In honor of Father’s Day, we asked dads around the office to share dad advice they’ve given or received. From staying open-minded in any situation to budgeting for a big senior trip, these dads have solid advice to share.

“My Dad was a great guy – like most dads.  One piece of advice that sticks with me most is he would always tell me “there’s always a better way”.  Regardless of what we were working on, he taught me that there is always a better way.  And what that meant to me was that any solution that I pursued – I knew I had to think deeper because there were additional solutions that I wasn’t seeing initially.  This one piece of advice that I got from my dad has served me well over the years.  While many times I firmly believed that I knew the best solution for any situation, I now open my eyes and my perspective to allow for other possible solutions that I would have been closed off to in the past.   When I resolve something with a different approach than what I thought initially – I look to the heavens and give a small nod of appreciation to my dad.  He taught me well – I just wish I had listened to him more often than I did.”

 - Victor Faszczuk, Vice President of Payment Services

“Here are a couple of life lessons I shared with both of my kids:

• Their mother and I set the expectation since they were very young that a university education is vital in life for overall success, which includes earning a better standard of living.  Throughout their school years, we always spoke of the importance of an education.
• Additionally, in detail, I explained to them about the everyday cost of living, that they should keep a keen eye on their family resources, which should include a financial plan for important life events like future college expenses for their own children. This advice has made an impactful difference in how they matured.
• Lastly, I made a post high school decision not to buy either of them personal vehicles because of their lack of driving experience, which impacts cost of automobile insurance.  I helped them understand the fact that driving inexperience often leads to car accidents, which are costly and increases overall insurance expenses.  Once they graduated from college, I co-signed the financing of their first vehicle and provided an initial down payment, with the understanding that they were financially responsible for future car payments.

I am proud to say, that today both are employed & financially independent.”  

 - Ignacio Cantu, Director of Risk Management

“One of the lessons I’ve felt that is critical in money management is to have a goal of something to save for and to put in place a plan to accomplish that goal.  My daughter is currently wishing to go to Walt Disney World for her 18^th birthday.  I encouraged her to understand the cost of the trip and to start saving for it.  My role in her pursuit was to assist in providing a plan to generate enough funds for the trip.  In the plan, we put together milestones of amounts to accomplish by certain times.  We’re still early in this process.  One of the obstacles we’ve encountered was that my daughter has expressed to me an interest in spending money on certain things like a mani-pedi.  I explained to her the cost of such a service (often approaching or exceeding $100) and asked her if she felt that was worth it and if she was willing to sacrifice her Disney money for it.  Another example of how my daughter is learning good money management is that she is currently house sitting for a neighbor.  My wife and I leave it up to her to get up at an appropriate time to go over to our neighbor’s to perform the tasks she is being paid to do.  If she wakes up late, we tell her that we will take away half of her pay. Our objective is for her to be responsible for accomplishing her goal and for her to understand that hard work is necessary to meet that goal. Of course, I want my daughter to accomplish her goal of going to Disney; however, I am perfectly fine with her not going if it means she’ll be better set up in the future.”

 - Matt Wei, Director of Digital Marketing

What advice has your dad shared with you? Let us know on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!