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.
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MrBobcat
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by MrBobcat »

Living below my means, no matter how meager they were at times.
McGowan
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by McGowan »

At 25, I was just start to make some (to me) real money but I was not entirely sold on where my career would go from there. I made the choice to give up two years of income and take on 2 years of further debt (still had my undergrad debt) to attend a top 3 MBA program full time. It was not an obvious choice at the time but it has opened a world of opportunity.

That plus living below my means has led to FI.
lesko
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by lesko »

I graduated college in 2007 - I was not financially literate at the time, and really didn't have a clear direction for my career, finances, etc. Seeing the financial crisis happen and having family friends, neighbors, etc. and others in close proximity suddenly talk openly about losing their jobs, homes, and seeing retirement accounts lose tens of thousands of dollars really woke me up to the reality of financial responsibility in adulthood, and prompted me to read and learn a lot of financial basics that I still believe in today...

Consequently, the best financial move I made was opening a Roth IRA at 22, and beginning regularly to contribute in March 2009 onward (other than a few lean years in graduate school). It's a great asset to build while young and small peace of mind to know that I've built enough of a balance and momentum for it to continue growing to a modest retirement amount, even if I were to stop contributing today (not likely though).
Escapevelocity
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Escapevelocity »

20 years ago I started a job with a successful and stable Megacorp after quitting a more "exciting" job with a small software company. At the time, I did that primarily to decrease travel with young children at home. Best decision was to plant roots there and ultimately and luckily to benefit from a generous and timely flow of equity compensation which has risen steadily over the past 5 years.
DetroitRick
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by DetroitRick »

Living below my means (like lots of other posters here) and simultaneously having a financially-rewarding career. I needed both.
furwut
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by furwut »

Reading the copy of Bogle on Mutual Funds my employer gave everyone shortly after our company set up a 401k plan with Vanguard.
phxjcc
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by phxjcc »

Switching from microbiology research to computers for career, in 1980. (!)
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

stoptothink wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:57 am
OldSport wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:53 pm
SrGrumpy wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:44 pm
OldSport wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:32 pm
SrGrumpy wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:49 pm

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.
You still have to buy food and clothes for them. I'm too cheap. Anyway, each to their own. We need kids to pay off today's debts.
True, but I don't consider that expensive. Our kids are probably gifted 75% of clothing, and food isn't that expensive. We don't take the kids to fancy restaurants.

Airplane flights are the one thing that is a bit more expensive, but I wouldn't call it that bad, as we're not traveling overseas with the kids or flying in a premium cabin.
This is a constant discussion on this board; kids cost pretty much what you want them to cost. We did not buy a bigger house or bigger car because we decided to have two kids. We do not go on lavish vacations (and therefore need to pay for flights and hotels for two more). Our kids do not ride horses or go to expensive summer camps (our most expensive reoccurring cost is $75/month each for their jiu jitsu and muy thai training). Clothes cost us maybe $250/yr between the both of them, Christmas and birthday gifts are <$150/yr total each, they can count on one hand the number of times they've been to a restaurant in their 8 and 5yrs on this planet, etc.. Our kids have costed FAR less to raise than most estimates, but certainly they can be very very expensive if you choose to have a specific lifestyle.
Childcare is the number one expense in years 1 - 5, unless you have a child that needs special requirements which can be even more costly. Forum members need to remind themselves outside of your immediate region, the cost of living can be dramatically different.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

1. Living beneath my means.
2. Making the right choice in which circle to run with. Choose the wrong crowd and things can go markedly different.
3. Opening that IRA when I was 19, and people thought I was nuts. That “nut” has grown into a nice tree.
4. Investing at least 10 percent of after tax income, no matter how little. When someone says what are you going to do with a dollar? That dollar today will buy me a nice sit down lunch. Ignore the crowd and run your own marathon.
5. Career.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
EnjoyIt
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by EnjoyIt »

My top 3

Not buying too much house
Not buying too much car
Marrying someone who shares my financial outlook.

