The best financial decision you ever made

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these posters chiming in with how ‘smart’ they were to purchase that 200k house that’s now worth 600k are really just lucky, lucky, lucky. You happened to buy (+be in a position to buy... so born) the moment before the biggest upswing in home values in the history of... ever. Sorry but that is not a reflection on your financial savvy.

Uh, you aren't listening to the whole story. They were able to buy when they did because they lived in no frills shared rentals, drove modest cars, didn't take on massive student loan debt, saved a good portion of their income, etc.

There were plenty of people who earned the same income that I did who chose to take nice vacations, drive more expensive cars and live in better, more sought after rentals. They had a good time and have lots of stories to tell about it but they missed out on the opportunity to buy a house before the prices took off.

Going to a gas station and buying a winning lotto ticket = luck. Scrimping and saving for years to buy a good investment = smart + good timing.

Well, because no one knew the market would take off, which is the point. If everyones crystal ball told them where the market would shortly go, they would have bought immediately. And that would have been a SMART decision.

I agree with previous PP. It was all luck.

But the original PP's point is based on a false premise -- "all these posters" aren't saying how smart their decision was; almost every one of them have acknowledged there was luck involved. But that soesn't change the fact that buying instead of renting was a decision. And the thread prompt wasn't "what's the smartest financial decision you've ever made," it's what was the best decision. So you're both railing against a strawman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these posters chiming in with how ‘smart’ they were to purchase that 200k house that’s now worth 600k are really just lucky, lucky, lucky. You happened to buy (+be in a position to buy... so born) the moment before the biggest upswing in home values in the history of... ever. Sorry but that is not a reflection on your financial savvy.

Uh, you aren't listening to the whole story. They were able to buy when they did because they lived in no frills shared rentals, drove modest cars, didn't take on massive student loan debt, saved a good portion of their income, etc.

There were plenty of people who earned the same income that I did who chose to take nice vacations, drive more expensive cars and live in better, more sought after rentals. They had a good time and have lots of stories to tell about it but they missed out on the opportunity to buy a house before the prices took off.

Going to a gas station and buying a winning lotto ticket = luck. Scrimping and saving for years to buy a good investment = smart + good timing.

Well, because no one knew the market would take off, which is the point. If everyones crystal ball told them where the market would shortly go, they would have bought immediately. And that would have been a SMART decision.

I agree with previous PP. It was all luck.

Not exactly. There were signs, you just had to be tuned in and ready to take advantage of the opportunity. It's like those who insist that the people who made a fortune investing in tech stocks were lucky. Maybe they were lucky that the investment did as well as it did, but there was more than luck involved in them investing their money that way.

[Anonymous]

I moved to DC in 2011 along with a wide circle of friends who also came to the city in the 2009-2012 timeframe (many came for something Obama related). Most of us were post-graduate school, so with student loans and etc.

Those who bought soon after arriving are doing well now. But it was a serious leap of faith - recall that this was right after the housing bust, so lots of people were skeptical that buying was a good idea.

[Anonymous]

buying a condo in ~2002/2003 and selling it around 2007

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:buying a condo in ~2002/2003 and selling it around 2007

and after that, buying a house in 2015 we can afford on one salary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these posters chiming in with how ‘smart’ they were to purchase that 200k house that’s now worth 600k are really just lucky, lucky, lucky. You happened to buy (+be in a position to buy... so born) the moment before the biggest upswing in home values in the history of... ever. Sorry but that is not a reflection on your financial savvy.

Uh, you aren't listening to the whole story. They were able to buy when they did because they lived in no frills shared rentals, drove modest cars, didn't take on massive student loan debt, saved a good portion of their income, etc.

There were plenty of people who earned the same income that I did who chose to take nice vacations, drive more expensive cars and live in better, more sought after rentals. They had a good time and have lots of stories to tell about it but they missed out on the opportunity to buy a house before the prices took off.

Going to a gas station and buying a winning lotto ticket = luck. Scrimping and saving for years to buy a good investment = smart + good timing.

Well, because no one knew the market would take off, which is the point. If everyones crystal ball told them where the market would shortly go, they would have bought immediately. And that would have been a SMART decision.

I agree with previous PP. It was all luck.

+1

Also, some of us who moved here circa 2009 - 2010 (like myself) wanted to be responsible and not commit to buying property if we weren't going to stay long enough to make it worth it (5-7 years). Due to circumstances, we're still here and still renting. Hindsight is 20/20, but it wasn't a "smart" decision for us to buy in 2010 - 2014 because we always thought we were going to leave DC (like just about all our friends).

