What are you most proud of financially?

[captainspoke]

That's the title of this article: https://twocents.lifehacker.com/what-ar ... 1823917921

The first bit of the story:

Worrying about your finances can feel like a full-time job, which is why it’s important to take time to recognize your accomplishments, big and small, every once in a while. When you hit an important milestone, open a Roth IRA or simply become more mindful of where your money is going and what you do to make more—taking time to acknowledge our money successes is important before we move on to the next goal.

Personally, moving to New York on my own after college and more or less keeping my finances in order felt like a big success. Here are what some other LH staffers said:

Editor-in-Chief Melissa Kirsch: Paying off my student loans.

Deputy Editor Alice Bradley: The financial decision I’m proudest of came in my early 20s, when I contributed 20% to my 401K. It was more than I thought I could afford, but part of me knew that this was a magical time in my life when my expenses were relatively low and my salary was (for an editor) relatively high. That contribution percentage only lasted a year, but the increase in my retirement account was so dramatic that I’ve patted myself on the back for that decision ever since.

...

(my bold)

For myself, I'd offer a few accomplishments:

1) We raised two now-grown kids who are doing well.
2) I retired a year ago, and there's no need to work.
3) While I've certainly made my share of bad choices and decisions, nothing was irrecoverable, or turned into a disaster. (and more recent decisions have at least not caught up to me, yet!! )


How about you?

[RetireJapan]

Nice thread. I guess financially I am most proud of getting our finances in order. Basically we rarely think about money, almost everything is automated or a habit, and money is not an impediment to anything (we are basically never not able to do something because of money).

This is a function of having low baseline costs and not spending much on things.
It's also a function of saving set amounts, both automatically and manually, every month.

Basically as long as we are working, money is not a factor in anything we do. The next goal is to make that true even if we weren't working. That's going to take a bit longer

[goodandbadjapan]

I've been able to take the financial pressures off some family members in their older years.

[Ditto]

2015 borrowed $15K and moved my family from Eastern Europe ( politically and financialy unstable) to Japan.

1. First year in Japan found a job and started paying my debts.

2. Second year managed to save ¥1 million.

3. July 2017, started researching what to do with the extra monthly savings and ran into the Bogleheads website and forum. Followed rule number one: Pay debts and build an emergency fund.

4. Eight months forward debt free and ¥3 million emergency fund built.

5. Run into RetireJapan, ready to build my first portfolio and start investing. Baby steps but looking forward to what the future holds.


Regards,

[captainspoke]

Ditto--That's more than any success story than I could have imagined. And a wonderful response.

[nanaya]

Does having 5 years (and counting) data of detailed finance record count?

Crudely reinvented double-entry bookkeeping and accrual accounting (mainly expenses) in the process using ms excel.

And learned that knowing current/future own finance down to single yen unit doesn't help saving money - inversely there are times I know how much my credit card bills will be for next two months and "optimized" the spending for it

[DragonAsh]

Great post Ditto - wish we had 'like' buttons

Personally, I'm most proud of not having debt in over 20 years. I don't even know how many thousands of dollars that totals over the 20 years that I've kept instead of handing over to the bank each month.

But the reason I'm most proud of that is because it means I am able to provide a comfortable, secure childhood for my kids and can plan on providing a a comfortable life for my wife (and myself, depending on how long I stick around before pushing up daisies) in her senior years. It's something my mom never hand, and I regret like crazy that not realizing that until it was far too late.

[Dr.Strangelove]

Great thread here. For me, just getting started has been an achievement in itself. I used to hate banking, be drowning in debt and have a rather bleak financial future.

Now personal finance has become a sort of hobby for me.
I enjoy reading books, following posts on this site, and have made some positive financial decisions.
Three streams of income, iDeco payments, emergency fund, savings plan for my daughters education, Nisa and junior Nisa accounts, are some things I never even considered doing years ago.
My wife and I have regular, weekly money meetings over a glass of red wine. I am incredibly proud of her change in attitude towards money too.
Future is looking bright:)

[ricardo]

Joining a pension scheme when I was 20.

[inaka_rob]

Not owing a penny to anyone. No house payment. No car loan. Every car and motorcycle has been paid for in full in cash. No school loans. Paid for my grad school without using loans. Paid for my wife's grad school without using loans. FASFA and grants paid for undergrad (while parents admittedly helped pay room and board). May be building a new house in about 3 years, but the land will be inherited. So I guess that will be our first real debt, a house.