These above are the top 3 of 4 decisions people can make that will make or break their financial future. The forth is paying too much for education. I paid a lot for education, but luckily it worked out for me. I can’t say the same for some of my friends.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by SmileyFace »

1. Repositioning into a different career track to make more money. It's a lot easier to save and invest if you can double your yearly income.
2. The rest was simply Living Below your Means (no luxury cars, not a huge house, etc.) and investing smartly in tax-efficient accounts (401Ks, IRAs, 529s).
bac
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by bac »

The smart decision that sticks out is converting my traditional IRA to a Roth when the latter was first offered back in 1998, taking advantage of the at-that-time ability to spread the tax hit over four years. That Roth is now worth circa nine times as much, with only three smallish additions.
Doohnibor7
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Doohnibor7 »

PAST:
Electing to go to a cheap, local University, graduating in 3 years & being debt free.
No accepting rejection by leaving the US to pursue medicine.
Choosing a high paying specialty & then joining a private practice group.
Taking full advantage of 401K, PSPs and most importantly, a CASH BALANCE PLAN!
Marrying an awesome wife who is also rather frugal, hard working, & has a good income.
Still to this day, driving the crappiest vehicle in the doctors parking lot...which I take pride in doing!
Gasp! Using my medical knowledge to TIME THE MARKET IN 2020 to earn the highest returns of my lifetime! (Quickly reallocating my AA in 2021)

PRESENT:
Now diversifying into real estate to allow for more passive income.

FUTURE:
Going part time in 10 years to live life to the fullest!
HobbesMB
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by HobbesMB »

Sagefemme wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:27 pm In 1985, when I was 24, I got a bookkeeping job at a small company (actually a local franchise of a bigger company). My boss, who owned the local branch and was a super nice guy, described a benefit called a "401k plan." I'm not sure I even listened to his description, I just waited politely until the end and said, "no thanks." He was doing a bit of a hard sell, and we went back and forth with me explaining all the reasons I needed my entire paycheck after taxes, and him saying you've got to take advantage of this. The last thing he said was, "don't you understand I'M GIVING YOU FREE MONEY??? It would be totally stupid to say no!!" At that point I felt stupid so I said yes.

And that's how I came to have a 401K at an early age. It was the start of a pretty good career of saving. So, after all these years I'd like to say thanks, Alan, for insisting I not be an idiot!
Reminds me of when I started my first post-college job. They were doing the same hard sell on the 401k with the talk about matching contributions, but they also showed a variation of this chart. It really made an impact and convinced me to start saving right away. And that's why I'll be able to retire in a couple of months at age 53.

Image
solarcub
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by solarcub »

Saving a lot when I was young and single. I figured maybe I would get married and have kids someday, and then it would be hard to save. I also figured if I turned 40 and was still single, I would start spending more. Turns out I got married and had kids, and it's been great to have a head start on retirement.
ChiKid24
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ChiKid24 »

OK, this is going to sound strange, but I'm going to say buying my Tesla Model 3 in 2018. This decision led to a whole new world for me which I'll discuss below. But if I work backwards, I can point to that event as the catalyst.

My job in 2018 had a 3 hour round trip commute. The car I was driving was a standard ICE that only took premium gas. I was racking up $300/month in gas which now costs me less than $15/month (we have solar power). The car also had a standard car stereo and I basically listened to AM stations (sports talk, news/politics, etc.) during the drive. When I got the Tesla, I was introduced to the world of podcasts which were very easy to access with a click on the touch screen. I started listening to people like Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, learned about the FIRE movement and found a number of new FIRE and personal finance podcasts. Those often referenced some interesting books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and so I also started streaming some audio books during the drive.

I'm an MBA and in Finance, so had always put money away and maxed out my 401k. But things like expense creep and mega back door roths and the real power of an HSA were nowhere on my radar. Doing some research on the computer into those things after hearing about them on various podcasts led me to bogleheads, where my learning and execution of things I learned have increased tenfold. I now max out the pre-tax 401k, do an after-tax 401k/in-plan roth conversion to the max mega roth, save and invest every penny of my HSA to use as a retirement vehicle. In short, that Tesla opened up a whole new world to me that has sent my path to early retirement into hyperdrive.

On top of all of this, I became a Tesla fanboy and bought 100 shares in 2019 when the price dipped below $200 (pre-split). That $20k investment grew as high as 20x. I didn't hold it all the entire way up, but still hold some and took the gains from what I sold and put into FZROX, which has also done well. Lucky timing on this and I realize that, but it all comes back to that Tesla. LOL.
onourway
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by onourway »

Looking back from the vantage point of mid-career a number of things stand out.

Held a number of jobs from an early age - taught me how to work hard.

Chose an inexpensive, yet well regarded college to attend and graduated with virtually zero student loan debt.

My mother started a ROTH IRA for me upon graduating, and made sure I was set up for auto-deposit.

When I took my first serious job at age 23 I listened to the financial advisor and invested 10% of my income in the 401k. He happened to steer me towards a mutual fund that out-performed the market for the next 15 years.

We bought a first house and cars that were well below our means, and stuck with them for a long time.

