Best decision(s) in your financial life

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
MP173
Posts: 2609
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 5:03 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by MP173 »

Around 1989 (with a 4 year old boy) I read an article about the cost of college education and how to plan. I had secured a SS number for him and started saving in his name one month after his birth. The article pointed out how much money needed to be "saved" with current interest rates in order to pay for a state school. It also pointed out the amount required, invested in equities at 8% return. I researched mutual funds (Kiplinger and Money) and settled on Royce Premier, Janus Worldwide, and a Gift Trust (which was killing it at the time). These were UGTM accounts. $50.00 per month went into each. Also converted his "savings" account into stock at the S&L.

Yes, I know...these 4 purchases completely violate Bogelhead philosophy. Perhaps I didnt make the absolute best decision, but far from the worst. When he graduated from college in 2008 his college was completely paid for and he had $8000 to start adult life.

Better yet, getting involved in investing led me to take more control over my financial life. Bought some individual stocks from DRP programs in the mid 90s, invested max in 401k. Funded the 2nd son's college completely. Found Vanguard. Found Bogelhead. Kept the individual stocks and reinvested dividends...killed it on those holdings, added S&P 500 index, etc. Managed risk with insurance. Bought IBonds at 3.6% above inflation. Paid off mortgages and car loans. Lived below income.

All of this started with reading an article in 1989.

Ed
ModifiedDuration
Posts: 1408
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2015 3:33 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ModifiedDuration »

Deleted
Last edited by ModifiedDuration on Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
AnnetteLouisan
Posts: 7261
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:16 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

meowcat wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:37 pm The best financial decision we ever made was selling our house that we really couldn't afford and began renting. Yes, it's true. We watched our net worth skyrocket over the last 6 years since we sold. It has allowed us to save 20% of our gross income. Just one short month ago, we moved into the two comma club. Truly, we never thought we'd see the day.
Congratulations! 🎈🎊🍾
That’s awesome.
RadAudit
Posts: 4387
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 10:20 am
Location: Second star on the right and straight on 'til morning

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by RadAudit »

In the mid 1990's, I read Mr. Bogle's "On Mutual Funds." Twenty years late; but, it was a start.
FI is the best revenge. LBYM. Invest the rest. Stay the course. Die anyway. - PS: The cavalry isn't coming, kids. You are on your own.
User avatar
Michael Patrick
Posts: 350
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:25 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Michael Patrick »

Back in the mid 80s I was working as a clerk in the office of a road construction company. At that point in my life all I was really interested in was playing music and getting wasted.

The company had a profit sharing plan, but they hadn't put any money into it since years before I started working there. Finally they decided to just get rid of it. There were some former employees with a balance they were unable to locate, and by rule they had to distribute those funds to every employee who would have been eligible under the plan.

I got a check for around $250. The controller told me as he handed me the check,"You can spend this on beer, but you'll have to pay tax on it plus a 10% penalty. Why don't you open an IRA?"

The bank where the company did business (and where the owner was on the board of directors) had a no-minimum product they called an IRA CD. Unlike a regular CD, you could make deposits. I used that $250 check to open my first IRA, and I made small deposits every paycheck going forward.

Yeah, I could have spent it on beer. But here I am, all these years later, in the two comma club, thanks largely to the decision I made that day to start saving.
workingovertime
Posts: 376
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:06 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by workingovertime »

OldSport wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:32 pm
SrGrumpy wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:49 pm
climber2020 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:33 pm No kids.
Absolutely. Much easier to be financially irresponsible (occasionally).
Why do people keep saying this? Kids aren't all that expensive, unless you choose to send them to private school and spoil them. Kids were a bit more expensive the first 4 years, but it really hasn't been bad since then. You do not have to buy them a car at 16 and do not have to pay for an expensive college or private school. It really hasn't been that bad. Now if you have a lot of kids, that's a different story. But 1, 2, or even 3 is not THAT expensive.
To us, a kid herself wasn't THAT expensive as you described. What WAS expensive was a loss of 1 income and the opportunities missed out on career progression.
heyyou
Posts: 4461
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:58 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by heyyou »

Mine was choosing to accept that my house, my car, my life was good enough, so I did not need to boost spending on them. I could choose to max my retirement accounts earlier every year, then continue with after-tax savings. Saving for retirement was more important than buying more stuff.
chris319
Posts: 1659
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:04 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by chris319 »

After the dot-com boom went ka-boom in 2000, I thought with all this super computing horsepower that sits on the desktop, and the mountains of historical data available, that it would be possible to psyche out the market and engineer a system that would cream the averages.

