When getting help with money, whether it is insurance, real estate or investments you should always look for a person with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.
Interpretation
Seek guidance from those who genuinely wish to educate rather than just sell.
This quote emphasizes the importance of finding advisors in financial matters who prioritize teaching and empowering their clients over just making sales. A 'heart of a teacher' implies a commitment to sharing knowledge and ensuring that individuals understand their financial choices, which ultimately leads to better decision-making and financial literacy.
In practice
During a financial seminar, I would quote Dave Ramsey to highlight the importance of knowledgeable advisors.
Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can't even envision a car without a payment ... a house without a mortgage ... a student without a loan ... and credit without a card. We've been sold debt with such repetition and with such fervor that most folks can't conceive of what it would be like to have NO payments.
The thing I have discovered about working with personal finance is that the good news is that it is not rocket science. Personal finance is about 80 percent behavior. It is only about 20 percent head knowledge.
Debt collectors like to play on your emotions because they think you'll give in and do something you can't really afford to do. Most of them don't care about you or your situation as long as they get some money.
Hitting bottom and hitting it hard was the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me.
Your priorities, passions, goals, and fears are shown clearly in the flow of your money.
You have to teach children about money intentionally - create teachable moments.
Most women file for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious medical problem, a job loss, or a family break up. It is hard to protect against those.
Although it's easy to forget sometimes, a share is not a lottery ticket... it's part-ownership of a business.
It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial crisis happened because AAA ratings stopped being something that had to be earned and turned into something that could be paid for.
In other words, the percentage change in book value in any given year is likely to be reasonably close to that year's change in intrinsic value.
Finance is not merely about making money. It's about achieving our deep goals and protecting the fruits of our labor. It's about stewardship and, therefore, about achieving the good society.
The miracle of compounding returns has been overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs.
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