When things got tight for a bit with 3 young kids, we found this site and really got things back on track.
drewlaws
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by drewlaws »

HobbesMB wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:46 pm
Sagefemme wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:27 pm In 1985, when I was 24, I got a bookkeeping job at a small company (actually a local franchise of a bigger company). My boss, who owned the local branch and was a super nice guy, described a benefit called a "401k plan." I'm not sure I even listened to his description, I just waited politely until the end and said, "no thanks." He was doing a bit of a hard sell, and we went back and forth with me explaining all the reasons I needed my entire paycheck after taxes, and him saying you've got to take advantage of this. The last thing he said was, "don't you understand I'M GIVING YOU FREE MONEY??? It would be totally stupid to say no!!" At that point I felt stupid so I said yes.

And that's how I came to have a 401K at an early age. It was the start of a pretty good career of saving. So, after all these years I'd like to say thanks, Alan, for insisting I not be an idiot!
Reminds me of when I started my first post-college job. They were doing the same hard sell on the 401k with the talk about matching contributions, but they also showed a variation of this chart. It really made an impact and convinced me to start saving right away. And that's why I'll be able to retire in a couple of months at age 53.

Image
This is a very powerful chart. I was lucky to have a dad that gave me books on investing and saving in my late teens and early twenties. I read them but was still young and stupid in my 20s. I made 401k contributions (6%-10%) and started a Roth out of college, so it could have been worse.

The best financial decision I made was going out on my own as a consultant a few years ago. The increase in earnings has allowed my savings rate to triple. Eying early 50s for FI but may continue to work longer and take fewer clients.
Silversides
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Silversides »

phxjcc wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:12 pm
Silversides wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:12 pm Realizing that I am perfectly happy living below my means and walking away from status things.

My "Civic factor". I drive a 2009 Honda Civic full of urban battle scars and 105K miles. I consider it just recently broken-in. When I see the younger me in the next lane in a new German whatever all that comes to mind is the depreciation and dealer service fees. I literally used to be that guy (fancy Audi). So much happier now.

My kids in 5 years: "It's OK dad, drop us off here and we'll walk the last block to school"
I read stuff like this and shake my head.

Frugal now equals a 12 year old car?

Yes, I did.
Both ways, uphill, in the snow.”

You sound like a proper skinflint! :D
averagedude
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by averagedude »

Interesting thread. Amazing how decision's people make can determine how your life play's out.
FIREyourself
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by FIREyourself »

1. Started investing
2. Started investing correctly
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willthrill81
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by willthrill81 »

Specifically, the decision to increase our saving rate from 15% to 50% was the best decision we ever made.

Generally, taking a hands-on approach to actually managing our finances was the best decision we ever made.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Wannaretireearly »

1. I think reading magazines like money.com 15 years ago which recommended vanguard funds in their top list. E.g. intl value/ growth.
2. Posting on this site for advice. Retiredjg helped me a lot. Then sticking, largely, to the passive indexing strategy.

2 anecdotes which reaffirm this.
A friend is looking for a financial advisor. I've pointed them here.
Someone else told me they lost a mid 6 figure amount on options expiring this week (likely TSLA). I shuddered. I still don't fully get options. Don't think I want to bother learning either!
“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?“
matti
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by matti »

For me, it was the decision to not have kids.
We'll See
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by We'll See »

I'm not sure if it is the best or not (ask me when I'm dying) but joining this forum and reading the thousands of threads is right up there with one of the best financial decisions I've made.
MP173
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by MP173 »

Best decisions in my financial life:
1. Listening to my frugal parents and save $$$ earned as a youth.
2. Open a social security number and saving for college when first son was born.
3. Read an article in a money magazine about the difference between saving for college and INVESTING for college.
4. Researched low cost mutual funds and invested his college savings.
5. Invested early and often in 401k.
6. Continued self education on investing by reading everything I could on Warren Buffett in the 90s.
7. Invested in a number of individual blue chip stocks, following W.B. philosophy.
8. Held those stocks and added monthly to 401k and the individual stocks also dividends reinvested.
9. Sufficient life insurance for both wife and I. Later became an issue. No financial concerns.
10. Started looking much closely at Vanguard funds and investing.
11. Roth IRA when applicable.
12. Payoff mortgages early on two houses....keep one as a real estate investment then SELL.
13. Decision made 30 years ago to move to a career in sales...still there and still enjoying it and reaping financial and personal rewards.

Looking over these it is difficult to say which one was the best, but number 3 above got me started, number 9 involved risk analysis, number 10 involved great low cost mutual funds, number 12 - SELL, and number 13...finding something I was very good at and enjoyed.

