Ask Us Anything: How financially savvy were our parents?

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0:49Welcome to another episode of our listeners questions where we answer your questions on finance. Really is the tea show now, isn't it? He's got a laptop and everything. Look at this guy. Power move. Okay, so Freeboski asks... What did Boski do? Freeboski, that's my guy. You probably want to know what he does before you claim that he's your guy. Okay, so Freeboski asks, were either of your parents financially savvy or has everything been self-taught? I know your parents are financially savvy. Sorry, wait. My parents are like typical Nigerians. Work hard, save up, buy a house, save up some more, and then that's pretty much it.

1:26So not much about bonds, ISAs, stocks. Your dad works in investment though, doesn't he? My dad worked at Merrill Lynch back in the day. Now he's in corporate finance and oil, but yeah, he's not really big on investments, just bought a house and saved up. And we do have like a family wealth manager fund. Wealth fund. We got a family wealth manager. I don't know him yet, because I'm not rich enough. But yeah, my parents have some wealth manager who manages their investment. So they don't actively invest. they give it, give him the bag. Like a financial advisor. Exactly, give him the bag, tell him go make us some money.

2:01Yeah, yeah, okay. So my mom was, it was me and my mom when I was a kid until about the age of 14, 15, like single parents. So it was very much, she was all about budgeting and things like that. There wasn't much money. So I, her like savviness was making a little go a long way. And I remember doing spreadsheets and things like this every month and planning where all the money was going. and she would use credit cards to make sure that she was always in interest free and getting the bonuses. So it was that sort of savviness. There was no investments there. And then my stepdad came into my life and yeah, there was more money in the household then.

2:40But by that point I was like 14, 15. So they say your money habits are formed by the age of seven or whatever, don't they? Yeah. So it's always been like, know the value of money, work hard. Like you say, have an emergency fund, although I haven't really done that. I did listen to them on that part, but yeah, always like - You got it in gold, haven't you mate? You're wearing the emergency fund. I'm wearing my emergency fund just in case of a rainy day. So interesting on this point of like nature nurture, which is kind of what Freeboski is asking with the question. My dad, who I didn't know very well, I met him a couple of times in my life.

3:12He was supposedly obsessed with money and everyone would always be like, oh, you're just like your dad, you're obsessed with money. So I don't know, maybe, you know, is there a DNA related to being obsessed with cash? I think there is because my dad's, he's a bit like me. He likes to live fast and free. He's spent by his like impulse buying, spends a lot. And then he's like, oh, I'll get a big deal, get loads of money, buy loads of stuff. And then be like, oh, where's my next big deal? So I kind of got that for him. Whereas my mum's a doctor. So she's a bit more kind of, I guess, disciplined. Yeah.

3:43Yeah, a bit more disciplined. More thought out and planned. Yeah, because you know, to be a doctor, you've got to study for like five years. So you're already kind of that kind of person. self-sacrifice there in terms of, you know, you've got to do a lot upfront to get a job in the future. Exactly. Yeah, where is your life? Where's the cash? Yeah, my dad's like oil deal, let's go. He's like, we're rich. And he's like, oh, I'm not rich anymore. So yeah, I think I got that from my dad. Whereas my sister's a bit more like my mum. She's very, a bit more careful. Yeah. So Damo, what type of things did your mum teach you about finance?

4:14I mean, she never like explicitly taught me. I remember her sitting me down at points and showing me her spreadsheet and like her budget So that kind of carried over. There was points in my life where I was quite reckless with money though. When I first graduated, I got myself into a bit of a hole and she would have never done that. But I think when you're a single parent with a child, you can't do that. So maybe that's why I was, I didn't have any responsibility so I could go a bit crazy. But no, she always, I never went without, like I was always in designer clothes and like Nike, like not designer, but you know what I mean?

4:50I was considering we lived, you know, where we lived in Birmingham and there wasn't much money floating about. I never felt like I didn't have anything. So she probably taught me that, you know, you can, a little goes a long way. If I look at now how much I spend a month, you know, on my life, it makes me sick. You know, how much my life costs me every month versus what she delivered the same quality of life in a way on very little. One thing I learned from my dad is that you can, you can be really happy with not that much. Like you don't need to have like a sports car, although I do like my Mercedes and you don't have to have like designer clothes.

