- Going back to school for a Masters Degree
- Setting up 529 college savings plans for my children the day we got their social security numbers in the mail.
- Investing in a Roth IRA with my first real paycheck (I wish I had started when I was mowing lawns when I was 12 years-old….see: “Make Your Child a Multi-Millionaire Tax Free with a Roth IRA”
- Picking the right woman to get married to. Do you realize how expensive a divorce is?
- Paying off my mountain of credit card debt
- Diversifying my portfolio between large, mid, small, and international stock mutual funds.
- Finding excellent mutual funds with great fund managers.
- Investing in my employer’s 401-k plan. They are going to start matching soon!
- Buying my first house and negotiating the mortgage.
- Constantly monitoring my credit report like a hawk and working to fix all of the little mistakes as they pop up.
In the past, I have shared with you the four worst money mistakes that I have ever made. I thought that it would be a nice change of pace to share with you a few of the successes. If you have missed a few of these, it is never too late.
What would be your investing / money claim to fame? What has been your very best money decision you ever made?
{ 3 comments }
Cool deal! I’m on track to follow most of those pieces of advice you gave so it’s good to hear that they worked out for you! Makes me excited to think about my future.
I haven’t been following you for long, so I have no idea, but are your kids in college yet? I’ve discovered the hard way that having any savings can prevent you from getting need-based grants from higher education institutions. They’re of course happy to dole out loans, but free money via grants sometimes isn’t available if you’ve saved at all despite your income level.
Mike,
Thanks for leaving a comment…No, my kids aren’t in college yet. And, I understand your plight with qualifying for need based grants vs. saving for college. Investing in a 529 College Savings Plan will generally reduce a student’s eligibility to participate in need-based financial aid and be treated as a parental asset in the calculations. But, no matter the consequences to financial aid, investing for college education from the first day of birth has a better potential to fund an education than banking on qualifying for financial aid that may not even be there in the end anyway. Thanks again…
Hank
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