I subscribed to Portfolio 123 and the short-lived Stockworm, each of which has (had) a database and a way to build trading systems and backtest them on historical data. Good luck with that. I even wrote a Monte Carlo simulator to analyze my backtest results.

There always seemed to be a disconnect between my real-world trading results and the backtested results. A system might be well constructed and profitable when backtested, but when real money was committed the profits just didn't materialize. In addition, there was all kinds of recordkeeping involved with all that trading.

I finally wised up and decided enough was enough and switched to index funds. I've been playing catch-up ever since. That was the best investment decision I ever made.

In 1991 I came into an inheritance. Half went into the condominium unit I live in today and the other half went into liquid investments. That was the second-best financial decision I ever made. My brother put his half of the inheritance into a house. His house is worth a lot today but it is an illiquid asset. He can borrow against it but he can't spend it. I suppose he could get a reverse mortgage if he wanted.
Financial decisions based on emotion often turn out to be bad decisions.
sorethumb
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:47 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by sorethumb »

Ask me in 2036, if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise.
esteen
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 12:31 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by esteen »

Ones that come to mind are:
*investing in a Roth IRA as soon as it was available
*getting my CFA... not because of the designation, but because of all the learning that came along with it (both for the tests and many offshoots/tangents)
*living dirt cheap in a single rented room eating rice & beans to pay my way through grad school with zero debt
*learning the wisdom of indexing
This post is for entertainment or information only, and should not be construed as professional financial advice. | | "Invest your money passively and your time actively" -Michael LeBoeuf
esteen
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 12:31 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by esteen »

workingovertime wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:08 pm
OldSport wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:32 pm
SrGrumpy wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:49 pm
climber2020 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:33 pm No kids.
Absolutely. Much easier to be financially irresponsible (occasionally).
Why do people keep saying this? Kids aren't all that expensive, unless you choose to send them to private school and spoil them. Kids were a bit more expensive the first 4 years, but it really hasn't been bad since then. You do not have to buy them a car at 16 and do not have to pay for an expensive college or private school. It really hasn't been that bad. Now if you have a lot of kids, that's a different story. But 1, 2, or even 3 is not THAT expensive.
To us, a kid herself wasn't THAT expensive as you described. What WAS expensive was a loss of 1 income and the opportunities missed out on career progression.
There are direct kid costs (daycare, clothing/food, after school programs, sports, etc.) then there are indirect costs. If you have kids you need a bigger house. Your priorities change and you will spend less time on career progression, losing out on income (this was huge for both me & DW). One of you might quit work entirely. You should have more insurance. And so on. I'm supremely happy that I have kids, but I know I'd be much richer monetarily without them.
This post is for entertainment or information only, and should not be construed as professional financial advice. | | "Invest your money passively and your time actively" -Michael LeBoeuf
Wannaretireearly
Posts: 4880
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:39 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Wannaretireearly »

One mortgage paid off early. Great peace of mind.
CS related career. Good income and savings habits.
Really being a smart consumer, most of the time!
This site. Old saying: ‘ you are who you be with’? With online friends like this you cannot go financially wrong. Especially once my international funds start paying off. Hahahaha :D
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
59Gibson
Posts: 1386
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:41 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by 59Gibson »

Living in modest houses for the past 20+yrs even though we could have afforded much more.
Keeping vehicles til 150-200k mi. Banking co paid mileage/auto allowances instead of immediately upgrading like many former co workers/mgrs
Riding out 2000-02, 08-09 and continuing to invest.
bearcub
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:54 am
Location: Twilight Zone

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by bearcub »

Going back to university at 30 + graduating. Quit alcohol, drugs, + smoking. Health + wealth followed.
Parkinglotracer
Posts: 3948
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2019 2:49 am
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Parkinglotracer »

1983 I was a Brand new officer in the usaf. Attended a USPA / IRA dinner seminar held by a retired AF guy selling front loaded contractual mutual funds (fidelity destiny 1 was one offered). It was a mutual fund investment plan you agreed to put monthly investments in for say 20-30 years … half of your first year’s investment was paid in commission - overall 8-9% of your investment was paid in commission over the life of the fund. They also sold life insurance policies.

