Financial wisdom gleaned from readers

Sometimes, kids need a little inspiration when it comes to picking up money management skills.

That’s why, for a recent column, I asked several financial experts to answer this question: What was the best advice about money your parents or grandparents ever gave you?

After the column appeared, I heard from a lot of others who wanted to weigh in. Here is some financial wisdom that impressed me.

Jane Williams: “Remember, when money problems come in the door, love goes out the window.”

Williams says this was her mother’s sage advice when she and her husband married in 1961. Her mom didn’t work outside the home and couldn’t hold much of a conversation about finances, but this was something she wanted to impart.

Gary Wollersheim: “Give to others first and then save for the future, and you will have enough left over to provide for your everyday needs.”

Wollersheim’s mom was right, as most moms are. Wollersheim is a retired Lutheran minister and bishop, and over the years, he has seen poor money management plague countless families.

Sam Renick: “Pay yourself first.” Renick’s dad talked to his siblings and him about making great money choices at an early age. He followed his advice repeatedly and without remorse. If you pay yourself first, you are automatically on the road to financial freedom, he said. Save first, then spend.

Bob Apmann: “Never buy on time things that depreciate; only buy things on time that appreciate, like a home.”

Sage advice received from his father when he was 12 or 13. This was from the ’50s when “on time” was a more common expression, meaning buying on credit. Apmann’s experience as a financial planner has proved that one of the biggest impediments to long-term financial security is being in eternal debt for a car or never-ending lease payments.

Nancy Comita: “Do not buy anything unless you have the money to pay for it.”

Comita’s parents lived well below their means. And while she does use a credit card for everything, it is paid off each month.

David Kupstas: “If you need it, buy it. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.”

His father was a product of the Great Depression. Granted, this approach is a little heavy-handed, Kupstas admits. He says he only buys the necessities, enjoys an occasional small splurge and socks away the rest.

Marvin Rosman: “Spend less than you make. Make more than you spend.”

His father came to the U.S. as a teenager shortly after World War I and owned a small business during the Depression years. Now that Marvin Rosman is 84 and a recently retired lawyer, he gives his grandchildren the same advice he gave many clients over the years:

If you can’t pay for it, you don’t need it — the only exceptions are financing your home or investment property.

Don’t pay someone else’s mortgage. Buy, don’t rent.

Excessive debt and unrealistic expectations cause more divorces than infidelity, drinking, drugs and in-laws.

“Do not buy anything unless you have the money to pay for it.” — Nancy Comita