5:29You can, as long as you're healthy, you're happy, you've got your family and you can get to work or you can, you know, do what you do on a daily basis. You've got food, you've got heating. I can survive with like no money, like very little. I can, my outgoings can be really low one month and then the next month they can be really high. It's quite freeing, isn't it? When you've not got much in that sense. And so you kind of, and you keep it lean. And so as part of the wider YouTube business that I do, sorry about the beep there. So I've got the YouTube channel and that earns me pretty good money.

5:59I've recently set up like a little newsletter and it earned its first like 20 pounds the other day. And that felt better than the money that I was earning from YouTube. It's like those little, you know, I don't think more and more makes you feel necessarily happy. it's like the validation of all that worked was felt better. You know, like the first subscriber you ever get, that's the happiest I was ever on YouTube. Cause it was like, wow, this is working. Definitely. When you got recognized in the casino. I got recognized in the casino, me and Damo went out for some drinks and we got recognized in the casino and he's like, you guys are on the podcast.

6:33It's the money man. He called up says, we got some high rollers coming up. I said, no, he's a high roller. I'm broke. It was like three in the morning as well. Edgeware road casino to met. We were there and I was like, where can we get a beard? down here, Tomei's like, there's a casino over there. I was like, how do you know? He's like, I know where every casino is in this whole city. And we roll in and the guy behind the till starts screaming, it's the money men. I watch your podcast. It was nice. Tomei gets recognized more than I do. I got recognized in Westfield doing my Christmas shopping.

7:00It was with my brother. I was buzzing and I was like, can I take a picture? They were like, can I take a picture? I was like, can I take a picture with you? So yeah, those little things like, yeah. So it's just the same in business. Like you do your first deal or you do something, you start your business and you get your first sale. but it's gonna mean more to you than getting a salary. Like in terms of a moment that to me was so special. Cause it's like sharing that moment with you where like we get recognized together in the casino. That was like, that's better than going to number 10 and stuff.

7:25Cause we'll talk about that forever. Do you know what I mean? We were 60 year old men. That's a cool memory. Talking about that time in the casino, we got recognized. So I met your family. I love your family. I know - They love you. Yeah. I ask this question all the time, but just so the listeners can hear, You know, what do your family think about the success of the podcast and the fact that you're doing personal finance content and this kind of stuff? They think it's crazy. They're really proud, especially when - Of me. Well, you're the family's favorite white boys. So like, you don't know where - Yeah, I live for that.

7:57Yeah, that's your title, that's your title. And the godfather of my son. So yeah, you're pretty big in the game. But no, they love it. My mom did, my parents did tell me off yesterday. They're like, you can't go on the podcast with your hair like this. and I'm like, mum, it's beautiful. That looks great. That's what I said. For the listeners, you've got, what is it called? Cornrows. Cornrows. I think they're very tidy. I look a little bit like Drake, but more handsome and dashing. But yeah, they think it's really cool. They're really proud, especially when we got on Apple, Apple Spotlight and Debra Meaden and all their friends are messaging them.

8:28So they're buzzing. Yeah, they think it's amazing because the thing is, they've seen the whole journey. They've seen, I was like, oh, Damien's starting a YouTube channel. They're like, oh, that's really cool. And then they saw the whole journey and then us growing. and so yeah, it's amazing. That's nice. I'm pretty clouted up in my family right now. I'm that guy. Yeah. My brothers like was just in Tatler, but like every week we do something new. So I'm kind of outshining him now. He was just in what? Tatler, Tatler magazine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's at Soho House. Soho House. He's a membership manager, but he's apparently one of the influential bachelors of London or something.

9:00Really? Is that right? He's pretty happy. You're Carole family, man. We're doing all right. We're doing all right. What does your mom think about you being a YouTube phenomenon and generally being a financial guru? So she, yeah, she's very proud. She like checks all the comments. She's like, oh, this person here, Free Broski called you an idiot. So she's all over. I employ her now, so she works for the channel. She runs like my accounts and stuff and like admin, kind of like a EA kind of PA role, I guess, you know? So I pay her and she works with me, mainly because she's the only person I trust to give her all the logins to my accounts and things like this.