Attending the dinner and listening to the salesman’s pitch made me look into whether it was a fair deal and motivated me to open a mutual fund account (Puritan fund) on my own and start investing early. Took me 10+ years to get into lower ER funds and index funds.

At one point in the sales pitch he said to me I have a file cabinet full of customers that have been successful after buying the front loaded plan … he said Show me one person that has done what you are going to do. That pissed me off and motivated me to invest ( and not believe everything a salesman says).
Blue456
Posts: 2152
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Blue456 »

Not mine but my wife's. I went to prestigious university she went to state school (declined ivy league school due to being too expensive). Now we are both MDs and work same jobs but she has 100,000 less loans. I will have to work a year and a half longer to pay off my school loans while she will go part time earlier than me.
User avatar
khangaroo
Posts: 255
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:11 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by khangaroo »

Reading Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover and getting debt-free. It really helped me change my thoughts about personal finance and my life is so much better since I went through that journey. That was back in 2016 and it really feels like a movie so here’s hoping that it never ends!
Turtlemilk
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:00 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Turtlemilk »

I asked on this forum whether my wife and I could afford a certain house and the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Of course we went against the consensus and pulled the trigger anyway.

We signed up for a $400,000 mortgage (30-year fixed @ 2.625%) one year ago and already our Loan-to-Value Ratio is 67%. We absolutely love the place and since our incomes have increased the mortgage (principal + interest + tax + insurance) only accounts for 28% of our take-home pay. We're also on track for a comfortable retirement... the house will be totally paid off by the time I'm age 62, we'll have around $3 million in a 401(k) assuming an average 7% return, and we're both government employees (two pensions).

Thank God I didn't listen to you guys.
sschoe2
Posts: 792
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 3:42 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by sschoe2 »

Best decision Being frugal and investing in Vanguard index funds. I thank Bob Brinker on his former radio show Moneytalk and this forum and city-data forums for introducing me to that. I wish I had started sooner but my dad use to read all the Motley fool books and invested in stocks and he had an uncanny ability to pick stocks that would go bankrupt in short order. That scared me off.

Another best decision not getting married and staying single. My poor choice of major (Chemistry) was crippling enough to my finances I can't imagine being able to recover from a divorce on top of that.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by abuss368 »

Besides moving to Vanguard? Marrying an awesome spouse who shares the same financial goals!😂🤣

Best.
Tony
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
mx711yam
Posts: 250
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:51 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by mx711yam »

Toss up between marrying a smart/cheap woman, starting my own business, or investing in real estate at the end of 2020 before the Austin market doubled.
Last edited by mx711yam on Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
billyo44
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:05 am
Location: Husker Nation

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by billyo44 »

Simply put:

From 21 Suggestions for SUCCESS
by H. Jackson Brown, Jr…

“Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.”
Independence = Financial assets working for you versus you working for them. | "Own an Index Fund, Get a Life Outside of Finance, and Relax"...John C. Bogle
User avatar
ccf
Posts: 438
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:13 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ccf »

I'm a small business owner and I have taken the same salary (adjusted for inflation) for 15 years.

My salary goes into my household budge which includes saving for future expenses, cars, vacations, things like that.

The remaining money is all invested in defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
User avatar
Sandtrap
Posts: 19591
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:32 pm
Location: Hawaii No Ka Oi - white sandy beaches, N. Arizona 1 mile high.

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Sandtrap »

LittleMaggieMae wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:24 am I think my existential crisis (How did I get here? where am I going?) in my late 30's (2002 or so) forced me to make a bunch of decisions that taken together worked out rather well.

1.) acknowledging that I should plan to be single for the rest of my life (prince charming wasn't coming).
2.) deciding what it was I truly valued in life (read Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin) and attempted some of the worksheets.
3.) Went on a spending diet (I didn't have much debt (no CC debt) but I also wasn't saving much).
4.) spent a year using up, giving away, throwing away much of the stuff I had accumulated during my late 20's/early 30's that was stored or at the bottom/back of closets/drawers etc.
5.) during the year of the "spending diet" and the "clean out" (which entailed creating a budget/spending plan and some 1,2,3 year financial goals) I increased my 401K contributions (I had been saving 8% with no employer contribution for years and years) and set up a plan to get money into a Roth AND started seriously thinking about what "retirement" might look like and when it might happen and what I needed to do together.

