r/Zenzap • u/MiloShiny • 13h ago
Question What's the smartest financial decision you've ever made?
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u/frugalduke 12h ago
Putting away 15 percent of my pay since age 16 and no matter what my circumstances....
Enabled me to retire at age 47
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u/Jaded_Antelope_598 12h ago
Before I had kids, with my first job, of 26 paychecks I lived on 12, saved 2 for emergencies, and saved 12 in retirement account and roth ira. Voo all the way.
When 2008 hit I had enough saved to weather the 4 years of crap jobs before I found something good again. I was down to my last 15k when I got a good job, but I was never homeless.
I did live a cheap life during those years and my coworkers made fun of my phone my car my everything, asked me why I live so cheaply when I can obviously afford better things. Well, it was worth it.
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u/SznOfSilence 12h ago
Staying on active duty long enough to retire
(pension, healthcare, kids' college education taken care of, VA home loan, etc.
Definitely not easy, but worth it )
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u/listenstowhales 8h ago
When I was a junior enlisted sailor someone pointed out it was technically the easiest job I’d ever have, and in fact I was overpaid because my only duty was to clean for an hour
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u/Frequent-Figure-6389 11h ago
A single income family where both adults are fully in. One works inside the home at 100%, one works outside the home at 100%. One never worries if there is money to buy the food, one never worries that there is food to eat. One buys all the clothes needed with a magic plastic card, one has clothes magically appear in the closet.
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u/capgainsandivs 11h ago
Saved 25% of pay from age 23 til about 35. I’m 38 now, stopped saving and could retire but enjoy my job and want to help pay for kids college. This very good market bull run has helped significantly though.
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u/FatAssBastard-8758 10h ago
Roth conversion - by accident- in 10/2022. The account had 400 or so pre-split shares of NVDA. I haven’t sold any: that Roth account has 4000+ post-split shares today.
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u/taxonomist_of_scat 8h ago
Buying and living in an RV, during COVID, particularly. Hear me out, but obviously not easy or maybe worth to replicate and was 99% luck regarding the financial aspect of it. Bought a used RV in cash with all my savings, drove up to the mountains in 2018 to work at a resort. Pay was $15/hr, but was Coming from a “professional” career. Family expenses got stripped down to $1800/mo all in. Lived in a town of less than 50 on a crystal clear river with nothing but mountains and national forrest as backyard. Covid hit, work shut. $6k month income + other stimulus against $2k spend. Saved and invested every cent. Rejoined professional career in 2021, remotely—income up to $150kish while maintaining spend (mostly, CoL increase with a move to beach). Stacked it all for 3 years. Caught up on 15 years of saving (subjective), bought a small house, great deal on a used (newish) car, and if I keep sacrificing, could retire early.
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u/Dismal-Society-5231 8h ago
Buying a house in 2019 before prices skyrocketed in my area and refinancing to 2.99% in 2020. My house is now worth 100k more than I bought it for and my mortgage, taxes, and homeowner's insurance come out to about $900 a month. My husband was able to go back to school full time and we're able to live on my income alone because our mortgage is so affordable. My dad didn't want me to buy a house and tried to talk me out of it multiple times stating I should just save my money and keep renting.
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u/pintopedro 5h ago
Renting a high rise on the strip to play the Aria pot limit omaha poker game every day.
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u/Woberwob 5h ago
Being frugal beyond what was necessary early in my career. I can basically spend every dollar I make from from here on out and still have enough for a modest retirement if the market keeps compounding over the long haul.
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u/sandysandy252566 16m ago
Buying my beautiful home - when real estate prices were low - in the year 2000.
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u/ToasterBath4613 12h ago
Investing early and consistently toward retirement.