Teaching my sons about personal finance has also been rewarding.

Sorry for long winded answer, for me there is no "one right answer".

ed
IMO
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by IMO »

dboeger1 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:42 pm Before just an hour ago or so, I might've put something other than the cliche spouse thing, but my wife just found out today she's getting a surprisingly huge bonus from work and her boss more or less implied that she would be getting a promotion soon. That means she's making more money and accelerating her career at a far faster pace than I am. I started out earlier with a better degree in a position with seemingly more upside potential, but I just don't have the same drive to climb the corporate ladder, compete for top positions, negotiate for higher pay, etc. She started out in a low-paying position for a pretty mediocre company, switched to a better company which more than doubled her income overnight, got a substantial raise after her first year, and is now getting big bonuses and promotions. Meanwhile, my income has only risen very gradually, but I have also been the Boglehead of the family and convinced her to max out retirement accounts and whatnot.

The funny thing is, when we got married, her income potential was the last thing on my mind. I know this has fallen a bit out of favor, but I always just assumed I'd be the traditional male breadwinner. I work in tech and my work is doable remotely, plus I have many side projects I'd like to pursue. With her career going the way it is, there's a good chance I end up becoming a stay-at-home dad when we eventually start having kids. I love it. I know it's kind of cheesy when people describe marriage as a sort of team relationship, but having a spouse who just goes off and excels on their own outside of whatever I'm doing really feels like inheriting a great passive investment that goes and makes money on the side (I know it's not passive for either of us, but it's not like a 2nd job either). It really reduces a lot of the stress I felt back when I was making more money and having to plan how to save and invest it for our future. Even though my work isn't being reduced in any way, it feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders, because I'm no longer carrying it alone. Heck, I'm in the process of applying to higher paying jobs just so I can get back to carrying at least half, haha.

Marriage involves balancing a lot of variables. Money is just one of them. I would never suggest young people looking to get married base their choice of partner solely on income potential. But knowing what I know now, man, I don't think it's possible to overstate the value of 2 incomes that could each support the family on their own. I realize that's not possible for everyone, but I recommend people at least consider that in their decisions, both before and during marriage. It provides so much overhead for savings, vacation, buying a home, vehicles, etc. It really is amazing. My mother passed away when I was growing up and the medical bills and raising kids alone crushed my father financially. He has yet to fully recover and quite frankly probably will never have the financial success he once had before that whole ordeal. I wouldn't wish that struggle on anybody. I don't want us to be DINKs forever, but I'm in no rush to change that, either :greedy :moneybag
Personally, if I had to say what was the best decision in my financial life, it would be the fact that I married to a spouse that was career oriented. I knew early on that with my particular earning potential that every financially related aspect would be more difficult and that included vacations and other disposable income things in life. It's one thing when you have people on this site who make huge salaries and chose to have a stay at home parent. However, for many more normal income earners, the ability to have a 2nd career oriented income can make/break the ability to meet retirement goals and provide more disposable income. Didn't go looking for someone's specific "income potential" but specifically didn't want someone who would be satisfied not going to be work and have to be fully supported by myself. I would never have expected anyone to work to take care of me while I stayed at home, and it's certainly not something that would have been satisfying doing the same for someone else (unless I had a huge salary).

But everything has also been seen as a joint/team venture, be it the household chores after work/weekends, child raising, etc.

I always feel bad for people I've known who've gotten divorced because among other things, it can be a huge financially setback. The ones I really feel sorry for are the ones who's spouse never had a career because it results in the legal expectation that one continue to provide financially for the rest of that person's life so long as they never get remarried, and I've seen that aspect abused. I don't want to bring up the argument about if/how much that is deserved/not deserved, etc, but were talking finances period.

I joke, but I'm not really joking when I advise my teenager that life will be much easier if your spouse has career aspirations.

However, I know others will 100% disagree with my thinking and that's fine. Heck others will say getting married was the absolute worst financial decision they ever made :sharebeer
Clammypollack
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Clammypollack »

Max out 401k.
Participate in company stock purchase plan.
Live beneath your means.
usagi
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by usagi »

One way to define economics is: The allocation of scare resources among alternative choices, wants, and needs.

Ergo, the best financial decision in my financial life was: Learning what it is I truly value and what in life gives me pleasure. Knowing that, I seek to direct my conspicuous consumption on the things that make me happy and give me pleasure and allow value economics to dictate the rest of my need based spending. Thus the delta between what I earn, less that which gives me pleasure, less everything else I NEED to spend on, gets invested.