I guess the biggest decision was to act positively when the "How did I get here crisis" hit - rather than avoiding it and pushing dealing with it off a few more years.

That and the part where I started paying attention to my spending and saving and thinking about my job satisfaction and retirement (maybe FIre before I knew it was a thing).

My only regret - was that I did a "set it, and forget it" on my retirement savings/contributions. If I had paid a tiny bit more attention and maybe increased my contributions to the 401K by 1% every year and maybe transferred $50 or $100 a month to a Roth once I hit my 30's - I wouldn't have noticed it, I would have had more flexibility and better retirement savings, and I would have had a lot less "craptastic" stuff to weed thru in my late 30's. :)
Congratulations on your successes.

Yes. An "existential crisis" can happen through stages of changes in life, personal dynamics, etc. (perhaps moreso if there are actual changes willing or not vs someone who avoids changes and everything is mapped and secure from day one)
And, with that, but not always, "reinvention of self", one's ethos, paradigm, etc. Some may look at these things as stressful negatives, ie: burnout, et al, but, as James Allen (i think) said in the classic book, "As A Man Thinketh", "adversity can become a powerful motivator for change and reinvention of self, or evolution of self. (paraphrase).

Aloha
j :D
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by stoptothink »

Turtlemilk wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:19 am I asked on this forum whether my wife and I could afford a certain house and the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Of course we went against the consensus and pulled the trigger anyway.

We signed up for a $400,000 mortgage (30-year fixed @ 2.625%) one year ago and already our Loan-to-Value Ratio is 67%. We absolutely love the place and since our incomes have increased the mortgage (principal + interest + tax + insurance) only accounts for 28% of our take-home pay. We're also on track for a comfortable retirement... the house will be totally paid off by the time I'm age 62, we'll have around $3 million in a 401(k) assuming an average 7% return, and we're both government employees (two pensions).

Thank God I didn't listen to you guys.
Best financial decision you ever made took place a year ago and hasn't positively affected your financial life :confused Great that you are enjoying the home that some on here said you couldn't afford, but that answer doesn't make sense.
Nowizard
Posts: 4842
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:33 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Nowizard »

Not totally sure it was a decision in context of obtained information since, but when much younger and investing in individual stocks and first learning about diversification, it was first interpreted as owning a mutual fund rather than individual stocks. Consequently, all assets were first put in Mutual Shares which performed excellently, then moving all assets to Vanguard Healthcare which also performed excellently. That and taking larger than necessary home mortgages to gain additional asset leverage have been the best "decisions" based on outcome. Those decisions set the base for much more thoughtful and conservative decisions made in retirement. One of the fortunate ones during the early days.

Tim
Turtlemilk
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:00 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Turtlemilk »

stoptothink wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:23 am
Turtlemilk wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:19 am I asked on this forum whether my wife and I could afford a certain house and the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Of course we went against the consensus and pulled the trigger anyway.

We signed up for a $400,000 mortgage (30-year fixed @ 2.625%) one year ago and already our Loan-to-Value Ratio is 67%. We absolutely love the place and since our incomes have increased the mortgage (principal + interest + tax + insurance) only accounts for 28% of our take-home pay. We're also on track for a comfortable retirement... the house will be totally paid off by the time I'm age 62, we'll have around $3 million in a 401(k) assuming an average 7% return, and we're both government employees (two pensions).

Thank God I didn't listen to you guys.
Best financial decision you ever made took place a year ago and hasn't positively affected your financial life :confused Great that you are enjoying the home that some on here said you couldn't afford, but that answer doesn't make sense.
Of course it has. We locked a 2.625% interest rate mortgage (probably will never go that low again) and increased our net worth by hundreds of thousands of dollars. We now have the financial freedom to sell and move elsewhere if needed and we've had great success with our guest bedroom on Airbnb.

