Dad Advice: Managing Your Money! Listener Questions

Philosopher Stefan Molyneux gives dad advice on managing your money and answers listener questions about staying calm, calling creditors early, and cutting spending on things that do not last. He also covers when debt makes sense, teaching kids about money, and why spouses should share finances.

Questions:

"How to avoid panicking when the financial going gets tough and avoiding desperate maneuvers like high interest loans, making the situation worse. Are there ways to negotiate with creditors to get them off of your back"

"I would like to hear you talk about how involving your kids (even really young ones) in (age appropriate) financial discussions and decisions can help parents stay consistent and clear in their personal/family finances. I find that explaining and involving kids in finances gives the greatest motivation to be thoughtful and have a life long approach to money and investments. Both because it’s a reminder that all we do is for them. But also because they are fantastic at pointing out any potential inconsistencies that we don’t want to see 😉"

"What kind of debt is justifiable to accrue? Is there a form of debt that is unjustifiable per UPB?"

"Hi Stef. I find that financial situation is very often a reflection of one’s way of living in general. How to deal with situations where you finally start to get ahead in financial terms due to many years of learning the game, long term thinking and delayed gratification, but often family and friends who have bad financial situations due to their life choices, start to pull you back. They call you stingy, always say how you’re missing on life for not squandering the money, say what’s the point of having money if you’re not living their vision of enjoyment and so on… Can be quite an external pressure. I understand it is possible to just walk away, but some good responses on situations like these would be good to have."

"Question: When is it be better to borrow instead of waiting for your own savings to be enough?"

"is it immoral to receive government benefits and tax returns after being taxed at the same or higher amount?"

"I’d like to listen about people who save as much as possible and hate to spend money."

"how to parent middle/upper-middle class children who are not starting from the very bottom (like their parents)."

"what are the pros and cons of not splitting bills in the family, and have all finances shared and common."

"philosophy of people who get paid in small daily increments (taxi drivers, waiters, plumbers, and just anybody who works for tips, or gets paid right after the shift or work)"

"This will be for people that have had a bad start in relationships and personal finance in their twenties: Balancing pleasure/hobbies vs house purchase/stocks in your thirties, when you have neither lived nor made good financial decisions in the past."

"accepting money from immoral and abusive parents to fix problems they caused."

"Great topic! A few questions that come to mind.

"1) The pursuit of the Aristotelian mean of saving vs. spending. Specifically, when saving too much for the future at the expense of the present. How to find the middle ground.

"2) Philosophical perspective on capital preservation. Managing investment risks vs playing it too safe.

"Thank you for the great work Stef!"

"is it immoral / unethical to use companies like Facebook, Google, Meta, Amazon to build one's business (for one's financial gain)?

"one can argue that using these digital platforms to spread virtue/philosophy outweighs the downsides of using them - but the question remains, if one uses these companies solely to achieve financial gains (e.g. promoting and selling digital services or products), is that immoral/unethical?
it could be deemed unethical because it supports these companies and draws more people into their world, and as we know, these companies often act unethically.

"similarly, is it immoral / unethical if one's work revolves around trading digital financial products ?

"because supporting kyc'd platforms against supports financial suppression"

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