My observation is many people reflexively spend a good portion of their income on things they do not truly value. It is not much of an issue if you have enough disposable income, but most people exist in a life where financial resources are scare, hence it is advantageous to economize in areas that does not impact the quality of your life and invest the proceeds saved by your economizing.
poker27
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by poker27 »

I remember setting up a 401k a year ish into my first job ‘real’ job. Had no idea what it was, but the guy next to me said his financial friend said he should invest in these certain funds. I have no idea what I invested in, and it was likely less then a 5% contribution, but it got a habit formed.

I’d also say my house purchase. I purchased in 2012, and it hasn’t even gone up much in value (20%), however it’s forced me to get equity, and not want to rent a ‘nicer’ place every year or so.
UpperNwGuy
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by UpperNwGuy »

Eliminating credit card debt.
wander
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by wander »

- Buy a car new and drove it into the ground (25 years, 400k miles).
- No credit card debt.
- Start invest early.
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El Greco
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by El Greco »

My best financial decision? Embracing the Bogleheads investment philosophy and joining this forum a few years ago. At the time, my portfolio was haphazard, I had no asset allocation, no plan and considerably less money saved. Now I have a plan and a few nickels to rub together and the prospect of a comfortable retirement ahead of me. Oh yeah, and I sleep a lot better at night.
Frank the Tank
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Frank the Tank »

(1) My spouse - We compliment each other very well financially, where she is extremely detailed on the day-to-day expenses and reducing/avoiding debt (e.g. even when money was minuscule when we were living on her starting teacher’s salary and I was in law school, we never had credit card debt and it was because of her discipline), while I focus on the long-term equity growth. Also, we both have always had similar value-conscious spending habits. I’ve seen enough relationships where if one spouse isn’t aligned with the other financially, it inevitably leads to trouble. You don’t need to be the *same* financially (e.g. my spouse wants nothing to do with looking at stocks while I love it and look at the markets constantly throughout the day), but you do need to fit with each other on that front.

(2) Education - The greatest pure financial ROI of anything in my life was my in-state public flagship college education. (I weep inside that it will cost my kids 5 or 6 times more for the same degree.) I got an excellent degree, met my both my spouse (which goes back to point #1) and my best friend there, and graduated with no debt. This allowed me to then go on to law school (where I did have to take on debt, but was manageable in a way that wouldn’t have been possible if I had undergrad debt on top of it). I don’t have anything that I have today personally, professionally and financially without my education.

(3) Bogleheads Approach from Day 1 - Further to point #2, the best class that I ever took was a wealth management class in college. I was a finance major, so I already studied about time value of money and financial formulas extensively. However, our wealth management professor (who managed portfolios for ultra high net worth investors) was the first person to give me real practical advice on *how* to invest. He said that the goal was to (1) own the market (not to try to beat the market) by using Vanguard index funds and (2) make investments automatic to keep accumulating whether the market is up or down. Note that this was over 20 years ago when passive index investing wasn’t necessarily the norm or had as many options as there are today. This was at a critical juncture in my life because if I hadn’t attended that lecture that day, I would have been one of those guys constantly looking for stock tips, trading excessively, trying to time the market every day, and leaving money on the table (or outright losing it). Instead, from the first day of my first full time job, I maxed out my 401(k), used index funds (unless they simply weren’t available in a plan), and haven’t stopped since then. It’s not an exaggeration to state that this one wealth management lecture was worth seven figures over the course of my career.
as9
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by as9 »

A non-Boglehead thing — reaching for a larger, more expensive house as our first. It was basically the absolute top of our budget and we had very little cash left that first year.

But a) we absolutely love the house and neighborhood and b) we have no plans to move any time soon. We now have 3 kids and probably would have needed a bigger house had we not reached for this one.

Income increases have made things much more comfortable (plus reducing our rate by a full point) and the house is worth at least $100k more than we paid for it four years ago.
dboeger1
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by dboeger1 »

IMO wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:51 pm
dboeger1 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:42 pm Before just an hour ago or so, I might've put something other than the cliche spouse thing, but my wife just found out today she's getting a surprisingly huge bonus from work and her boss more or less implied that she would be getting a promotion soon. That means she's making more money and accelerating her career at a far faster pace than I am. I started out earlier with a better degree in a position with seemingly more upside potential, but I just don't have the same drive to climb the corporate ladder, compete for top positions, negotiate for higher pay, etc. She started out in a low-paying position for a pretty mediocre company, switched to a better company which more than doubled her income overnight, got a substantial raise after her first year, and is now getting big bonuses and promotions. Meanwhile, my income has only risen very gradually, but I have also been the Boglehead of the family and convinced her to max out retirement accounts and whatnot.