9:39Yeah, I think there's a lot of pride. And I think within my family, I've always felt like maybe I was slightly different to everyone else because they're all quite high achieving career folk. And I was not that necessarily. I was like a salesman and always talking about, you know, money and things like this. And I just, I'm part of my family. I've always felt part, but I always felt like I was slightly different in terms of like their traditional career path. And I know you resonate with that. I definitely resonate with that. Because you do the sales, you've done all your education and stuff. You do go into sales and it's like, okay, cool.

10:12He's good at sales. But my sister's doing talks for NATO and - Your brother's a most eligible bachelor in London. My sister's like doing counter-terrorism and all these things. And my dad's like high achieve. My mom's a doctor and I'm just there like, yeah, I sell things. Yeah. So it's quite - It's validating. It's validating. I'm stepping into the floor there. like it's a little bit more prestigious. Yeah, yeah. You're welcome, mate. Cheers, mate. No, I'm joking, I'm joking. Your mum's probably like, I did this. This is all me. I started Devo on this financial journey. Yeah, yeah. No, she's always like, oh, that Tomein, he's so charismatic, isn't he?

10:45I'm like, mom. Yeah. Legend. Yeah, no, I think, so it's nice now to be able to sit around the family table and like have my own thing that's unique that kind of like I brought to the table that we've created and stuff that they like. Like my uncle told me he was proud of me, which was like an amazing moment. He's like kind of like a father figure to me, bit of a hero. He was very senior in the army and things like this. So he's like super disciplined. So for him to say that was like, that was amazing.

11:22So Ryan says SUV at 5.49 % for 60 months. Brain says pay it off or do I continue investing, saving for a baby that's on the way 5.49 you know how i feel about um paying for cars pay them all up front in one go i don't like i don't like monthly outgoings that's why i don't have a credit card i don't i paid for my car the only thing i like to pay monthly is rent and i even like paying that so that's pretty much it um but yeah or was it all continues or save for the baby on the way yeah so continue investing and saving for a baby that's on the way continue investing and saving for the baby because as someone who's now got a one-year-old, babies, they're not that expensive when they're little, you think, but it's just like the, it's all the little things, car seat, car seat, the initial cost, the initial cost and then, you know, you might have to take an Uber to take them to hospital or just little things, baby food, but it's not exorbitant.

12:13Like it's not going to change, like make you bankrupt having a baby. So I think the first two years are the cheapest and then it just gets more expensive after that. So, I mean, he does, he could do both really. You don't need to save that much for the baby. No, overpaying 5.49%. So the question is like, you know, the guaranteed return of clearing the car off early versus the expected return that you might achieve elsewhere. In a savings account, you're getting 5%, right? At the minute about that, which is similar to the 5.49. But investing, you know, if you're talking over a time period of 10 years plus, you would expect the markets to produce a better return, I would say.

12:52I personally wouldn't. I never really look at car finance as like something that I'm overpaying that aggressively. It's like one of the last debts on the list almost that I would like pay off early if that made, like student loan and that. 5.49%, there's obviously a real gain to be made there by overpaying it and clearing it off. But I do think that once you make that overpayment, you can't access that money again. You can't get it back. Whereas the baby might throw up a curve ball and you need that money. So maybe it's just better to invest slash save that money for a similar rate. Like I said, if he just puts the money in a bank account, he's getting 5%, which is similar.

13:29You know, it's, yes, it's less, but he has access and flexibility with those funds. He can deploy them. He might, the baby's born, he goes, you know what? The baby's not costing much money here. Let's just slam all the money I've saved off the car or the baby comes along and it's like, oh crap. You know, this is more expensive or I want some time off work. He's got that flexibility. for me it's more about flexibility of options when you've got an unknown coming in than it is about the return that you achieve from paying off the SUV sooner and the liquidity because yeah once you put the money into the SUV you can't get it back but that's it like you give it to them you can never get that money back it's the same with overpayments to mortgages really attractive to bring that balance down and to see it chip away but there's a lack of flexibility because once the money's gone in it's harder to get out it's not as flexible whereas you could save that money or invest it and then still have those options.

14:17We can't give financial advice. It's up to you, whatever you want to do, Ryan. But for me personally, I wouldn't be overpaying the car.