What Do You Find Challenging About Managing Your Money, And Other Money Questions

Have you seen the money related conversation starter cards circulating in the social media lately?

It is the Financial Service Council NZ teaming up with Hatch investment platform who brings us these downloadable cards that each have a money related question to answer.

I thought I’d do a post series of personally answering a few of these questions in each post and inviting you to share your own answer to the same question in the comments! You can download your own set here.

What do you find challenging about managing your money?

To be honest, I really enjoy managing money which makes it a task I like to do in general.

One thing I do struggle with though is how slow the going can be.

The future I have been planning is so exciting I wish it was closer than it is. But I know I’m setting myself (and us) up with a good financial foundation with the early days so I try to not get too frustrated.

Planning, prioritising and monitoring the progress helps a little bit, and especially making comparisons between longer time periods (like a year), really helps me see that I’m actually getting where I want go.

The ongoing tasks above also make me feel like I’m constantly doing something to reach my goal, so it makes me feel a bit better about the slowness of the start!

Is there anything you wish you had learned earlier in life, and if so, why?

About money and investing! I think it is every investor’s regret, not to have started earlier.

But also to understand the importance of career planning from a financial perspective, not just “what do you want to do”-perspective.

Not only what the future career will pay, but also the cost of tertiary education and the importance of choosing wisely so you don’t end up with $10,000s in debt only to realise it is not a career you want to have.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with going after your passions, but I think it is important to understand how much it will pay and if the amount will be enough for the life that you want to and will enjoy living.

Among many other things, this will be a conversation I will have with my daughters as they get older.

I will absolutely support whatever decision my children will make when it comes to studying and career, I just want them to go into it eyes wide open and understand the future realities of the path they have chosen.

What is the biggest lesson your whanau taught you about money?

That a lot of people (including my parents) aren’t the greatest with money.

I have shared in a few other of posts in this Money Talk series that I didn’t really learn anything about money from my parents.

Not even much motivation for working!

My mum didn’t really talk about money at all, as she struggled as a single parent and didn’t want to burden us with that knowledge.

The only time my dad talked about money was in negative light, as in he couldn’t afford something or that he was in debt etc. etc.

So I plan that to be very different for my own kids as they grow up and I want to arm them with all the knowledge to hit the ground running financially as they become adults.

You can find my answers to other similar money questions here.

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions in the comments below!