I grew up in a very loving family, where my parents put my brother and me first. They loved us equally and would ensure that we were treated identically.
My parents didn't take me to church regularly. They were ‘turned off’ by the behavior of the church deacons when they were teenagers, which led them to stop attending church regularly.
In terms of work ethic and moral values, my parents instilled the importance of working from an early age. This would include various hobbies and part time jobs. All the while, I had to adhere to certain moral guidelines, even though there was a lack of a spiritual foundation due to limited church attendance.
Financial values were notably passed down from my dad, who emphasized living within one's means and paying cash for everything instead of relying on credit cards. I learned the importance of not feeling the pain of money leaving when using credit cards and always paying them off each month to avoid debt. My dad advised me to maximize my contributions to my 401k, which paid off when I realized I was in good financial shape years later.
Such advice created a foundation for my own financial stability and is something I’m passing on to my own children. My dad said, “You will thank me when you are 55!” And that is exactly what happened. My wife, Lisa, and I are now in a great place financially because of this value being passed on to us.
I am deeply grateful for the foundational values my parents provided, including financial prudence, work ethic, and unconditional love, which my brother and I are now humbly trying to repay by caring for our parents in their elderly years.
*Not an employee of Cetera