The house is in a prime location for tourists (DC area) and traveling nurses (one mile from a hospital), so we can add $400-1000 to our monthly income basically whenever we feel like it. Of course that's not guaranteed but *shrug* it's an option for now. Hell we could even sign a month-to-month lease.
mrc
Posts: 1908
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:39 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by mrc »

Turtlemilk wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:19 am I asked on this forum whether my wife and I could afford a certain house and the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Of course we went against the consensus and pulled the trigger anyway.

We signed up for a $400,000 mortgage (30-year fixed @ 2.625%) one year ago and already our Loan-to-Value Ratio is 67%. We absolutely love the place and since our incomes have increased the mortgage (principal + interest + tax + insurance) only accounts for 28% of our take-home pay. We're also on track for a comfortable retirement... the house will be totally paid off by the time I'm age 62, we'll have around $3 million in a 401(k) assuming an average 7% return, and we're both government employees (two pensions).

Thank God I didn't listen to you guys.
assuming an average 7% return
The advice on your should I buy mom's house post looks pretty sound, definitely worth what you paid for it. No need to rag on the board's advice.

30 years is a long time.
By the time you know enough to choose a good financial adviser, you don't need one. | bogleheads.org is my advisor: The ER is 0.0% and the advice always solid.
mrc
Posts: 1908
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:39 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by mrc »

The best decisions we made were 1) To participate in our university retirement program way back in the 80s by contributing the max. Also, they matched two-for-one! 2) Chose an appropriate asset allocation, it was 50/50 for a long time, then closer to 80/20 once I because aware of long time horizon. 3) Use low-cost funds. And most importantly, leave everything alone. We survived every downturn through ignorance and not looking at balances.

Start early. Max contributions. Don't AA too conservative. Stay the course. It took ~35 years to pan out, but it worked fine.
By the time you know enough to choose a good financial adviser, you don't need one. | bogleheads.org is my advisor: The ER is 0.0% and the advice always solid.
Ependytis
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:10 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Ependytis »

I would say the best financial decision in my life was getting a stem degree. When I compare my degree mid-career income to others, I make what a manager makes without having any direct reports.

My friend and I had this conversation not too long ago. I thought it was interesting that he said the best thing he ever spent money on was having a prenup. He claims it saved him millions of dollars and allowed him to retire 10 years earlier. If what he is saying is true, its funny how a document can have so much impact on your life.
ADower
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 10:45 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ADower »

1/ Max out 401k and 457b
2/ Married my wife who is like minded on financial issues
3/ "Timed the market twice luckily" - Bought a home in 2008 for 185k, sold it in 2019 for 330k, bought home for 550k in 2019 and put 200k down and just had it appraised for 1.2M
GoldenFinch
Posts: 2728
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:34 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by GoldenFinch »

Automating saving.
User avatar
AnnetteLouisan
Posts: 7261
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:16 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

GoldenFinch wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:12 pm Automating saving.
+1
For me that was the basis for everything else. Having part of my paycheck go to savings since around age 25, when I read a few personal finance books just in time, as Id been on the cusp of upgrading my lifestyle.

Not seeing all my income and not feeling flush. Creating an artificial environment of scarcity. Using the power of inertia in my favor so that I saved without having to take repeated actions.
Last edited by AnnetteLouisan on Wed Dec 01, 2021 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
athan
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:33 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by athan »

1. Picking VTSMX out of a list in my HSA account with BNY Melon. I couldn't understand why the expense ratio was so low compared to the other options. While googling expense ratios, I eventually found Bogleheads website.

2. A very non-Boglehead decision to invest 10% of my portfolio in TSLA in 2015
Activesloth
Posts: 133
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:03 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Activesloth »

1. While unemployed in 1990, I spent my mornings at Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and read the New York Times from cover to cover. I found Vanguard in the advertisement section.

2. Going all cash February 2020. Jumping back in April 2020.
mrlan
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 10:04 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by mrlan »

Our situation mirrors what others have said such as like-minded spouse and frugal on things like cars (always used for us), never carrying credit card debt, taking full advantage of workplace tax accounts from age 30 on, early Roth conversions, etc. I did not save much in my 20s, and in my early 40s took a huge career gamble which resulted in 5 years of low earnings. The fact that my spouse had a stable job was key to being able to roll the dice while supporting young children.

