Anonymous wrote:I did an annuity for a year then realized it's the absolute worst investment ever and lost the money. It wasn't much but still.

I did this too on the advice of a financial planner. There was a lawsuit against them (AmEX) and I recovered some of the loss.

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Anonymous wrote:Getting in consumer credit card debt for no good reason. I am almost 30. At its highest it was about 17k. It is down to 9k and my goal is to be debt free before 2019. I have paid so much interest on it (none this year, it's been on 0% but prior, many interest fees). Idiot.

That sucks, PP. Been there, so I empathize. Do you have a plan in place?

Not really. My income has gone up somewhat significantly in the past year or two. I really just throw a chunk at my cards every paycheck. I should cut out the cards entirely, I know, but they have been going down steadily. I also received a small inheritance (under 5,000), some of which I put to the debt. (I didn't spend the rest- it's in savings).

Man. All the financial regrets.

My top ten:

1. Fighting with my dad and getting cut off in the middle of my freshman year of college
2. Not taking my mom up on her offer to help me buy a house in DC in the mid 2000s (" ... but mom, I want to live on campus with my frands. Dumb.)
3. Taking out a bunch of student loans
4. Getting a bunch of costly forbearances on said loans
5. Working as a peon for a nonprofit for far too long
6. Not contributing to my 401k sooner
7. Never negotiating for a higher salary
8. Not getting married at the justice of the peace
9. Getting a dog from a shit rescue with a ton of health problems
10. Buying a house near a not so great school

Anonymous wrote:Getting in consumer credit card debt for no good reason. I am almost 30. At its highest it was about 17k. It is down to 9k and my goal is to be debt free before 2019. I have paid so much interest on it (none this year, it's been on 0% but prior, many interest fees). Idiot.

That sucks, PP. Been there, so I empathize. Do you have a plan in place?

Anonymous wrote:We spent thousands (maybe even 10k) on a birth mom that strung us along. I don’t think she ever really wanted to give her baby up. Which is her right but we footed so many extra bills bc we wanted her to a.) trust us b.) feel that we loved her and wanted her apart of our extended family long term and c.) please the agency which kept encouraging “fostering relationships.” We were already struggling with the 30k the agency charges so it was a huge expense. Wife and I both got wknd jobs and sold one car etc.

That’s harsh. Did you ever get a child?

Getting in consumer credit card debt for no good reason. I am almost 30. At its highest it was about 17k. It is down to 9k and my goal is to be debt free before 2019. I have paid so much interest on it (none this year, it's been on 0% but prior, many interest fees). Idiot.

We spent thousands (maybe even 10k) on a birth mom that strung us along. I don’t think she ever really wanted to give her baby up. Which is her right but we footed so many extra bills bc we wanted her to a.) trust us b.) feel that we loved her and wanted her apart of our extended family long term and c.) please the agency which kept encouraging “fostering relationships.” We were already struggling with the 30k the agency charges so it was a huge expense. Wife and I both got wknd jobs and sold one car etc.

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Anonymous wrote:Kept my TSP investments in the G fund for the first 2.5 years of my Fed career. Whoops

If it makes you feel any better, I know several people who were invested in the G fund for a lot longer than 2.5 years.

Can someone explain this to a curious non federal employee?

It's just US bonds, without any growth beyond (maybe) keeping pace with inflation. Only a very small step up from the money-under-mattress method of investing. It's dumb that this is the default allocation for new employees.

Not dumb.

That's crazy.

Buying a "starter" house near the top of the market in 2006 (sold at a loss 10 years later, after agonizing because house was really too small to stay in with bigger family/children)

Also, thinking that it was preferable to do our own renovations than buy a home that had already been renovated - first, we totally underestimated the hassle/time suck of renovations, and second, if already renovated, it's financed with your mortgage - if not, you're paying out of pocket and/or having to figure out financing

(we learned from these lessons and bought a renovated house two years ago. so happy we're not dealing with renovations, regular house upkeep is enough!)

I can relate with several of the above, including being in the G fund for 3 years and selling Apple stock in 2012. I have many financial regrets, but my current biggest regret is not aggressively paying off my student debt when I was in big law. Instead I was spending the money and living larger than I should have been. Now that I'm making a lot less with a government job, and other expected and unexpected life expenses have added up, those loan payments are really quite a drag. If I had just adopted a simpler lifestyle and aggressively paid them off, I would have much more financial freedom now.

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Anonymous wrote:Graduated from a top law school but instead of going into big law took a dead-end job with a govt agency and stayed for over a decade, leaving me with no transferable skills and no exit options.

Can relate. Hugs.

Same, although I was an average student at a third tier school, so I think I got lucky with my gov’t gig. But I’m stuck.

What do you all do that you’re that stuck/unmarketable??

PP here and I do regulatory work in a discrete field (going on 10 years).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Graduated from a top law school but instead of going into big law took a dead-end job with a govt agency and stayed for over a decade, leaving me with no transferable skills and no exit options.

Can relate. Hugs.

Same, although I was an average student at a third tier school, so I think I got lucky with my gov’t gig. But I’m stuck.

What do you all do that you’re that stuck/unmarketable??

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Anonymous wrote:Graduated from a top law school but instead of going into big law took a dead-end job with a govt agency and stayed for over a decade, leaving me with no transferable skills and no exit options.

Can relate. Hugs.

Same, although I was an average student at a third tier school, so I think I got lucky with my gov’t gig. But I’m stuck.

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Anonymous wrote:Kept my TSP investments in the G fund for the first 2.5 years of my Fed career. Whoops

Ugh, me too.

Double ugh. They should make the default a lifestyle fund based on your projected retirement date, and force people to opt into moving everything to G (or any other allocation combination) if that's what they really, really want. I think a LOT of people keep TSP in the G fund for so long because they don't know any better, and the process for changing it is not very intuitive for new employees and/or those not experienced with investing.

Same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kept my TSP investments in the G fund for the first 2.5 years of my Fed career. Whoops

If it makes you feel any better, I know several people who were invested in the G fund for a lot longer than 2.5 years.

Can someone explain this to a curious non federal employee?

It's just US bonds, without any growth beyond (maybe) keeping pace with inflation. Only a very small step up from the money-under-mattress method of investing. It's dumb that this is the default allocation for new employees.