I AM A FINANCIAL LEADER
To be a financial leader doesn’t mean that I control my wife and children. It doesn’t mean that I get the nicest things, drive the nicest car and have the most expensive shoes. Being a financial leader means that I’m in charge of my family’s financial future. Just like in prehistoric times when a man’s job was to guard the perimeter, today it is my job to guard the financial perimeter.
Today I drove in to work in my 2005 Toyota Camry and I parked next to a BMW. I don’t really care. The 2005 Toyota Camry gets me to work every day. As a matter fact it’s my wife’s old car. She fixed it up for me. I can afford that BMW but I choose not to because I haven’t earned it. The reason why I haven’t earned it is because the financial perimeter isn’t done yet – it’s not fully guarded.
Being a financial leader means putting your family ahead of your own wants. My wife has nicer things than I have. My children have nicer things than I have. If we were to stand together you would look at me and ask ‘who is that bum in the middle?’ And I wear it like a badge of honor.
Why? Because when I look at my wife and children and say that we are not spending the money for something they want, It carries weight. They cannot look at me and say that I spend more money than them. They know that I have put them ahead of my own wants. My goal in life is to ensure that they are financially safe.
I am not just trying to keep the lights on in the house, a roof over my kids head, and put food on the table. I am trying to put them in a place where they are financially free. I am trying to teach them to walk before they run. If I am a true financial leader, I am teaching my family that there are other ways to be happy. I’m trying to make sure that no matter what happens to the economy, to my job, or my life, I will be ready.
We will be ready.
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I like how you lead by example. So many parents tell their children they cannot have something, but then spend money on expensive cars and clothes for themselves. Your children will learn that what truly is valuable is NOT material because you have chosen not to put value in those things. And I know you’re speaking from a man’s standpoint, but I wanted to add that a woman can and often is the best financial leader in a home. In our world of dual-income households, the roles don’t necessarily follow traditional norms.