I have to say a lot of the best financial decisions are built on foundations inherent in the country that we live in, the strength of certain public programs and benefits, as well as the economic and technological changes of our times which have been empowering for some people, ourselves included.
goldendad
Posts: 399
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:29 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by goldendad »

Being a saver and marrying a saver. Also, taking the time to get educated on investing.
holycow007
Posts: 220
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:23 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by holycow007 »

Turtlemilk wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:19 am I asked on this forum whether my wife and I could afford a certain house and the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Of course we went against the consensus and pulled the trigger anyway.

We signed up for a $400,000 mortgage (30-year fixed @ 2.625%) one year ago and already our Loan-to-Value Ratio is 67%. We absolutely love the place and since our incomes have increased the mortgage (principal + interest + tax + insurance) only accounts for 28% of our take-home pay. We're also on track for a comfortable retirement... the house will be totally paid off by the time I'm age 62, we'll have around $3 million in a 401(k) assuming an average 7% return, and we're both government employees (two pensions).

Thank God I didn't listen to you guys.
nobody could give a 100% predictable outcome. You got advice which is reasonable. A crystal ball would have ensured all advice on that thread to be what you wanted it to be. The crystal ball would have helped everyone see the ridiculous increase in home prices

Happy for you though:)

I posted somewhat similar to you and as you can see there were no cheerleaders there. I went ahead and did buy a house at a super high # in Dec 2020 -entirely emotional decision ( know but it indeed was a rarity in my area) and kept the old house too. May be not the brightest decision but worked out great!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=323049&p=5439698#p5439698
Pongbat
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:50 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Pongbat »

Longtime lurker here.
Best financial decision: sensing that the pitch of a smarmy whole life insurance salesman seemed not-quite-right as I was just getting started in my career. Reading up on whole life insurance and stumbling upon White Coat Investor and Bogleheads. Buying as much term life and own-occupation disability insurance as I could afford instead of the whole life policy. Paying myself first, peeking/rebalancing once annually, and avoiding over-thinking.
Thanks to all in this generous community.
bltn
Posts: 1844
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:32 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by bltn »

My first good decision financially was to start saving most of my allowance when I first began to receive one at age 10. I was a very strange kid, but that accumulation felt good to me even then. I occasionally had to get some bubble gum, for the baseball cards.

My next good choice was to switch from trying to invest in individual stocks and rental residential housing to investing in a stock index fund, the Vanguard Index 500 fund. And then continuing to dollar cost average through the next 25 years. I was too busy at work to pay attention to stock market corrections. Fortunately. Staying the course before I ever realized the wisdom of it.

Another good decision was to start prepaying an early mortgage, and then to never take out another mortgage for later houses. Being debt free helped with living below our means.
oysterboy
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:37 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by oysterboy »

1. Around 1990, I read A Random Walk Down Wall Street, which I found very persuasive. My best decision was to generally employ Malkien's advice, both for myself and my company's pension plan, by converting to index funds at Vanguard. (Very regrettably, I'm planning to leave Vanguard over a series of administrative errors and policy changes.)

2. In early 2009, after a 6-month equity bloodbath, I made a large rebalancing back into equities, including a REIT fund. This resulted in a substantial addition to my current net worth. The rebalancing was a wise decision made in accordance with my written plan; the timing (once a year on Feb. 1) was pure luck. I continue to rebalance on Feb. 1 for old times' sake.
hvaclorax
Posts: 598
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 5:01 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by hvaclorax »

sc9182 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:22 pm
hvaclorax wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:56 am Buying the land my house sits on. It’s doubled in value approximately 8 times (over 36 years.) Person who gave me the tip said “it’s the best advice I’ve given that has actually been taken”.
HVAC
Could this be "commercial" land/lot you are talking about ? Say, if you paid $5000 back then 36 years ago, you prolly be looking at $1.3 Millions today .. correct ? Good job .. especially, you may have used loan/leverage to buy that property !