[Anonymous]

Buying our house in 2008, also I can contribute 37k in 403B and 457, so I max both. DH is self employed and maxes his 401k at 32k (ER paid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these posters chiming in with how ‘smart’ they were to purchase that 200k house that’s now worth 600k are really just lucky, lucky, lucky. You happened to buy (+be in a position to buy... so born) the moment before the biggest upswing in home values in the history of... ever. Sorry but that is not a reflection on your financial savvy.

Uh, you aren't listening to the whole story. They were able to buy when they did because they lived in no frills shared rentals, drove modest cars, didn't take on massive student loan debt, saved a good portion of their income, etc.

There were plenty of people who earned the same income that I did who chose to take nice vacations, drive more expensive cars and live in better, more sought after rentals. They had a good time and have lots of stories to tell about it but they missed out on the opportunity to buy a house before the prices took off.

Going to a gas station and buying a winning lotto ticket = luck. Scrimping and saving for years to buy a good investment = smart + good timing.

Well, because no one knew the market would take off, which is the point. If everyones crystal ball told them where the market would shortly go, they would have bought immediately. And that would have been a SMART decision.

I agree with previous PP. It was all luck.

+1

Also, some of us who moved here circa 2009 - 2010 (like myself) wanted to be responsible and not commit to buying property if we weren't going to stay long enough to make it worth it (5-7 years). Due to circumstances, we're still here and still renting. Hindsight is 20/20, but it wasn't a "smart" decision for us to buy in 2010 - 2014 because we always thought we were going to leave DC (like just about all our friends).

Yet, by 98/99 I was looking into buying investment condos in Annandale, as well as, becoming a real estate appraiser. If I had had more money at the time I would be rich today. As it was, I was happy to be able to be in the position to buy my primary home when I did. I could see the undeniable pattern - once stagnant prices were going up. At first it wasn't too dramatic but it didn't take long before everyone saw what was happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these posters chiming in with how ‘smart’ they were to purchase that 200k house that’s now worth 600k are really just lucky, lucky, lucky. You happened to buy (+be in a position to buy... so born) the moment before the biggest upswing in home values in the history of... ever. Sorry but that is not a reflection on your financial savvy.

Well, I purposefully avoiding buying until after the 2008 crash because I thought they were overpriced--so I think of it as a good decision. Most complex decisions are in part luck, but not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably buying 2 condos and a farm. All will be paid off soon. I would've never been able to save this money, but I always make my payments on time.
My Master's is going to cost ca $15k. Should pay off in no time.
I'm also going to move to a super low cost country. So some of my financial decisions are yet to come.
Hoping to be a nanny to my future grandkids and I'll do it for free. That goes towards my kids' finances.

Ok, let’s come back to this. You might want to read some of the MIL posts on this board. Nice gesture, but please don’t start assuming you’ll nanny for your grandkids.

[Anonymous]

Marrying young and pretending that we only have one income while we've always had two. Investing the other one and ignoring it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Being born an upper-middle-class white person.

I grew up with a lot of those people, and many of them have not done well with it. My more successful friends were the middle class ones whose parents didn't hand them everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably buying 2 condos and a farm. All will be paid off soon. I would've never been able to save this money, but I always make my payments on time.
My Master's is going to cost ca $15k. Should pay off in no time.
I'm also going to move to a super low cost country. So some of my financial decisions are yet to come.
Hoping to be a nanny to my future grandkids and I'll do it for free. That goes towards my kids' finances.

Ok, let’s come back to this. You might want to read some of the MIL posts on this board. Nice gesture, but please don’t start assuming you’ll nanny for your grandkids.

yeah, my mom wanted/still wants to do this too.. my brother and his wife think differently.

[Anonymous]

I completed my PhD while working full time and contributing to a 401K. Unlike most PhDs, I didn't have to live on a meager stipend for 4+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably buying 2 condos and a farm. All will be paid off soon. I would've never been able to save this money, but I always make my payments on time.
My Master's is going to cost ca $15k. Should pay off in no time.
I'm also going to move to a super low cost country. So some of my financial decisions are yet to come.
Hoping to be a nanny to my future grandkids and I'll do it for free. That goes towards my kids' finances.

Ok, let’s come back to this. You might want to read some of the MIL posts on this board. Nice gesture, but please don’t start assuming you’ll nanny for your grandkids.

Not all MILs are nightmares. Some really do know how to step back, offer babysitting help, while still allowing their adult children to call the shots and be the children's parents.

If the goal is to help that is what you do. If the goal is to take over and show those kids how it's done.....no.