re: What changed your financial future for the better?

Working in North Dakota last February and reading this forum since then (due to boredom) has changed everything.

I only worked up there for two months and now I'm a teacher, but somehow I was able to invest nearly $3,000 last year.

good thread.

My aunt/godmother died in the recovery room after routine gallbladder surgery. Unbeknownst to me, I was the beneficiary of her life insurance policy. I kept 2/3, gave 1/3 split two ways to my mom and other aunt. used my portion to pay off student loans and bump up the IRA contribution. Fast forward a couple of years, and my better half loses both of his parents within 5 years. Things can change in the blink of an eye. While our financial outlook dramatically improved, I'd rather that all three had been around more years than having retirement funds in the bank.

Also wanted to echo a prev poster: spend money on experiences, not stuff. All three of those family members should Anne could have traveled more and done more things, but inertia kept them put. The dream trips to Hawaii, Spain, etc never got to happen. Go while you can, don't wait until later.

I didn't grow up with a lot but my father always told me to save save save and don't spend all of your money on materialistic things. I like any other young person went to college and got a credit card and fell into a spiral of debt very fast I realized when looking at my account and having less that $500 in it that something had to change. I got a second job paid off all that credit card debt and my goal was to just save and keep my credit as clean as possible. I ended up graduating college with student loans but those I can pay off with no worry and I still have 2 jobs so I can do the things I want while still saving.

Investing is my near future just have a few more things to educate myself on.

My parents were always tight with their money. They aren't rich by any means, and they lived within their income. I didn't really get it when I was younger. Even through college, it was just about "do I have enough to buy that", then pulling the trigger. I basically lived with a paycheck to paycheck mentality (granted I was a college student). Now they are doing well. Have more money in the bank and better retirement funds than people making much more than they did.

When I worked for the money, at least when I started making real money, things turned around. It was suddenly different. My parents (Dad was a teacher and Mom made roughly the same), weren't well off, but quite a few of my relatives were. Some VERY well off. We are a very close family and I saw the investments and the way they saw money as an asset that builds value and not just something to buy that toy I wanted. It's made me a money hungry person to a fault . I get excited seeing my net worth grow.

In addition, my wife had huge amounts of student loans. We buckled down right away. Sold off my truck for a fuel efficient car, had a house note that was super low, etc.. My wife put nearly her entire paycheck into her loans. Any time I got a raise, it went into my 401k or savings. Within 4 1/2 years, we built about 170k in savings and retirement, but that damned student loan is still sitting there as a reminder to stay on top of everything. It helped make us a more financially aware family. Once that's paid off, we will be a saving machine, or my wife can stay home with the kids without us even noticing the difference.

Another thing that helped me as terrible as it is, is that I was in an accident my last year of college. I received an insurance settlement that was a safety net for me when I first started out. I didn't have to save 6 months salary in an emergency fund. It could go straight into retirement, investments, or those other things you struggle to buy when first starting out. I could afford an engagement ring and down payment on a house, because I didn't have spend time funding that safety net. So I admit I was playing with a stacked deck.

I now make a pretty good living and the wife is going back to work, so we will be very comfortable. I'm watching my relatives whose parents are loaded buying things that I'd never imagine, and I know I make more than they do. They just never learned the value of money. Buying a $90k boat was never outrageous to them, so why not. They probably have $10k to their name and not a care in the world. I'm actually kind of glad that I came up the way I did. Granted I'd love their trust fund.

Divorcing my first wife.

Edit: Damn, didn't realize the thread was this old. And I gave the same answer.