I didn’t know my grandparents well. Three out of my four grandparents passed away before I was born. My last remaining grandparent, my mom’s dad, lived in Nepal, a small Himalayan country that recently garnered headlines after getting struck by a massive earthquake on April 25.

Although I was born in Nepal, my parents and I moved to the United States when I was still in diapers, during an era when long-distance calling was prohibitively expensive. I rarely saw my only living grandparent before he passed away when I was 14.

Most of my friends, by contrast, spent their childhoods speaking to their grandparents on the phone and visiting them during the holidays. As a result, many lessons about thrift, savings, resourcefulness and frugality have been passed down from generation to generation in their families.

I sometimes wonder what my grandparents would have taught me about money, resources and work if they’d had the chance. While their lessons didn’t get passed down through words, I like to believe that my grandparents were role models whose wisdom has been passed down through actions and, indirectly, through my parents.

If I had to guess, and I realize I’m purely projecting, I think my grandparents would teach me the following lessons about money, work and life:

Plan for the long-term.

Don’t save money just for short or mid-term goals like home repairs or travel, I think they’d say. Instead, plan your finances for the long-haul.

Start planning for your children’s college expenses as soon as they’re born. Think about retirement, even when you’re in your twenties. Think about estate planning, wills and trusts, even if you’re healthy. Plan for how you’ll support yourself even if disaster strikes (as it all-too-recently did).

With age comes the ability to take a long-term view of your finances. I think my grandparents would have encouraged me to keep the long-term in mind, even at a young age.

Keep learning.

My dad’s parents were functionally illiterate; both dropped out of school at a young age to support their families. My grandfather worked as a tenant farmer.

Despite their lack of schooling, my grandparents encouraged my dad and his siblings to focus on their educations. They understood they were hampered by their lack of education and wanted better for their children. As a result, my dad graduated from the Nepalese equivalent of high school, attended college on a full scholarship and earned a Ph.D. This was a first for the family on all accounts.

My dad said his commitment to education came from his parents. They instilled the value of learning in each of them and it persists to this day.

If I could have met them, I know they’d tell me to take education seriously. But I also don’t believe that education is strictly something that takes place in a classroom. A person should be a lifelong learner, even after graduating from school.

Possibilities include increasing your skill set on the job, as doing so leads to more opportunities and the potential for higher income. Commit to developing one new skill per year, whether it’s learning a new piece of software, a foreign language or a new method of performing your daily tasks.

A degree or certification in a particular field isn’t always necessary (depending on the industry). The results you produce matter more than a piece of paper you earn. Increasing your knowledge base — and learning how to apply that knowledge to the real world — can boost your income, helping you establish a stronger financial footing.

Work hard.

Finally, I believe they would have told me that hard work, dedication and a commitment to efficiency are more important than natural talent, charm or good looks. Everything my grandparents achieved — from farming to raising six children — involved extraordinary levels of hard work.

This is a bit like the lesson of the tortoise and the hare. Behaving like the tortoise, which involves showing up every day and giving a project 110 percent of your consistent effort, will lead you to win the race, even if the hare is naturally faster. Talent can only carry you so far.

Likewise, some people are naturally born into fortunate circumstances. But even if you aren’t, you can still take actions to improve your station in life, both for yourself and for the generations who come after you. The progress may be tortoise-like and slow, but over time, you’ll see slow-and-steady results. And when you reach the “finish line,” so to speak, you’ll look back with pride and see how far you’ve come.

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Financial Lessons I Wish My Grandparents Taught Me originally appeared on usnews.com