My Dad's Dime Store One-Liners of Wisdom

My dad was always throwing one-liner advice at me when I was a kid, and even as a young adult. I often dismissed them, sometimes because I didn’t understand them, sometimes because I was as stubborn as he was and didn’t want to listen. Here are a few of my favorites that are applicable throughout life, especially in financial planning.

• “Easy Come, Easy Go”- I heard this one so many times that it’s practically in-grained in me. Nothing good ever comes easy. And if it does, it can disappear as quickly as it came. It’s the things you work hardest for that seem to be the most permanent. Risk vs. Reward. Hard work vs. the easy road.

• “Don’t forget what you’re up there for”- I used to hear this one every time I’d talk to him on the phone while I was in college. I went to school in Massachusetts and he was in Florida, hence the “up there”. He would say this simply as a reminder not to get carried away with any of the many distractions presented to a college student. As a reminder that I was in school for an education. Not for partying, not for football (I played football throughout college)… I think it can be useful wisdom in life in general, in that we need to stay purposeful in our actions. Sometimes a set of horse blinders can be useful.

• Similarly, “Keep your eyes on the prize”- Stay focused on what you’re working toward. Let the reward be your motivation.

• “It’s only money…”- I’d hear this one after he’d gotten hit with a large bill for something unexpected, i.e. an appliance breaking, or a big orthodontist bill. There was some sarcasm mixed with a hidden personal reminder that it, after all, is only money. You can always go make money, if you’re willing and able to work for it. There are much greater things in life to worry about than having a large unexpected expense. After all, we should consider ourselves fortunate that we had the means to resolve the problem in the first place.

Not only were these some of my favorites, they were probably also some that I’d heard the most. I was most likely an adult before I saw the value in these pieces of wisdom. As kids, my sisters and I would usually dismiss these liners as Dad being corny. The funny thing is, I think I find myself saying some of these things to my kids today.

From a business standpoint, I think some of the best financial advice I got from my Dad came as I was graduating college. Advice point number one was that upon graduation day, I was off the “payroll”. Advice point number two was, “If you never have it, you’ll never miss it.” He was telling me to start saving for retirement from day 1. If I never saw it in my paycheck, I’d never miss it. If I had waited 6 months to start putting money into a retirement plan, it would be that much harder because I’d find myself accustomed to my paycheck being a certain amount, and it would be harder to start seeing it as a smaller amount as funds were withheld/deferred for retirement savings.

It’s ironic that, at 37, I finally see the wisdom in some of my Dad’s one-liners. It’s also a little ironic that I now find myself pouring dollar store wisdom on my kids (it was dime store wisdom for Dad, but due to inflation it’s now dollar store wisdom). Hopefully they will one day see the merit in it and pass it to their kids.