Written: 08 May 2022

Author: Kirsty O'Hara

3min read

Thanks Mum! Your Money Sayings Were Gold.

In the lead up to Mother’s Day, we thought it would be fun to share some well-intended sayings on the topic of money and finance – compliments of our Flint mothers.

Across all demographics, people commonly remember catch phrases modelled by their parents. These well intended sayings and attitudes can sometimes stay with us through their our entire financial lives. Perhaps you’ve heard of someone turning down good financial advice, because it was ‘not how mum and dad said to do it’.

When considering any sayings or wisdom shared, we encourage you to always maintain an open mind - knowing that from time to time, you may need to challenge those assumptions and consider the unique life experiences that may have informed others well intended guidance.

If you can balance receiving feedback from others, with researching and soaking up informed insights, then you are in a good place to consider investing (even with mum’s voice in your ear).

Before we jump into sharing catch phrases and sayings from the Flint whanau, we first want to acknowledge the amazing mum’s that raised us. As a fintech platform, Flint has got off the ground with a supportive team, each raised by amazing parents. The drive and resilience needed to launch a fintech platform, is made possible by parents who encouraged us to become educated and resourceful humans.

And now, for some of our mum’s well-intended money sayings:

Alex (Designer)

“There are so many more ethical options that when I started. I like to check what my (PIE) funds are actually investing in, it’s good to know what’s under the hood.”

Alex’s out-take: it’s awesome there are more responsible options, but with the rise of ethical choices also comes the importance of reading the insights and holdings lists. Research is king, knowledge is power.

Dan (Product)

“You should always have control over your own money.”

Dan’s out-take: mum was always proactive, and took us (me + sis) to St Luke’s when I was 8 years old to set up our bank accounts and encouraged the tellers to let us have eftpos cards (apparently we were too young). She wanted us to have control over our own pocket money.

David (Operations)  

“Don’t live beyond your means.”

David’s out-take: it’s an oldie but a goodie, and holds true over time.

Jono (Marketing)

“Don’t forget your wallet!”

Jono’s out-take: teaching children to take responsibility for their money is worthwhile, and fosters good habits to feel grateful and organised with finances.

Kirsty (Engagement) 

“Look after the cents, and the dollars will take care of themselves.”

Kirsty’s out-take: Start small, and grow. Good money habits (even small ones), will see you well through life. It’s not necessarily the act of meticulously watching each cent go in and out, but more about the sentiment of starting small towards big saving goals.

Ryan (Acting CEO)

“Save money for a rainy day.”

Ryan’s out-take: It has always been something that stuck with me. It has been a useful piece of wisdom on those occasions where the heat pump or the washing machine has blown up, not to mention unexpected medical bills!

In Conclusion:

While we realise the above is very much a pick and mix bunch of mottos, that have somehow managed to linger in the minds of the Flint team; we also acknowledge that we have each gone on to do our own financial due diligence to inform any investment decisions.

As we touched on above, in no way does a catch phrase or saying hold true or exist without context. For many of our readers it’s worthwhile acknowledging that we are not scarred by the 1987 stock market crash, and so we may proceed through life with a more buoyant money attitude to that of our parents.  Anyone that experienced the 2008 Global Financial Crisis also may have had their money attitudes shaken, and observed the butterfly effect this had across some investment sectors. Covid is the most recent global crisis, and many of us watch on with informed and educated curiosity to see how that will unfold across the decades to come.

For some of the Flint team, their mums didn’t talk much about money. And it will be interesting to see how that changes in the years to come, with a bigger focus now more so than ever to financially empower mother’s across New Zealand.

Money sayings - while fun - never exist independent of the world you live in. Continue to learn, continue to let yourself have success and failure, and try to keep an open mind.

Happy Mothers Day!

Flint

This Article is dedicated to: all the mothers at Flint. Our mothers. The mothers of our children. And all our investors who are mothers, and do an amazing job of managing day to day finances and setting great examples and creating opportunities for their children to foster financial education.

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER:

All content shared is of a general nature, current to the time it was penned, and is not financial advice. Before making any investment decisions, please be sure you have completed full due diligence. This should include reading the product disclosure statement (PDS), considering fees and taxation, identifying your time horizons, and understanding the performance history and reputation of the investments you are considering.

Please note: When investing you are not guaranteed to make money (and on occasion you may lose some or all of the money you began with). Seek independent advice to establish if an investment is suitable for your financial situation and long-term wealth generation goals.