Maxing IRAs and then 401k in my 20’s
And marrying a like minded spouse

Working long enough in my first job to fully vest in the pension plan.

Maxing out retirement accounts early.
Working in biglaw even though it sucked. (Good life decision - leaving).
Moving from government to in-house after burnout cured. (Pay raise).
Balancing spending and saving. (Spending some money, saving some, deliberately deferring purchase but then making them as appropriate.)

Worst financial decisions:

Settling in DC area vs like Dallas or something
Catholic school for kids
SAH partner

But there are logical nonfinancial reasons for all of the above.

Maxing out all available retirement, health, and college plans.
Living well below our means (modest house, public school, public college, ….)
Refinancing when prudent
Staying married
Reading Bogleheads forum
Working hard and smart leading to big raises/bonuses

Selling my condo and putting the money into the market where it 5X in very short period of time. Ready to buy a bigger place now after renting for 2 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marrying young, maintaining two incomes while pretending we were not had one. (Aka, live on half your income.)

Pretending we only had one.

Including buying a house?

Absolutely! That was the most important part. You can’t take a mortgage based on two incomes, and then make up for it brewing your own lattes. We paid off the house in about seven years.

Leaving the architecture profession, going back to grad school, and making a complete 180 in my career. I doubled the salary I was making as a mid career architect in my entry level new career role.

Everything all previous posters said! Great advice folks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marrying young, maintaining two incomes while pretending we were not had one. (Aka, live on half your income.)

Pretending we only had one.

+1

Buying an apartment in [ungentrified] Brooklyn at 24. When they were like $30K.

Best was saving for retirement for 6 years before getting married and I was in my 20s.

I'm OK with where things are now but getting married, having kids and doing work that was important to my values were all terrible decisions.

Choosing a public in-state colllege and graduating college essentially debt-free.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marrying young, maintaining two incomes while pretending we were not had one. (Aka, live on half your income.)

Pretending we only had one.

Including buying a house?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marrying my spouse.

+1 same here. My wife supercharged my capabilities. Without her, I would be some IT grunt making the average grunt salary.

I'm the PP. +1 to my own post. Seriously, one of the top 3 lessons for my kids is choosing carefully when you marry - there are many, many benefits, including financial. And no, i didn't marry someone rich, just someone prudent.

+1
My spouse supported my career like I supported his. He was open to changing his career entirely when a lucrative offer came my way as I gave up opportunities for his early out of grad school. A year after this he quadrupled his salary. We have an egalitarian marriage when it comes to kids and home. Literally, we have a schedule so everyone gets individual time with mom and dad, we both get the same opportunity to exercise and socialize. We make collective decisions about what needs to be outsourced (this has changed through the years). We have a lunch date to discuss financial goals once a month, which for me includes spreadsheets, charts, and graphs. I'm of the mindset 'show me your budget and I'll tell you what your values are'... we value our family, kids, and recreation. We are beginning to show our oldest the "household books" so she recieves a financial education (why can't they teach this stuff at school - it's not rocket science). Basically we make sure that we are always on the same page about priorities, which requires many ongoing discussions.

Having only one child was the best financial decision I ever made. It allows me all of the joys of being a parent but costs a lot less.

After that, the usual rules apply. I saved from my very first paycheck, learned to invest on my own and didn’t waste money on an advisor, lived within my means and told my money where to go.