The funny thing is, when we got married, her income potential was the last thing on my mind. I know this has fallen a bit out of favor, but I always just assumed I'd be the traditional male breadwinner. I work in tech and my work is doable remotely, plus I have many side projects I'd like to pursue. With her career going the way it is, there's a good chance I end up becoming a stay-at-home dad when we eventually start having kids. I love it. I know it's kind of cheesy when people describe marriage as a sort of team relationship, but having a spouse who just goes off and excels on their own outside of whatever I'm doing really feels like inheriting a great passive investment that goes and makes money on the side (I know it's not passive for either of us, but it's not like a 2nd job either). It really reduces a lot of the stress I felt back when I was making more money and having to plan how to save and invest it for our future. Even though my work isn't being reduced in any way, it feels like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders, because I'm no longer carrying it alone. Heck, I'm in the process of applying to higher paying jobs just so I can get back to carrying at least half, haha.

Marriage involves balancing a lot of variables. Money is just one of them. I would never suggest young people looking to get married base their choice of partner solely on income potential. But knowing what I know now, man, I don't think it's possible to overstate the value of 2 incomes that could each support the family on their own. I realize that's not possible for everyone, but I recommend people at least consider that in their decisions, both before and during marriage. It provides so much overhead for savings, vacation, buying a home, vehicles, etc. It really is amazing. My mother passed away when I was growing up and the medical bills and raising kids alone crushed my father financially. He has yet to fully recover and quite frankly probably will never have the financial success he once had before that whole ordeal. I wouldn't wish that struggle on anybody. I don't want us to be DINKs forever, but I'm in no rush to change that, either :greedy :moneybag
Personally, if I had to say what was the best decision in my financial life, it would be the fact that I married to a spouse that was career oriented. I knew early on that with my particular earning potential that every financially related aspect would be more difficult and that included vacations and other disposable income things in life. It's one thing when you have people on this site who make huge salaries and chose to have a stay at home parent. However, for many more normal income earners, the ability to have a 2nd career oriented income can make/break the ability to meet retirement goals and provide more disposable income. Didn't go looking for someone's specific "income potential" but specifically didn't want someone who would be satisfied not going to be work and have to be fully supported by myself. I would never have expected anyone to work to take care of me while I stayed at home, and it's certainly not something that would have been satisfying doing the same for someone else (unless I had a huge salary).

But everything has also been seen as a joint/team venture, be it the household chores after work/weekends, child raising, etc.

I always feel bad for people I've known who've gotten divorced because among other things, it can be a huge financially setback. The ones I really feel sorry for are the ones who's spouse never had a career because it results in the legal expectation that one continue to provide financially for the rest of that person's life so long as they never get remarried, and I've seen that aspect abused. I don't want to bring up the argument about if/how much that is deserved/not deserved, etc, but were talking finances period.

I joke, but I'm not really joking when I advise my teenager that life will be much easier if your spouse has career aspirations.

However, I know others will 100% disagree with my thinking and that's fine. Heck others will say getting married was the absolute worst financial decision they ever made :sharebeer
Yeah, sadly, marriages can go brutally wrong around money and careers. It doesn't even have to be the lack of money. I have some relatives from my non-biological grandmother's portion of the family who seemed to be doing extraordinarily well. This couple had 2 kids and lived in one of those massive McMansions you see in the countryside of the Midwest. I had met and visited them a couple of times several years back when their kids were really young, and they always took us out to fun places and expensive meals and whatnot, and the kids seemed to be really happy. You would never know anything was wrong with them from the outside. I later found out they had gotten divorced, and when I asked my grandmother how it happened, she said it was basically their conflicting career goals. The wife was college-educated and had left the workforce while having children with the intention of returning to her field. However, despite not having a college education, the husband ended up being really successful in car sales, and so he ended up making the bulk of their money after having kids. I guess he thought she should stay home and raise the kids, and she wanted to go back to work, and they just couldn't come to an agreement. I don't really know the details, but it seems like the wife just left with some money and the husband kept the house and kids. The wife is my grandmother's daughter so I saw her again recently, and when I asked how the kids were doing since I hadn't seen them in years, she kind of froze up for a bit and then seemed to give an unusually vague response. I had just assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the kids were still with her.

Basically, career goals matter for marriage. It's not so much about wanting to mooch off a spouse's money, but so much of our lives is tied to our careers. I do think it would be a mistake for young people to marry without at least considering them.
YeahBuddy
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by YeahBuddy »

Joining this forum.
Light weight baby!
stormswami
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by stormswami »

As was becoming more established in career and getting married, opening and fully funding Roth IRAs during the Great Financial Crisis.

