How often do you discuss money/your private economy?

**Jackmoves** · 2012-12-04, 03:14 PM

Just interested in knowing how often you guys discuss this with friends and family?

It seems to be an increasingly interesting subject as one grows older, esp among men(just my observation), and even more so in certain age groups, middle aged men in particular seem to end up discussing this all the time. Sit back at a dinner party when you got all your uncle's, or parents friends around you and listen, it never fails.

House loans, interest rates, investments etc all this becomes more important as one gets older imo simply because one got more capital, might be paying off on the loans for the villa/summer house etc.

Anyways I rarely discuss private economy with my parents, economy in a larger context, all the time, my father is a professor in economics at the Uni here(PhD at the Department of Economics and Business, spec co-operate entrepenourship) so that comes naturally but I got no exact knowledge what he brings home for example, or any exact idea of his investments and my mother's income fluctuates wildly so the same thing there, impossible to keep track of her economy, generally just get numbers when she's sold a lot. One year she will bring in a lot, the next year she will be more "heads down" and less sales orientated so sales will be slower.

Friends, totally depends on who I'm hanging out with, some of them could care less, some of them are well versed and have a very active interest in economics.

**Hyve** · 2012-12-04, 03:17 PM

I rarely discuss finances & economics with my Friends & Family because my views are completely different. I'm far more conservative, and they're much more liberal. I hate getting into arguments with people about economics, when they've never even ran a company.

**Rukentuts** · 2012-12-04, 03:18 PM

My parents had to cosign the loans I had to take to pay for school. Naturally they have a vested interest on my progress on paying them off.

**Reeve** · 2012-12-04, 03:39 PM

I grumble a bit that I never seem to have enough money, but I don't typically discuss specifics with anyone.

**Auloria** · 2012-12-04, 03:42 PM

I enjoy talking about my investment strategies and so forth, but very few of my friends are interested in that at this point in their lives (late 20's, early 30's).

**peggleftw** · 2012-12-04, 03:42 PM

i often discuss money with my friends/family, most of my friends do not understand how i was a student, but still had a good amount in my bank account. my mother usually knows roughly how much is in my bank as i have to lend her money occasionally. thats about my personal finances, never really discuss the economy with anyone as its a topic i am not knowledgeable on

**Zogarth** · 2012-12-04, 03:42 PM

I don't really talk about my personal economy since I have no problems with handling that, but the subject at family dinners and stuff like that, often falls on discussing finances and such.

**RICH1471** · 2012-12-04, 03:43 PM

I discuss it with my partner, my employer and my bank manager, no one else has any business knowing my finances.

**MC ALPACA FLAYME** · 2012-12-04, 03:47 PM

I do the opposite. "private" economy is essentially an open-door policy for them, considering I'm still not completely independent of them. Economic views at large, though. . .I don't really discuss that stuff with anyone anymore.

**jaimelannister** · 2012-12-04, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Jackmoves

Anyways I rarely discuss private economy with my parents,

As you age, you most certainly should make sure you have these discussions with your parents, assuming you maintain a loving relationship with them (it's sad that so many people don't get along with their parents...). It is important to understand where they are financially, what their plans are for retirement, and what role you will play in caring for them as they age. If they are just scraping by and will need your assistance later in life, that's going to be something you want to start planning for when you're young.

I started having financial discussions with my parents after I graduated college, and while it was awkward at first, by now it's just another topic we discuss as necessary. They are completely comfortable divulging their investments/planning/etc. to me and I am comfortable knowing that they've planned well for retirement and that I don't have to worry about them financially as they age. I also share my personal financial situation with them so that they don't have to worry about me!

**Shamanic** · 2012-12-04, 04:28 PM

I discuss finances with people in the sense that I'll talk about interest rates, taxes, cost changes, government policies and so on - but then I own a small business, a lot of my friends are either involved in business or the financial sector or at least knowledgeable about it and it's an interesting topic. These are things that affect me but aren't actually my personal finances, so to speak.

I don't ever discuss my exact personal financial details with anyone except for my husband, my mother and my bank manager.

**Jackmoves** · 2012-12-04, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by Hyve

I rarely discuss finances & economics with my Friends & Family because my views are completely different. I'm far more conservative, and they're much more liberal. I hate getting into arguments with people about economics, when they've never even ran a company.

Man, thats one of the bits I love with my extended family, we got them all, borderline commies, conservatives, etc, the discussions at our family dinners can get heated to say the least. It's good comedy.

100% sure my mother votes for the green party, while my father is more conservative just to take an example.

Originally Posted by jaimelannister

As you age, you most certainly should make sure you have these discussions with your parents, assuming you maintain a loving relationship with them (it's sad that so many people don't get along with their parents...). It is important to understand where they are financially, what their plans are for retirement, and what role you will play in caring for them as they age. If they are just scraping by and will need your assistance later in life, that's going to be something you want to start planning for when you're young.

I started having financial discussions with my parents after I graduated college, and while it was awkward at first, by now it's just another topic we discuss as necessary. They are completely comfortable divulging their investments/planning/etc. to me and I am comfortable knowing that they've planned well for retirement and that I don't have to worry about them financially as they age. I also share my personal financial situation with them so that they don't have to worry about me!

I'm 28

I got a pretty good relationship with both of them, we just don't go into details about our private economy much.

I don't really worry about their retirement, they are both quite well off, and the pay roll taxes cover it anyways and I'm pretty sure both of them have set aside money in private pension funds as well. Not to mention, Sweden is a world leader in privatised pensions so pension funding problems are relatively small compared to many other countries. Our politicians realized that the old system was unsustainable in the mid 90s so there were quite a lot of reforms being made, our pension funds have nailed the goals for what is needed(in terms of capital gains) in the long term ever since. The 08 crisis was a blow, but recovery has made up for it though. We got some pretty clever brains working on it, including investment Guru Christer Gardell.

Taxation on retired people have remained higher then those on working people though, which could be considered unfair.

**goodwrench** · 2012-12-05, 02:55 PM

Retirement was never an issue for both my parents. They both worked in law enforcement like me, and our salarys are public information. There are search engines where you can look at what I made down to the exact dollar last year. We all have defined benefit pensions that are guaranteed, so retirement is a non issue. I will retire at 55 with 90% of my salary for the rest of my life. Among my friends we never really talk about money, other than how much racing is costing all of us. I make well over $100k a year and I think I am the poorest of my friends by a long shot. Other than trading insider information about stocks (most of my friends own or work for mid cap companys) we never really talk about investments.

**FathomFear** · 2012-12-05, 03:17 PM

I've asked my mother to double-check my tax returns a few times to make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes (she used to file returns as a living). Outside of that I never talk about it or give visibility to how much I make or what my investments/debt/etc look like.

I do push my parents to invest in retirement, though. I'm in my 30s and already have 5x what they have saved, and they are in their early 60s.

**Kerath** · 2012-12-05, 05:01 PM

Other than discussing our personal finances with my partner (we have a joint mortgage), no. I rarely, if ever, discuss my money situation with friends/family.

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