Top 5 Famous Benjamin Franklin Quotes on Money – Personal Finance Wisdom & Lessons
Benjamin Franklin’s picture is indelibly printed not solely throughout the American psyche, but additionally on the biggest problem of foreign money printed by the U.S. Treasury – the $100 invoice.
It could be arduous to decide on a extra applicable founding father to characteristic on the $100 invoice, seeing as how previous to his tenure as one of many best and most well-known statesmen of the American Revolution, Franklin was the founder and proprietor of a printing store.
It’s this entrepreneurial spirit that allowed Franklin to build wealth, serve his group, and create a greater world for future generations. But Ben Franklin didn’t simply depart the world his myriad of innovations or a fledgling nation referred to as the United States of America – he additionally left quite a lot of personal knowledge and recommendation from his many writings. And a few of his finest recommendation is monetary.
Here are 5 of our favourite pearls of knowledge from Franklin, and what you’ll be able to study from them.
1. “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Franklin’s most well-known personal finance quote isn’t truly fairly correct. Quantitatively, when you think about that most individuals calculate their earnings previous to taxes, a penny saved is definitely value extra than a penny earned. Why?
Because taxes scale back your precise take residence pay. If you earn $10 an hour, you’ll probably solely see round $7.50 after taxes. Therefore, should you can minimize your bills by $10, it truly leads to saving greater than 1 hour’s value of your take residence wage.
- The lesson: Saving money is the primary key to constructing wealth and turning into financially profitable.
2. “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
Investing in yourself is simply as vital as saving for the long run. In truth, though Franklin can be attributed with the saying, “early to bed, early to rise, keeps a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” Franklin was identified to ceaselessly burn the midnight oil finding out languages which included French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish.
This gained data served him and the colonies effectively in his travels soliciting assist from the French throughout the American revolution, paying dividends he may have by no means anticipated. Franklin’s life teaches that success isn’t solely born from arduous work, but additionally from diligent examine.
- The lesson: Never cease studying. If you might have an opportunity to take a category, or additional your training, go for it. Better but, examine things that curiosity you on your personal time. A library card is free!
3. “Having been poor is no shame, being ashamed of it is.”
Franklin was a self-made man who believed that success was derived by way of arduous work, diligence, and examine. His personal beginnings had been of a humble nature, however he progressed by way of entrepreneurship and lifelong studying. He by no means shied away from being trustworthy about who he was or how he got here by his success.
- The lesson: Remembering the crushing weight of debt or poverty is likely to be simply the motivation you require to maintain your personal frugality and guarantee a greater future for your self and your loved ones.
4. “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.”
An encyclopedia of personal finance may very well be written on this quote alone. Frugality, financial savings, and thrift are one factor, however greed is one other matter altogether. The monetary disaster which started in 2008 is a main instance.
Greed drove billions of {dollars} into dangerous and speculative investments resembling sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages and mortgage-backed securities which promised unattainable returns to traders who had been effectively past their depth of understanding however blinded by greenback indicators.
- The lesson: You needs to be accountable for your money; it shouldn’t be accountable for you.
5. “Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.”
Franklin understood the insidious nature of debt, and firmly believed that it’s higher to slash bills to an excessive degree slightly than to incur debt with a purpose to afford a way of life that’s effectively past our means.
Certainly, chopping again on important human wants resembling food is a alternative that we’ll ideally not be confronted with any time quickly, however this quote reinforces the significance of constructing an emergency fund.
- The lesson: Don’t stay past your means, and get out of debt as shortly as attainable.
Final Word
Benjamin Franklin’s writings are filled with quotes that stay completely apt even within the sophisticated and sometimes complicated financial situations we face as we speak. With that stated, we’ll depart this closing phrase to the grasp: Ben Franklin himself, who reminds us to maintain our concepts about money in perspective.
“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.”
