This is rich-financial tips from Barack Obama.
According to a report in Daily Finance, the president had just given a talk on health care costs, energy and other policies, when somebody asked him for personal advice on finances-this unusual line of inquiry “appeared to disarm him.” But he soon recovered:
Obama paused for a moment, a wistful look crossing his face.
“Don’t spend all your money,” he said.
“My grandmother worked her way up from being a secretary to a vice president of a regional bank,” the president continued. “She was from Kansas, and she had a very straightforward view, which was save a little bit of what you’re earning and the magic of compound interest applies.”
Okay, first of all-compound interest isn’t magic. Compound interest is what you get if you save over time. Magic is what it would take to get a thriving economy with President Obama’s fiscal policies. Finance Daily notes the irony of this “sober-minded advice” coming from the biggest spender ever to occupy the White House. Finance Daily adds that the president’s policies prevented the economy from slipping into an abyss (a highly disputable claim) but that they have made life difficult for would be savers.
Nor did the Obamas necessarily follow this advice:
As it happens, the steady saving approach was more an aspiration than reality inside the Obama household — at least in the early years.
“That is something Michelle and I have tried to apply, not always successfully, because we’re part of the generation that ended up going to college and taking out a huge amount of debt,” Obama said. “I’m very sympathetic to what young people are going through today, because Michelle and I graduated from law school with combined debt of $120,000, and it took us 10 years to pay off.”
How about honest advice: Write a book that begins to rake in millions in royalties only after you become a candidate for the presidency. Now, that’s sound financial advice.