No one looks out for your best interest like you. While your friends and family may want the best for you, they don’t know or understand your best interests. Only you can determine and decide what is best for you. It’s great to ask for advice, but advice is suggestions and ideas. The decision is always yours. If you have a partner in the transaction, of course you need to agree with your partner on the decisions you make. But, don’t let anyone push you around or tell you what you need to do with your finances.
How many times have you heard someone say “my friends told me I should do this or that.” No, you should do what you feel is right for your life and financial situations. Likewise, they should do what is right for their life. People spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about what other people think they should do. That time should be spent on themselves; researching, evaluating and making decisions for their own lives.
A friend was telling me about an elderly family friend who had hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed away in savings accounts. This man’s children, who had nominal amount of money themselves, spend a great deal of time analyzing their father’s savings and giving him advice on how to better invest his money. He did not want to invest in stocks, bonds or anything he felt was risky. At one point, the children were very frustrated as they tried to explain to him that he could make 8% interest instead of 1% interest. Of course they felt they were right and could not understand why he would not make this change. They believed they were right and that he was being very unwise. However, let’s think about this. The elderly man had earned and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and had it safely tucked away and furthermore it was very easily accessible. I believe that is his decision and no one else’s as this is the place he is comfortable and happy with his money. Not to mention, the children had been much less successful earning and saving money, and therefore, they really had no authority to tell him what to do with his money. If this elderly man had moved his money, it would have made him very uncomfortable. Furthermore, if he had lost any money on an investment he would have been extremely upset.
Only you can make the best financial decisions for your life. You need to use your knowledge, skills and comfort levels to decide and do what is best for you. And then you need to stand by your decisions and be content with them regardless of how they ultimately turn out. Remember, you will win some battles and lose some battles, but it’s better to be fighting your own battle and making your own decisions than blindly going with someone else’s direction.
What are some things people have told you to do with your finances that would have not been right for you?
Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash