Comments on: what my grandparents taught me about money

By: FinanciallySmart

FinanciallySmart — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:04:51 +0000

Very intriguing article. There is one thing that you wrote that I will be commenting on. There is no way in the bible that we should give all we have to the poor. The word of God says that the poor and the widows is dear to God. It also said that when we lend unto the poor we are doing so unto God. So we should always practice in assisting them.
Now I am in total agreement that we should take care of ourselves first you see if we don't then we will never be able to do so for others. The lessons that you have learned are good ones and so I thank you for sharing them with us.

By: FinanciallySmart

FinanciallySmart — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:04:51 +0000

By: Adam Hagerman

Adam Hagerman — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:07:37 +0000

Along the lines of not selling, I bet they had a large amount of possessions/trinkets. Both sets of my grandparents are pack rats and can not seem to get rid of their junk. I think it just may have to do with the hard times that they went through (depression, oil crisis, inflation, etc.)

By: Sunday Money Roundup – Food, Inc. Edition. | My Two Dollars

Sunday Money Roundup – Food, Inc. Edition. | My Two Dollars — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:32:14 +0000

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By: dorianwales

dorianwales — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:29:43 +0000

I think we should ask ourselves what lessons we are about to pass on to our grandkids. The rising lifespan and quickly growing senior population will ultimately lead to a pension crisis. Many senior citizens are about to discover their lifelong savings are simply not enough. I guess what we will pass on would be: save early and take risks!

By: dividendgrowthinvestor

dividendgrowthinvestor — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:19:32 +0000

You have an interesting point about never selling. Could you please elaborate on the specifics in the stock portfolio they held, (which particular stocks) and percentage of stocks that ultimately went bust. I am always interested in learning about other people's portfolios. I realize that some stocks that were viewed as promising 40 years ago coudl be viewed as bad ideas today. Example – Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, KMart etc.

My belief is that a diversified portfolio of stocks covering most sectors today ( or at the time) would perform very close to what the market performs over a 30 year period for example.

By: craig

craig — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:00:26 +0000

Older generations saved so much more than we do, but it was also a much different time. There are more things and technologies that are expensive and we consider needs in these days.

By: Mike Piper

Mike Piper — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:01:17 +0000

This is something I think about a lot--the way that my own financial well-being is almost entirely due to lessons my family (specifically, my Mom) taught me. For instance, like you, I was explicitly taught never to have credit card debt. So I never have.

Thanks, Mom!

Also, something I can't help but ponder regarding your grandfather's stock investment methodology: Do you know how he came upon his methods? Did he learn them on his own through trial and error, or do you know if he was an avid reader?

I ask because Ben Graham's Security Analysis is the book that Buffett credits with his methodology, and it was released in 1934 (and again in '37 and '40), so I wonder if your grandfather was learning from the same man as Buffett at the very same time.