What’s the e best financial decision you’ve ever made?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choosing to be born into the perfect family.
Choosing to marry the right man.
Choosing to have the brightest and healthiest kids.
Choosing to have kids at the right time and not have infertility issues.
Choosing to go in a job with a high pay and awesome job security.
Choosing to learn English instead of German as a second language.
Choosing to buy an awesome huge new SFH at the bottom of the real estate market.

I am so clever with my financial choices! Yay me!!

I hope this is parody

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don't view marrying or how many kids you have as being "financial decisions." Silly and wholly unhelpful answers. OP's question is what decisions did you make with your money?

The best decisions that we made with our money were (1) to fully fund retirement accounts from the start and aggressively and (2) take advantage of the DC area's top public school and state university systems and not throw your money away on private schools.

Then you don't understand how life decisions impact your bottom line. You're either young or stupid.

Not only am I neither of those things, I'm also rich.

All I'm saying is that I don't think that's what OP was asking.

Sure you are, my friend. I believe you.

There's one troll who is going through every thread today on an angry projecting tirade. She is not rich, enlightened, open-minded. I also doubt she has kids. If she does, they def don't love her.

OP's question is posted in the "money and finance" section. It isn't "trolling" to interpret OP's post as seeking advice relating to actual financial decisions.

So many of you are coming off as 1950s housewives. Marry well? Really? It's embarrassing.

Actually “marrying well” is definitely part of the equation when discussing best financial decisions. It’s not, however, to mean marry for money. Instead, it’s meant to be select a long-term good partner. If you don’t, it will be expensive in the long run. Ever hear of picking a bad business partner?? Same with life partner, if you put into a financial context…

And this is why men still rule the world. They're out there making the actual financial decisions that bring in the money, while women are interpreting questions like -- what's the best financial decision you ever made? -- to mean find yourself the right husband.

If you can't see the difference, well, you're thinking like a very traditional woman.

DP, but no. "One spouse, one house" is gender-neutral financial advice. You're interpreting "marrying well" as finding a rich man, but I'm an upthread PP who considers marrying the right person to be one of the best decisions I've made. I outearn my DH threefold, but it's still a financial boon to be married to someone who shares your goals, works with you to accomplish them, and is stable themselves.

So your husband's decision to marry you was a financial one?

I'd be very surprised if he didn't list "marrying my spouse" in his best financial decisions list, yes. Just like I listed it in mine. Marrying the wrong person can bankrupt you; marrying the right one can set you on the right financial path.

So he thinks like a women, then? I don't think so. Ask if he's on any financial advice/planning websites and what his handle is. Then take a look. I doubt you'll find that he's talking about you.

No. He thinks like the majority of people on this board, who have told you from about 8 directions that making a smart decision about a life partner has financial ramifications. The fact that you cannot comprehend that 1) this is not thinking like a woman, but like a person, and 2) "thinks like a woman" is not the insult you think it is, is something I'm not qualified to help you understand or overcome.

Circle back after you've done what I suggested.

If the financial forums have folk who can’t understand who you build your life with is one of the most important parts of your overall financial picture, perhaps they need to “think like a woman”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband was able to become a big law partner because he married me. He will be the first to tell you this, and tells everyone we know this. So for him, a man, marrying me was definitely a good financial decision.

Marrying him was ironically not my best financial decision. He never expected to make partner when we met and wanted to leave law (something I supported). Mine was investing in real estate in a city that took off.

Oh God, the SAHM brigade has arrived…

I'm not a SAHM mom. I hope you're a man, honestly, because if you're a woman I'm sorry for the amount of self loathing you much experience to have this much internalized misogyny.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My husband was able to become a big law partner because he married me. He will be the first to tell you this, and tells everyone we know this. So for him, a man, marrying me was definitely a good financial decision.

Marrying him was ironically not my best financial decision. He never expected to make partner when we met and wanted to leave law (something I supported). Mine was investing in real estate in a city that took off.

This is so not true. There are many, many married associates with wonderful and supportive spouses who don't make partner. Your husband made partner because he had the goods. Give him some credit.

You are misunderstanding my point. This has nothing to do with other people and their lives. If my husband hadn't married me, he wouldn't have made partner. Our marriage helped his particular trajectory, for a variety of reasons. It's not like marrying me would have made those other associated partner. I'm not magic.

Unless you sent him a big book of business, or did his work for him, or blackmailed the partnership committee with compromising photos or information, your "help" was no different in kind or amount than any other good spouse.

I did, in fact, do one of those things.

[Anonymous]

OP's question is posted in the "money and finance" section. It isn't "trolling" to interpret OP's post as seeking advice relating to actual financial decisions.

So many of you are coming off as 1950s housewives. Marry well? Really? It's embarrassing.

Actually “marrying well” is definitely part of the equation when discussing best financial decisions. It’s not, however, to mean marry for money. Instead, it’s meant to be select a long-term good partner. If you don’t, it will be expensive in the long run. Ever hear of picking a bad business partner?? Same with life partner, if you put into a financial context…

And this is why men still rule the world. They're out there making the actual financial decisions that bring in the money, while women are interpreting questions like -- what's the best financial decision you ever made? -- to mean find yourself the right husband.