A $5000 invested in SPY would have yielded - measly $82K .. nowhere close to cool $1.3 Million !!
Sometimes its better lucky than good :-)
[ quote fixed by admin LadyGeek]
sc9192,
No,this is residential property. 550 per acre original price now with RE run up going for 10k to 20k per acre. Mostly what I feel is for an opportunity to build (on 5 acres.) Obviously I don’t plan to sell so only paper gains for now. This is what neighbors are getting.
Respectfully HVAC
User avatar
Elsebet
Posts: 1606
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:28 pm
Location: Erie, PA

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Elsebet »

At my first full-time IT job at the tender age of 22, my cube neighbor gave me 2 pieces of advice I followed:

- don't have kids
- put 20% of your income into your 401k and leave it alone

At age 32 a different cube neighbor told me to open a Roth IRA and fund it, which I did.

I am glad I listened to that advice from people older and wiser than me.
"...the man who adapts himself to his slender means and makes himself wealthy on a little sum, is the truly rich man..." ~Seneca
BAM55
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:30 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by BAM55 »

Many have said it above, but no kids. Those that say kids are not expensive are delusional, naive or both. Not saying they aren't worth it, just that indeed they are a large expense.

And I would also add a like minded spouse on all things financial. I had one that wasn't (#2 is!) and the difference is staggering.
Last edited by BAM55 on Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ROIGuy
Posts: 2452
Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 10:10 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ROIGuy »

Elsebet wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:12 pm At my first full-time IT job at the tender age of 22, my cube neighbor gave me 2 pieces of advice I followed:

- don't have kids
- put 20% of your income into your 401k and leave it alone

At age 32 a different cube neighbor told me to open a Roth IRA and fund it, which I did.

I am glad I listened to that advice from people older and wiser than me.
Give yourself some credit for listening and acting on good advice. I was talking to my friend's kid about 6 months ago, who is about 24. There was an unopened dr. bill on the table, she said she didn't want to deal with it now which got us talking a little about basic finance. I told her I could make her rich in about 35-40 years if she is willing to do just some basic things (you all know what they are). I haven't heard back from her. :oops:
carminered2019
Posts: 1939
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:06 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by carminered2019 »

Married the right person with the same goal of saving and investing first.
smallminnow
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:55 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by smallminnow »

1. Going to college, for the social aspect to meet motivated friends, contacts, colleagues, and my like minded wife.

2. Getting a degree in Engineering.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by stoptothink »

BAM55 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:18 pm Many have said it above, but no kids. Those that say kids are not expensive are delusional, naive or both. Not saying they aren't worth it, just that indeed they are a large expense.
"Expensive" is pretty subjective, the cost of raising a child varies dramatically, especially on here where many are expecting to pay $250k+ for undergrad alone. Our kids have (to date) cost a fraction of any estimate to raise (and college is already covered) and we have more financial resources before age 40 than we're ever likely to spend. Those who chose not to have kids, different strokes for different folks :sharebeer
veindoc
Posts: 834
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 9:04 pm

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by veindoc »

stoptothink wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:37 pm
BAM55 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:18 pm Many have said it above, but no kids. Those that say kids are not expensive are delusional, naive or both. Not saying they aren't worth it, just that indeed they are a large expense.
"Expensive" is pretty subjective, the cost of raising a child varies dramatically, especially on here where many are expecting to pay $250k+ for undergrad alone. Our kids have (to date) cost a fraction of any estimate to raise (and college is already covered) and we have more financial resources before age 40 than we're ever likely to spend. Those who chose not to have kids, different strokes for different folks :sharebeer
The quote should have read delusional, naive, or lucky. Having a kid with a health issue is both financially and emotionally devastating. Also impossible to predict.
iamlucky13
Posts: 3527
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2017 4:28 pm
Location: Western Washington

Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by iamlucky13 »

BAM55 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:18 pm Many have said it above, but no kids. Those that say kids are not expensive are delusional, naive or both. Not saying they aren't worth it, just that indeed they are a large expense.

And I would also add a like minded spouse on all things financial. I had one that wasn't (#2 is!) and the difference is staggering.
Kids are expensive, but I really don't see them as a financial decision. After we made the decision to get married, we ordered our finances to support having kids, so in our case, rather than saying the kids were a financial decision, I'd say the finances were a kid decision.

Posing the decision not to have kids as a financial decision kind of sounds like placing a dollar value on human lives.

Then again, I don't imagine that's how it's really meant, because if you calculated having a kid would cost $1 million in expenses and lost revenue, and somebody offered you $1 million iff you have and raise a kid, zeroing out the net cost this way probably would not change most people's minds.
Post Reply