Smart About Money: Talk About It

A while ago in a financial publication, a young person said they’d been brought up to not talk or “really even think about” money. They said they had become anxious about anything having to do with finances.

Nick Maffeo

Okay, with the exception of a serious financial emergency, it’s unacceptable to put pressure on someone to talk about their finances or to prod them into revealing personal financial details if they’re obviously uncomfortable or unwilling. Period.

That being said, it’s hard to imagine worse advice than a blanket rule of “Don’t talk about money or even think about finances.”

In fact, talking about finances and thinking about your own finances is possibly the most important financial skill that a young person — or anyone! — can develop.

Because it’s probably fair to say that almost every important decision you make in your life is a financial decision in one way or another.

Can you imagine not being willing to look at your credit card statements, or not being able to buy a home, or not being able to take advantage of employer-based retirement account matches because those significant life activities and many, many more involve thinking about and maybe talking about your finances?

A woman recently told me a sad-but-too-common story. Before her parents met, her father had put a golfing buddy on his retirement account as the beneficiary. Her mother asked him many times to make her his beneficiary. That was his intention. But he didn’t want to think about his finances and “changing beneficiaries” and “all that.”

You can probably see where this is going. The gentleman passed away unexpectedly and fairly young. By law, his retirement account money went to that golfing buddy, not to his wife and family. It made a difficult time more difficult.

Being in the habit of thinking pro-actively about your finances makes things easier in the long run. Because no one will ever be more affected by your financial decisions than you and people you care about. It can be work and there can be questions. There will be choices. Mistakes will be made. There is always room for improvement.

Some of it can be researched online. Maybe a lot of it. But at some point, most people discover that talking to other people makes a big difference.

Talking with age-peers whose judgment you trust (or don’t trust) to see how they’re handling things is one way of getting useful information. Other times you’ll be talking to financial professionals like a banker or a CPA. The goal: To learn how to sift through what you hear and then make decisions likely to work out well for you.

Right now, there are some reports that some young people are uncomfortable talking to other people at all. They prefer to do everything online.

But “online” can give conflicting advice. “Online” can be wrong! “Online” will never take a personal interest in your success. Many other people — family, friends, mentors, colleagues — will take an interest. It’s worth getting over any shyness, nervousness or self-consciousness.

People sometimes choose a path others wish they wouldn’t. Refusing to take care of their health is one example. Refusing to pay reasonable attention to their finances is another.

Be one of the people who thinks about your money and is even comfortable talking about finances when it’s appropriate. It’s 100 percent worth it.

Nick Maffeo is the President & CEO of Canton Co-operative Bank in Canton. Have a question? Email to submissions@thecantoncitizen.com.

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Posted by Nick Maffeo on May 15 2026. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion, Smart About Money. Both comments and pings are currently closed.