If you can't see the difference, well, you're thinking like a very traditional woman.

There is nothing 1950s about saying that we married well. Life partners, similar values, loyal, steady reliable parents. My husband says I’m the best decision he ever made. I handle the finances, investments, and early on got us out of student debt. Likewise he has supported every decision I’ve made in my career including off ramping, on ramping, amping it up, moving to other countries. Staying happily married is absolutely a core element of financial success. There IS something 1960s about your view of the phrase Marrying Well though. Put down the Betty Friedan book. Put on some Victoria Secret. It’s 2022.

[Anonymous]

Buy a small house. Save for retirement and college for kids. Today our senior got admitted to a top choice school. It feels good to have saved that money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP's question is posted in the "money and finance" section. It isn't "trolling" to interpret OP's post as seeking advice relating to actual financial decisions.

So many of you are coming off as 1950s housewives. Marry well? Really? It's embarrassing.

Actually “marrying well” is definitely part of the equation when discussing best financial decisions. It’s not, however, to mean marry for money. Instead, it’s meant to be select a long-term good partner. If you don’t, it will be expensive in the long run. Ever hear of picking a bad business partner?? Same with life partner, if you put into a financial context…

And this is why men still rule the world. They're out there making the actual financial decisions that bring in the money, while women are interpreting questions like -- what's the best financial decision you ever made? -- to mean find yourself the right husband.

If you can't see the difference, well, you're thinking like a very traditional woman.

There is nothing 1950s about saying that we married well. Life partners, similar values, loyal, steady reliable parents. My husband says I’m the best decision he ever made. I handle the finances, investments, and early on got us out of student debt. Likewise he has supported every decision I’ve made in my career including off ramping, on ramping, amping it up, moving to other countries. Staying happily married is absolutely a core element of financial success. There IS something 1960s about your view of the phrase Marrying Well though. Put down the Betty Friedan book. Put on some Victoria Secret. It’s 2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women who did not grow up with money have to “pick a horse and ride it”

That is single most important financial decision.

What it means is rich men from wealthy families generally marry into rich families. So the the 23 year old nurse who lives at home on a small tiny house with blue collar HS educated parents are out of luck marrying an already wealthy person.

But what they can do is pick a guy with earnings potential you can mold into wealth.

My wife’s friend a pretty blonde 26 year old nurse did just that. She got a Junior 26 year old guy on Wall Street and rode that horse all the way up.

My wife did the same. I had a net worth of $10,000 and a crappy job when we started dating. I was making $48,000. She got on horse as I was a non focused party person but had my MBA, some good companies on resume and as she put it “a tall good looking white man who looks good in a suit and an MBA” I has something to work with.

Her parents literally worked in a supermarket and a factory with 8th grade educating and HS equivalencies. But she was hot and nice, had a college degree and decent job.

Well she jumped in and rode me. Day married I made $55,000. Year ten of marriage I made $355,000. Year 15 of marriage $450,000. Her friend the nurse he got up to $600,000.

Kinda a Hillary Clinton move. My one really really rich friend 30-40 million his wife quit work when engaged!!! He made his big money during marriage. Literally he owes his pretty dumb as a brick wife a $20 million check if divorced. No prenup of course as he was on party to wealth when married but cant prenup future wealth and anyhow she was planning on being a SAHM and never working.

I think with men you are a bit of loser if you do this. And women if you marry already wealthy a gold digger.

But women “picking the right horse” get the money and share the success.

Hillary and Bill met at Yale Law. She wasn't just cute with a bachelor's degree, she was equally as accomplished as he was, and neither came from wealthy families.

Hillary Clinton was and us a ugly Ho who wanted to be in White House. But as
A women and no personality she picked fun friendly white male Bill to ride her way into the White House.

[Anonymous]

Our best decisions:

- going to graduate school (law) which opened the door to higher paying job opportunities. Many of our friends and neighbors have higher-earning husbands, but the wives who work have careers that pay under $100K. I’ve come close to matching my husband’s income (or exceeded it) every year of our marriage. That extra income really makes a huge difference.
- Maxing out retirement accounts as soon as we started working.
- Deciding to both continue working when our children were born. Had I quit and stayed home, our net worth would be a fraction of what it is today. I also think it would have caused a lot of stress on my husband and pressure on our marriage, and I am relieved we didn’t have that stress. While it felt like we shelled out a lot of money on childcare and I felt working mom guilt for a number of years, at the end of the day, it is putting us in a position as early 40s to have flexibility with time, a possibility of one of us quitting or both retiring early. We are close to the kids and they seem happy, so I don’t feel working and not staying home was a mistake.
- paying off house early. We’re close to paying off our house now, in our early 40s, about 10 years after purchasing.
- maintaining and adding to extra (outside retirement) investment accounts. Time will tell if this pay off for us.


I will say many of these items listed are truly decisions we made, but also luck played a role here. There was a period of time when I really wanted a lower paying government job and wasn’t able to get hired. While that felt like a hardship at the time, it actually was a financial blessing to us since I would up making 2-3 times what I would have made in the government.