Why A Financial Education Isn’t Guaranteed, But Necessary!

…And why The Matadore blog exists!

The only thing I ever really learned about money (before I educated myself) was that it could buy you stuff.

I was raised in a middle-class household in a well-off neighborhood in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I never went hungry or without needs.

In fact, you should see it today. “Well-off” is putting it lightly. In fact, my wife and I should have encouraged my late mother to keep the house after my father died, but that’s another article I am working on.

Back to my education, or lack thereof.

My late mother had a better nose for frugality and saving than my late father, but I wouldn’t call either of them financially savvy or investors.

Once I was old enough to work and earn my own money (valet and concierge work for mostly cash at a local country club) I never once considered saving and investing. For too long I valued only the material things money provided me.

I still know I need money to buy things (to live), but at 43 I see how your money can make you more money.

I wasted so much money through my 20s and 30s. Cars, clothes, girls, electronics, booze; even a house I couldn’t afford and should never have been loaned money to buy (the further result of being surrounded by irresponsible money managers).

After my dear friend Douglas enlightened me on the theories of basic economics, Milton Friedman, and I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I haven’t looked back on being irresponsible with money. In fact, personal finance and macroeconomics are my intellectual hobby of choice. Hence, this blog!

As my professional career has blossomed and my wife and I adopted a no consumer-debt mindset (thanks, Dave Ramsey), I am just in the last 5 years or so feeling like I have achieved financial wellness on a path to financial independence.

It makes me sick to know what I could have today had I made different choices with money. This is now my mission as a father and writer.

Spend less than you make, save, and invest the rest (in things you know and understand).

In the last 5 years, in addition to a generous 401(k) match (.30 to .50 on every dollar), which I have maxed out annually, I have pursued Bitcoin (HODL) successfully, implemented a (backdoor) ROTH, discovered high-interest rates in stablecoins and now actual FDIC insured savings accounts (thanks to the Fed’s Wreck America Campaign), had my wife start her 457, and props to Financial Samurai, we got a Fundrise account going with bi-weekly contributions back in 2020.

I can’t change my past, but I can own it, and work on my future money story.

This brings me to my main point.

Things like where you grow up, who your parents are, and what their personal money habits are, are largely responsible for where you might end up in life, financially speaking, specifically.

Our schools teach kids foreign languages, calculus, sociology, and maybe two weeks (criminal!) spent on the US Constitution, but never a class about money, the stock markets, personal finance, debt, economics, etc.

I believe this is on purpose, but won’t go down that rabbit hole…

Essentially, it's on you to learn how money works, what responsible personal financial habits look like, and why yes, making more money really does matter, but ONLY when you have the knowledge and foundations necessary to succeed with money!

Our children have brokerage accounts and have to save 50% of any money they are gifted or earn. I will not allow them to make the same mistakes, or miss out on the opportunities, that I did!

These days I regularly seek out people in my life who are at the place I want to be. I ask them questions about their past with money, how they got to where they are, and what is different today than when they were my age when it comes to their money.

This is part of my continuing education in money and personal finance.

Further, I am honored to be making money with this blog and be a resource to friends, family, colleagues, and strangers on personal finance questions and challenges.

What about you?

What did you learn about money growing up?

Who are your money mentors?

When did you learn about being responsible with money and what would you have done differently before then?

Thanks for reading, be good stewards of your earnings.

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