More recently, buying a foreclosure in our neighborhood (via cash and home equity) for a rental. Not something we necessarily aspired to do, but it was a great opportunity.
pseudoiterative
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by pseudoiterative »

I ended up in my mid-late 20s knowing nothing about business or investing or financial decisions generally, but stumbling into a reasonably auspicious position by luck*: i knew a trade and could do it with a relatively high degree of skill, the trade also happened to have strong market demand, and i started to figure out what the actual market rate was for what i could do, which was quite a lot more than what i have ever gotten paid. arriving in that position was basically all luck, and contributes to most of the financial success. higher income makes the rest of the game easy, particularly if your expenses stay flat. the actual decision making was just educating myself to not be completely ignorant about investing, business, negotiation, then making conscious decisions to reduce expenses by doing X or increase income by looking for higher paying contract work Y.


luck: of being born in stable developed country, of being born in stable household with parents who valued education & some resources to put toward it, of having background to be able to sit and focus on things for long periods of time, of picking up computer programming as a hobby, of getting through university accidentally having learned some commercially useful things despite not picking subjects based on any consideration of career practicality, of market demand for what i could do existing when i started my career, of being born in a country with a policy that forces mandatory retirement savings of 9%+ of gross income of all salaried employees, of not getting seriously sick or injured at any point, ...
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winterfan
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by winterfan »

Aged Maduro wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:32 pm Throughout my life i have stuck to the old adage of having only one job, one house and one spouse. Till death do us part. The grass is not greener on the other side. Tend to your own garden and keep it growing. Fidelity and frugality are the fundamentals. Stick to this and live a life of stoic joy.
Funny, I've never heard this phrase, but it applies to us as well. The other thing is to just set it and forget it. Put away as much as you can and it adds up quickly.
index2max
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by index2max »

furwut wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:54 am Reading the copy of Bogle on Mutual Funds my employer gave everyone shortly after our company set up a 401k plan with Vanguard.
That's a cool employer seeing them go the extra mile like that to hand out a Bogle book!
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A440
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by A440 »

Live on one earner's salary and invest the other earner's. Bonus, if one earner decides to stop work or must stop work for one reason or another you will not be dependent on the other income.
I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.
bluegill
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by bluegill »

Start saving at a young age. It is very difficult to catch up on savings when a persons waits for a number of years (say 10 years) to begin.


Begin Saving Now or Later ??

Return per year 8%

Age Early Saver | Late Saver
|
21 $0 | $0
22 $0 | $0
23 $0 | $0
24 $0 | $0
25 $6,000 $6,480 | $0 1
26 $6,000 $13,478 | $0 2
27 $6,000 $21,037 | $0 3
28 $6,000 $29,200 | $0 4
29 $6,000 $38,016 | $0 5
30 $6,000 $47,537 | $0 6
31 $6,000 $57,820 | $0 7
32 $6,000 $68,925 | $0 8
33 $6,000 $80,919 | $0 9
34 $6,000 $93,873 | $0 10
35 $101,383 | $6,000 $6,480 1
36 $109,493 | $6,000 $13,478 2
37 $118,253 | $6,000 $21,037 3
38 $127,713 | $6,000 $29,200 4
39 $137,930 | $6,000 $38,016 5
40 $148,965 | $6,000 $47,537 6
41 $160,882 | $6,000 $57,820 7
42 $173,752 | $6,000 $68,925 8
43 $187,652 | $6,000 $80,919 9
44 $202,665 | $6,000 $93,873 10
45 $218,878 | $6,000 $107,863 11
46 $236,388 | $6,000 $122,972 12
47 $255,299 | $6,000 $139,290 13
48 $275,723 | $6,000 $156,913 14
49 $297,781 | $6,000 $175,946 15
50 $321,603 | $6,000 $196,501 16
51 $347,332 | $6,000 $218,701 17
52 $375,118 | $6,000 $242,678 18
53 $405,127 | $6,000 $268,572 19
54 $437,538 | $6,000 $296,538 20
55 $472,541 | $6,000 $326,741 21
56 $510,344 | $6,000 $359,360 22
57 $551,171 | $6,000 $394,589 23
58 $595,265 | $6,000 $432,636 24
59 $642,886 | $6,000 $473,726 25
60 $694,317 | $6,000 $518,105 26
61 $749,863 | $6,000 $566,033 27
62 $809,852 | $6,000 $617,796 28
63 $874,640 | $6,000 $673,699 29
64 $944,611 | $6,000 $734,075 30
65 |
--------- | ----------
$60,000 | $180,000
bluegill
Posts: 351
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by bluegill »

Start saving at a young age. It is very difficult to catch up on savings when a persons waits for a number of years (say 10 years) to begin.

