7 financial mistakes our grandmothers shouldn't repeat

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Some money habits have a rationale but no longer work.

1. Store money in the nightstand

It is difficult to blame the older generation for being overly suspicious. They have lost money several times due to financial reforms. Therefore, keeping savings at home, closer to the body, looks like a logical way out of the situation. But not the best, especially when it comes to rubles.

For starters, bills sometimes deteriorate due to dampness or other factors. In the event of a fire or theft of an apartment, they will be completely destroyed. But this is force majeure. And there is something that is guaranteed to devour savings - not immediately, gradually. It's about inflation.

Even if we take the official figures, savings are noticeably melting every year. In September 2021, inflation was estimated at 7.4%, which is quite a lot. This is like saving 100 thousand, and at the end of the year only finding 92.6 thousand in the stash. If we are talking about long-term savings, the result will be even more deplorable. Suffice it to recall that in 2004 one could go to a store with a one-hundred-ruble note and return not empty-handed.

In order for savings not to devalue, they must work and generate an annual income at least equal to inflation. This will not increase them, but at least it will not decrease them.

2. Do not distribute savings

The recommendation not to store money under the mattress usually causes fair indignation. People have already lost their savings from savings books. How can you invest them somewhere and not be afraid?

It's okay to be afraid. Any investment is associated with a chance of losing it. The higher the possible profitability, the higher it is. Investing in one thing is as risky as storing it under your pillow. It is better to combine financial instruments with varying degrees of danger and profitability. If one fails, the others will be taken out.

3. Rely on the state

The most striking example here is pensions. The average amount of payments is about 15 thousand rubles. This is just above the subsistence level for retirees. That is, it is clearly not possible to show off for this amount, rather to survive.

One can argue for a long time about the amount of pension contributions and about the fact that the state should provide its citizens with a normal old age. This is true. But talking doesn't make older people richer. But the creation of pension capital - yes. Therefore, it is better not to rely only on the state. You should start taking care of your future pension when you are still 20-30 years old.

4. Consider children as an investment

If a child and an investment - then with a high risk and dubious profitability. This is a separate person with his own abilities, hobbies, and so on. So no matter how much money and effort you invest in it, it will not necessarily bring the expected result. He can make millions and easily support himself, his parents and his grand-aunt. But the size of the average salary hints: the average Russian barely has the money to support himself.

So investing everything in children with the hope that they will support you in old age is a bad idea. Moreover, she is not quite psychologically healthy yet.

5. To support children until their retirement, limiting themselves in everything

The idea that grown-up children can help their parents, but they shouldn't, is already revolutionary enough. But here's an even more scandalous thought: parents are also not obliged to provide for adult offspring.

At the same time, in practice, often the child is not just helped until his hair is gray. It happens that parents support a child who is looking for himself or does not earn anything for other reasons. This is especially true for the adult generation, which manages to save money from their modest pensions to financially support others.

But the truth is, the average parent has already done a lot for their child. And also, as a rule, they acquired offspring very early and did not have time to live, as they say, for themselves. And when the children have grown up, it's time to start: have fun, build retirement capital and, in general, think more about yourself.

6. Work hard, but keep your head down

What cannot be taken away from the representatives of the older generation is the ability to work hard and well, including “for an idea”. But at the same time, you cannot talk about your achievements in any way, because it is immodest. Everyone will see how good you are, and they will raise, raise your salary, give you a bonus. And nobody likes upstarts.

This strategy sometimes fails. You can be as responsible and talented as you like, but what's the use if no one notices. For example, brilliant ideas will not be realized if they are not voiced out loud and not defended. Rather, they will promote a person who also works well, but is able to justify why he deserves to become a leader.

Being able to talk about your benefits has nothing to do with bragging. This is just a statement of fact that can change your life for the better.

7. Consider poverty as synonymous with decency and honesty

Each person has attitudes that either help him in life, or complicate everything. This also applies to the financial sphere. For a long time, today's elderly Russians have tried to build communism, which condemned the pursuit of personal gain. And then they faced the dashing nineties, when professors and engineers were starving, and cunning boys from the district “did business” and got rich. So the source of the attitude about the relationship between poverty and decency is understandable.

But it is not necessary to adopt it. Of course, there are dishonest people among people living in abundance. But this does not mean that in the pursuit of a better life, you will certainly have to sell your soul and homeland, deceive and betray. But it is precisely this thought that sometimes prevents you from simply trying to earn more.