Grandma’s Best Money Advice

Grandmothers have raised families, bought homes and saved for retirement. They’ve seen it all—and their unique financial insights prove it.

Becky Beckstedt, Maxine Wizell Gutierrez and Lillian Africano are from different backgrounds and diverse areas of the country, but these grandmothers have one thing in common: They have educated their children and grandchildren about money and investing. Here’s some of the advice they’ve given over the years.

Be Responsible When Making Decisions
Becky Beckstedt, a retired public relations director for an Ohio school, is a saver. The few times she’s strayed from her financial goals were when she has given money to her children. “I don't know that it is always wise, or necessarily the best course, but I tend to sacrifice my own interests if I believe I can improve the lives of my children and grandchildren,” she said.

Even so, she has taught them well. “My 13-year-old grandson and my daughter remember exactly what I have advised them about money,” she said. Those lessons include:

●    Always save. No matter what your salary is, save what you can—hopefully 10% a year. Compounding is a gift. 
●    Have confidence. Always make decisions about money from a position of strength. This means not making emotional, impulsive or uninformed decisions. Don’t delay, but have confidence in your selections. Know you are making the best choice with the knowledge you have at hand.
●    Choose careers wisely. When pondering career choices, remember that you need to make money. The most fulfilling career paths are those that combine passion, your skills and aptitudes, as well as promising future financial returns. 
●    Don’t retire too early. Work as long as you can. I retired at 74. By working more years, I accumulated additional financial resources and kept myself intellectually and physically energized.
●    Know yourself. Develop a financial plan that is realistic based on your income and personality. I’m a big-picture person, so I think in chunks; highly detailed budgets don't work for me. However, I can tell you my income and major expenses. I check them each month to be sure nothing is out of line.  
●    Bring in pros. Find financial professionals who are experts in their field. I have financial and estate plans that I’ve developed with these professionals, and I have built trusting relationships with them. It will give you peace of mind. 

Use Common Sense
Maxine Wizell Gutierrez, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, is a retired nurse who teaches exercise classes. “I developed good money management tactics a little late in life, so I was determined to pass them on to my daughter and be a good example,” she explained. These tactics include:

●    Plan for emergencies. Put away a certain amount of money from each paycheck. If you don’t, you won’t have anything to fall back on when emergencies arise, like if a car tire blows.
●    Save smarter. Open a certificate of deposit account for bigger-ticket items, such as an appliance or a car. When it matures, put the interest toward something you’ve planned for, but take the original amount and start again. Roll it into another CD for another 12 or 18 months and continue the process.
●    Plan and re-plan. Find financial strategies that work for you and stick to them, as long as they’re effective. Re-evaluate them from time to time.
●    Leave money alone. Treat long-term savings wisely. Don’t touch it; let it grow.

Think Independently 
Lillian Africano is a New Jersey author, ghostwriter and travel writer whose success in what can be a tough career serves as an example to those who aspire to write for a living. 

“As a single mother raising three children, I had to hustle for freelance work, but once I became known for ghostwriting, with projects earning glowing reviews, I had potential clients contacting me (or my agent) to write their books,” she said. “In fact, the ghosted books received even better reviews than those I wrote under my own name.” Her tips include:

●    Plan far ahead. Don’t underestimate the importance of planning for the future. Retirement may seem far, far away, but millions of Americans who felt the same way now find themselves without enough money to live on.
●    Take charge. Just as you need to be a partner in your health-care, you need to educate yourself so you can be an active partner in managing your financial health.
●    Do the math. Decide carefully whether to rent or buy your home or apartment. For my generation (the baby boomers), the choice was a no-brainer. It was “buy,” in order to build equity. In today’s economy, the choice isn’t always that clear. Analyze costs, risks and so forth before deciding which is the better choice, at least for the present.
●    Learn about student loans. If you’re planning to finance college or graduate school, educate yourself about every single detail governing loans, payment plans, penalties, options for forgiveness and so forth.
●    Be financially independent. For young women who are married, or might marry down the road: Maintain financial independence and know how every penny of your household budget is being spent. With so many marriages ending in divorce (or widowhood), you don’t want to find yourself ignorant about your financial future.

Talking about money with your family can be difficult—this fact is well-documented. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for advice from older family members whenever you hit financial crossroads.

Pat Olsen is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, Diversity Woman, Family Business, AARP and other outlets.

Read a conversation about finances between a woman and her mother-in-law.