Begin Saving Now or Later ??

Return per year 8%

Age Early Saver | Late Saver
|
21 $0 $0 | $0 $0
22 $0 $0 | $0 $0
23 $0 $0 | $0 $0
24 $0 $0 | $0 $0
25 $6,000 $6,480 | $0 $0 1
26 $6,000 $13,478 | $0 $0 2
27 $6,000 $21,037 | $0 $0 3
28 $6,000 $29,200 | $0 $0 4
29 $6,000 $38,016 | $0 $0 5
30 $6,000 $47,537 | $0 $0 6
31 $6,000 $57,820 | $0 $0 7
32 $6,000 $68,925 | $0 $0 8
33 $6,000 $80,919 | $0 $0 9
34 $6,000 $93,873 | $0 $0 10
35 $0 $101,383 | $6,000 $6,480 1
36 $0 $109,493 | $6,000 $13,478 2
37 $0 $118,253 | $6,000 $21,037 3
38 $0 $127,713 | $6,000 $29,200 4
39 $0 $137,930 | $6,000 $38,016 5
40 $0 $148,965 | $6,000 $47,537 6
41 $0 $160,882 | $6,000 $57,820 7
42 $0 $173,752 | $6,000 $68,925 8
43 $0 $187,652 | $6,000 $80,919 9
44 $0 $202,665 | $6,000 $93,873 10
45 $0 $218,878 | $6,000 $107,863 11
46 $0 $236,388 | $6,000 $122,972 12
47 $0 $255,299 | $6,000 $139,290 13
48 $0 $275,723 | $6,000 $156,913 14
49 $0 $297,781 | $6,000 $175,946 15
50 $0 $321,603 | $6,000 $196,501 16
51 $0 $347,332 | $6,000 $218,701 17
52 $0 $375,118 | $6,000 $242,678 18
53 $0 $405,127 | $6,000 $268,572 19
54 $0 $437,538 | $6,000 $296,538 20
55 $0 $472,541 | $6,000 $326,741 21
56 $0 $510,344 | $6,000 $359,360 22
57 $0 $551,171 | $6,000 $394,589 23
58 $0 $595,265 | $6,000 $432,636 24
59 $0 $642,886 | $6,000 $473,726 25
60 $0 $694,317 | $6,000 $518,105 26
61 $0 $749,863 | $6,000 $566,033 27
62 $0 $809,852 | $6,000 $617,796 28
63 $0 $874,640 | $6,000 $673,699 29
64 $0 $944,611 | $6,000 $734,075 30
65 |
--------- | ----------
$60,000 | $180,000
SethJane42
Posts: 267
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by SethJane42 »

BEST OVERALL: Paid off all debt. I have't had a car payment since 2006. Haven't had a credit card balance since 1996. Paid off the mortgage early (in 7 years) on the last house, sold and made 50%, moved to another state where it's cheaper per sq. foot to live, and live in newer home without a mortgage. Zero debt. After basic expenses utilities, insurance, and taxes, we have a lot to invest every year. Financial peace of mind is incredible.

BEST NEST EGG DECISION: Started a Roth Brokerage and Brokerage accounts at Vanguard.

BEST SINGLE INVESTMENT: Bought AAPL in 2007 at split-adjusted $3.08 a share. Currently sitting on 3500 shares at cost basis share price of 11.76.
ensign
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ensign »

Marseille07 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:06 pm To get rid of bonds from my Boglehead AA.
:sharebeer
ensign
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by ensign »

Helping my son with college expenses (he was a Division I athlete so got some scholarship money) so he graduated debt free. And more recently opening 529s for his two sons. Giving is much more fulfilling than receiving.
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goodenyou
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by goodenyou »

Plain and simple. Not overspending and making savings a priority.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" | “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves”
Dottie57
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by Dottie57 »

Three things:

1. Going to a technical school for programming after college.
2. Starting to invest as much as possible when I finally had a 401k
3. Buying a low cost condoand staying until now. Helped me save as much as possible.
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familythriftmd
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Re: Best decision(s) in your financial life

Post by familythriftmd »

windaar wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:45 pm Reading “The Millionaire Next Door.” ...
Me too! I got it for a dollar at a Friends of the Library sale. Talk about ROI!

Also, I stick to my written financial plan, which keeps behavioral psychology in mind.
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