Financial Success? what event changed your financial future?

[disneysteve]

a 750k stock portfolio or a paid off 750k home is the same thing, doesnt matter where it is, its all net worth

Also, a 750K home generates no income. A 750K portfolio can generate plenty.

You can't retire just because you own a home. You might be able to retire with a 750K portfolio as long as you can live on about 30K/year or if you have other sources of income like SS.

[rennigade]

I dont view my house as an investment. Dont even include in my net worth. Id take my stock portfolio any day over a home.

As lame as this sounds...the one event that changed my financial future was marrying my wife who shares almost the same views on finances and handles money the same way I do.

We're 99% on the same page page minus her wanting to invest in index funds. She would rather put money in a 1% savings account where it grows every month vs investing in index funds that go up and down. Im getting here there though. I dont even bother explaining inflation and how earning 1% is basically losing money. She does max her tsp and roth though.

[disneysteve]

I dont view my house as an investment. Dont even include in my net worth. Id take my stock portfolio any day over a home.

Same here. And it's a good thing, too, because our home has been a pretty lousy investment.

[greenskeeper]

top upside investment - selling our first house and banking almost $100k due to value increase after 4 years

investment that should have been - almost bought 10,000 shares of FORD stock at the bottom of the market in 2008 when it was $2/share At the time I figured if the stock went to zero so would the rest of the economy

[snafu]

The event that influenced how I viewed money was my dad's brief outline on money management. At the end of his short talk, he stood on the doorstep and burned a few five dollar bills, demonstrating how he viewed paying interest.
I only realized how damaging interest could be when DH and I bought our 1st house. I was horrified by the amortization schedule included in the closing documents. Interest rates here were much higher back then, automatic monthly payments went mostly interest, taxes and 30 years was 'normal.' With DH aboard, we cleared the mortgage in about 13 years [over a couple of moves due to employment] without feeling deprived or 'different,' than friends and colleagues. I just didn't realize how much other people paid in interest for cars, clothes, furnishings and four star vacations.

Wealth was accidentally accumulated when we chose to redirect mortgage payments to a non retirement, investment account. Our friends were going to Las Vegas twice a year, we gambled on stock because it was too difficult to get responsible care for two toddlers.

[disneysteve]

Wealth was accidentally accumulated

I love that statement.

Put a little money into an investment account on a regular recurring basis and you can "accidentally" accumulate wealth.

[Fishindude77]

Choosing to buy a business and be self employed.

[Thrif-t]

When I got out of college I worked in the credit dept of a large company. My boss got me started in investing when I was 21. If it wasn't for him I don't think we'd have 1/2 of what we do. It's not as much as a lot of other posters here, but I've worked part time for most of my career and my DH isn't in a high paying profession either. Yet today we've paid off our house and cars and are debt free.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

marrying the right person. Divorce takes away a lot of wealth building. And fighting about money even without divorce is stressful to one's health.

[Singuy]

Steve is right..I paid off my house and then sold it at a 70k loss (for another house that is actually a good investment). Bought the house late 2007, sold it in 2014. Now if I were to say rented and put all my monthly payment into an index fund starting in late 2007..I probably would have a profit of 300k and not a loss of 70k.

House in general is not really a great investment unless you can buy cheaply and charge high rent as income. If you are making 10% return or less on a house, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

I guess what started my financial success is just a combination of high income and a frugal life....also having a significant other on the same page helps greatly.

[MonkeyMama]

I have to agree with "marrying the right person". We've got assets and insurance to fall back on when it comes to most any other hardship I can think of.

I've been thinking about this lately because as a very cautious couple, financially, people often interpret that we just never suffered any hardship. (Which is ridiculous. ???) But... I will admit that divorce and single parenthood seems to be on a level all of its own. & I know people who have managed through that and are successful. But it also appears to be one of the bigger financial hurdles to overcome. Anyway, I've been thinking more and more that when I get that comment that it's probably more in reference to divorce. I admit that is a hardship that we haven't dealt with in our immediate families. (Our parents and grandparents stayed together, and I think their wealth reflects that).

More than just that, also, none of our siblings married savers. I am shocked how some of our more extreme-saver relatives changed their financial personalities so much during marriage. Like one extreme to the other. They may stay together, but they aren't going to build up as much wealth as their saver-saver parents did. (Maybe they will eventually balance each other out, but early on, like first 10 years, the spenders seem to be in charge).

[FLA]

what started me on the right path was being born to very frugal people, that rubbed off. Then, although I never had a high income, I managed to save 500k by age 45 in my 403B. Had no debt, no mortgage, no car payment. I was on track to retire at 55.

then life got in the way and I got sick and cannot work, but having a 500k cushion helps

I also failed to plan for a long term disability

[clatoden99]

Meeting a QA expert & Lead named Sreedhar Krishnagiri, who later became a guide and a good friend. Back in 2009–2010, I was working as a QA engineer with an MNC in Chennai. Sreedhar Krishnagiri, As QA lead joined our project and worked there for a brief time. During that short period, we used to hire QA professionals with different skill sets. One of my skill sets is Performance testing. During one interview, I was asking questions and assessing a candidate for performance testing. Being a silent observer, he got the pulse of my skills in performance testing(he told me this two years later). A year later, he referred me to a company in Amsterdam for a position opened up for performance testing.After a year,I joined as a Tools Engineer.

That incident changed my complete financial status. I have paid all my debts,have liquid cash in hand and more over that opened up a hell lot of QA opportunities down the line.

Apart from this, he is also one of the best team leads, I have ever seen with exceptional knowledge in QA and human factor touch.

[silvor]

sort of...

with the stock portfolio you're earning dividends, capital gains - exposed to market ups/downs of course. you can sell at any moment pretty easily. and still have a place to live.

with a home you're paying taxes, utilities, etc. you sell and you have to buy another place; which includes realtor fees, loan fees, etc. Now if you're renting the home, it's a different story - but again if you're renting a 750k home, you are probably rolling in the money anyways.

I'd rather have the stock portfolio.

Well if you have no mortgage, you have no PAYMENT, therefore you can afford the car repair, kids braces or money for investments more easily. I think of it as an annuity. Sure, the portfolio has a chance of growing faster, but the lack of note is my "bond fund" that goes into equity markets.

[bigdaddybus]

I have a pretty stress free financial future based on retiring between age 58-62. This comes from a few things.
1. My wife and I both work for a large employer that still offers pensions (benefit is approximately 50% of your highest 5 year average salary including bonuses). The pension is currently 100% funded and has been all of my career thus far. I also appreciate that the pension fund is held by an employee association, not the company.
2. From ages 25-40 we started 10% 401K contributions and increased each year till we were contributing 25% of our income. Right now we reduced back to 10% contributions in our 401K's as I have bumped up college savings.
3. I lost .8% in 2008 investments. I started seeing the writing on the wall as the markets stumbled and spent the majority of the market fall in cash. I made a few trades like buying Wells Fargo at $7.25 a selling at $14.50 18 hours later that made me back most of my early year losses.

If I was as thrifty as some on this site I could retire with quite a bit more wealth. But I am not all that thrifty, and I am good with that. We adopted a couple kids out of the foster care system that have been one of the biggest joys in my life. I am thankful I have the financial security to comfortably raise 4 children.
Also I like to be a generous giver. This is also something that I am thankful for being financially secure enough to do. I am not going to get rich by over tipping or giving away gift cards to local restaurants to those who provide me good service , but its how I want to live my life....and to me that is true financial success