On Presidents' Day, financial wisdom from past presidents

Below are several quotes about money management from late U.S. presidents. Some quotes relate to personal financial management, others to the management of the government's finances. Some touch on both areas.

First, from Kiplinger.com:

George Washington: "As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible... but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it" (Farewell Address, 1796).

Thomas Jefferson: "Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap" (from "A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life," 1825).

Abraham Lincoln: "That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself" (from an address to the New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association, 1864).

Now, a few more from other sources:

Grover Cleveland: "I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan to indulge in benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of public funds.... I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution" (from an 1887 veto message, when vetoing an appropriation to help drought-stricken counties in Texas).

Calvin Coolidge: "I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form" (Inaugural Address, 1925).

Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Any government, like any family, can for a year spend a little more than it earns. But you and I know that a continuation of that habit means the poorhouse" (from address made as a presidential candidate in 1932).

And here's a personal favorite, specifically about government, but apply it to your household finances as well - and take warning:

Ronald Reagan: "Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets" (Ronald Reagan).

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Joseph Slife is a contributing author and editor for SMI. Visit www.soundmindinvesting.com to learn more.