This Financial Expert (and Dad) Shares His 2 Cents on Father’s Day Spending

Father’s Day is the perfect opportunity to show love and gratitude to your dad — and the other men in your life who are fathers. But showing that appreciation doesn’t have to set you back financially.

The National Retail Federation predicts the average person celebrating Father’s Day this year will spend an all-time high of $138.97, up from last year’s $132.82. However, Travis Sickle, president of Sickle Hunter Financial Advisors and a father of three, said consumerism shouldn’t be the main focus of this holiday.

Homemade Gifts Carry the Most Value

Sickle, a resident of Tampa, Florida, said he most treasures the cards his children make for him for Father’s Day.

“They end up on my wall at the office,” he said. “That’s actually what I ask for every year.”

Homemade gifts and cards are also more economical than those bought at a store, he added.

Sickle is the father of three young children, Lexie, Cody and Callie.. His family’s Father’s Day traditions are pretty low key.

“We do a breakfast-in-bed kind of a thing, or we just go to a park,” he said. “We like to keep the costs low, because I think that time spent with your family is really just better than getting something wrapped [as] a present.”

Financial Lessons From Father to Child

Sickle said he tries to instill some financial concepts in his children even though they’re young.

“I was actually telling them the other day that when they get money, they should save it and invest it,” he said.

Though, he said, at their ages, just saying the word ‘invest’ is a challenge for them.

Sickle and his wife, Katie, have already opened accounts for their children to set money aside for their futures. He said he intends to teach them the value of money.

Sickle’s father also worked in the financial industry and taught him to be careful with his money. That got him in the habit of being frugal with his spending.

“I don’t like to buy anything at full price,” Sickle said. “I’m always looking for the discounts.”

Even though his children are young, Sickle said he believes they are grasping some basic spending concepts. How the family treats Father’s Day spending helps the little ones get in the habit of expressing their love instead of showing it through material gifts.

“It’s not a day that you go out and buy something for Dad,” Sickle said. “It’s a day that you spend with him.”

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.