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Oddly, I find the worse someone's financial shape is the more they talk about it. Some people almost sound proud to say they are living paycheck to paycheck or are up the creek because of a modest car repair bill.
At the other end of the spectrum, people in great financial shape tend not to say a word other than whining about their taxes.
This is my anecdotal observation but it repeats itself time and time again.
Actually, I've found that not to be quite so true. I've known a number of people, to hear them talk and complain about how they can't afford this and can't afford that, that you would think barely make minimum wage when, in fact, because of their occupations or positions of themselves and their spouses, you know they make close to six figures if not more.
Hmmm. A colleague of mine a year ago or so openly said that his parents put money away for his college but he got scholarships to cover it all and his parents said he could later use the money for a down payment on a house. All of it was said in mixed company!!!
Due to our professions and background, it's pretty obvious to our friends and family that my wife and I are very well off. Not once has anyone hit us up for money.
I hearing a lot of "nos" here on my question. Maybe I have the wrong friends.
For the most part, I tend to follow this rule in my daily travels out in the real world. My dad always taught me to never tell people anything about your financial situation.
I might help close friends with some things like 529 or 401K advice, but that's about the extent of it.
I tend to do the opposite on here because it's an anonomous, internet forum after all.
I dont have a problem talking about but I have knowledge on the subject and have done a fair amount of research. Most people at work have not a clue what to do with their money but spend it till there is nothing left. Therefore when the subject comes up I tend to fall back because we are such polar opposites. It would just end up in a fight.
Personally I have no problem having an intelligent conversation about what we do with our money. If they cant handle it then its their problem.
From what I know, its impolite to discuss personal finances. You don't want to talk about how much money you make a year or compare yourself to others based on how much you make. A person's annual income is private stuff because we tend to rate people in our minds based on how much they make. If you know you make more money than the guy down the street than you might think you're better than them. Unfortunately this goes on quite a bit and people have too much of an ego based on how much they make.
It's also impolite to spontaneously lecture strangers when you know nothing at all about them.
I talk about personal finance all the time on the internet anonymously, but in person? No. It's kind of like discussing politics.... in my experience nothing good happens. Two people are unlikely to agree and will often leave the conversation resentful in one way or another. It's easy to forget the empathy factor.
I remember talking about it with an older colleague around the time I started working. He was giving me all sorts of unsolicited advice about investing and what I should be doing with excess money. "Instead of buying a new car you should buy this fund, bla bla." I did not waste money on new cars. At the time I drove a 24 year old chevy S10. I wanted to scream that I was still paying off my $36K of student loan debt that was necessary for the required degree to even get considered for the position, that I was on salary step 3 and he was on something like step 24 and there were significant 5 figure differences in that. I also stifled the impulse to say he probably bought his house when prices were Much, MUCH lower rather than the 10% year-over-year increases in rents and housing values happening at the time. My main thought was that he should shut up and mind his own business.
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