People who made a single terrible financial decision that still haunts you to this day - how did it happen?
-
It's best not to lose your mind over it, like the guy who has been searching for his lost disk in a dump for 10+ years. Here have a funny gif to cheer you up:
I also had a Bitcoin wallet on an old laptop I used of my fathers that he eventually sent to the dump that I very much considered trying to get back for a while. But I decided down that road lay madness. It still makes me sick to think about. Not as much as it used to. I’ve come around to literally throwing multiple lifetimes worth of money away.
-
My story is when you could first buy them when they were worth pennies and a friend wanted to invest with me in them. Only wanted us to each put in $100 at first. Just didn't believe they'd catch on.
I mean, you weren't really wrong about them catching on. Usage by everyday people is vanishingly rare and it's certainly not trending in a positive direction. They're just... worth a lot now... for some reason.
-
Tbf, the tsp by default I believe throws your money in a G fund which is basically bonds iirc. So you'd be better off but if you never actually managed it it would've netted you far less than you think.
Still, better than not being in it. Good on you for helping others avoid the pitfalls you experienced.
As the other commenter said, it now puts you in the closest life cycle fund to your 67th birthday. They also automatically start you contributing 5%, which would get you the 5% match. Basically immediately doubling your investment.
-
I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?wrote last edited by [email protected]Probably not exactly what you meant, but not going to college with my group of friends that did. They went for computer science because they were interested in it and are now doing very well for themselves. I was never that interested in it and am more "hands on" with physical stuff so I didn't feel like I should "waste" the money on that degree and figured I would spend time trying to figure out what I could do.
I never "found myself" and am currently living in someone's garage making not much money working in a factory that's going to be over 90°F today with 75+% humidity... So in my case the financial mistake was not taking out a loan.
-
Oof.
And wait a minute, I just saw you in the Europe community. Hi.
And wait a minute, I just saw you in the Europe community. Hi.
This is like when you see a neighbor in the frozen aisle and wave politely but then ten minutes later you see them again in the bakery and you’re like, not sure how to react because it’s weird to wave again but even weirder to pretend like you didn’t see them so you end up saying something stupid like “we gotta stop meeting like this” and then your own inherent cringe bounces around inside your head for hours
-
I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?Not buying $100 bitcoin when it was $0.00001
-
Probably not exactly what you meant, but not going to college with my group of friends that did. They went for computer science because they were interested in it and are now doing very well for themselves. I was never that interested in it and am more "hands on" with physical stuff so I didn't feel like I should "waste" the money on that degree and figured I would spend time trying to figure out what I could do.
I never "found myself" and am currently living in someone's garage making not much money working in a factory that's going to be over 90°F today with 75+% humidity... So in my case the financial mistake was not taking out a loan.
If you weren't interested in computer science, going to college for it probably would have been a mistake. It sounds like your mistake was not finding your career niche early enough.
-
Not buying $100 bitcoin when it was $0.00001
My finger was hovering over buying about 250$ worth of bitcoins at around 0.20USD a pop. Back then I was pretty broke. I had been unemployed for a bit was burning through savings and struggling to pay rent, so it was hard to justify.
-
I had two: I fell for a predatory gym membership for 24/7 Hour Fitness that charged my card even though I couldn't enter the damn place without paying for an access card because "it expired". The fuCK? And years later, fell for another one because the credit card was imposed on me by an Amazon subcontractor during training. They made it seem mandatory for logistical reasons, and I was oblivious. They made it as hard as possible to cancel the damn thing so a lot of people fucked over their credit.
I've learned a lot since.
Gym memberships with predatory tactics are wild. An average Joe wouldn't think of needing to be cautios even with gym memberships
-
I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?Once fell for a high yield bitcoin scam.
-
My finger was hovering over buying about 250$ worth of bitcoins at around 0.20USD a pop. Back then I was pretty broke. I had been unemployed for a bit was burning through savings and struggling to pay rent, so it was hard to justify.
Same here, my paycheck barely covered my expenses and putting down $100 on some "crypto funny money" seemed like throwing money away
-
Probably not exactly what you meant, but not going to college with my group of friends that did. They went for computer science because they were interested in it and are now doing very well for themselves. I was never that interested in it and am more "hands on" with physical stuff so I didn't feel like I should "waste" the money on that degree and figured I would spend time trying to figure out what I could do.
I never "found myself" and am currently living in someone's garage making not much money working in a factory that's going to be over 90°F today with 75+% humidity... So in my case the financial mistake was not taking out a loan.
You've probably heard this a million times, but why not learn a trade?
-
You've probably heard this a million times, but why not learn a trade?
I tried my hand at HVAC but I absolutely cannot stand not having a schedule, nothing worse than getting home and getting a call that I have to go back out for... that and I live in an overpopulated area so driving in traffic every day was just adding to the stress. I was never more miserable than when working that job.
-
Your mistake wasn't the woman.
It was your inability to say no and set boundaries, especially when it involved money.
She would have left of her own accord without damaging the saving account. Boundaries would have made this a self-solving problem.
-
They changed it a few years back to default to the Lifecycle fund which matches your retirement date.
This is so much better. Glad they did that.
-
Not buying $100 bitcoin when it was $0.00001
Thats just the gen-z version of not investing in apple in the 90s. Missed opportunities are not the same as actual mistakes, they all involve risk and things that blow up like BTC are rare and hard to see before they are take off. Its best to not kick your self over not having a time machine.
-
Your mistake wasn't the woman.
It was your inability to say no and set boundaries, especially when it involved money.
That kinda sounds like victim blaming
-
I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?I didn't have a prenup drawn up. Bye house.
-
Thats just the gen-z version of not investing in apple in the 90s. Missed opportunities are not the same as actual mistakes, they all involve risk and things that blow up like BTC are rare and hard to see before they are take off. Its best to not kick your self over not having a time machine.
Then it would probably be getting credit cards.
Kids, don't get credit cards, sure there are some benefits but unless you are anal about your finances 24/7, you are going to mess up at some point. Instead, just save your money if possible and pay cash for everything. I know housing is super expensive and one can't just save money for a roof so there are some exemptions, but don't let the exceptions become the norm. Also, fuck those loans to buy daily stuff in multiple payments, there should never be a reason for you to need that (hopefully I'm not super disconnected from current financial reality)
-
Then it would probably be getting credit cards.
Kids, don't get credit cards, sure there are some benefits but unless you are anal about your finances 24/7, you are going to mess up at some point. Instead, just save your money if possible and pay cash for everything. I know housing is super expensive and one can't just save money for a roof so there are some exemptions, but don't let the exceptions become the norm. Also, fuck those loans to buy daily stuff in multiple payments, there should never be a reason for you to need that (hopefully I'm not super disconnected from current financial reality)
Credit cards are fine if your responsible with them. Don't run balances (unless you have to), use them as a buffer for your checking account, not a loan. Try and find one associated with your main bank, set a low balance limit (less than your savings, and try to get your savings over that limit), has decent rewards and has low fees. They are not in the business of screwing their existing customers, unlike a retail card, which has less of an incentive to behave.
The key adventage if you good at being a boring banking customer is dispute resolution. In the case of debit cards, you have to go after your own money. With credit cards, the bank has to go after its money, and they can put more effort into it than you can. (Plus enough credit card disputes will cause the card processor to drop the vendor, so... You have that card to play).
And your 100% correct on the micro-loan nonsense, thats not finance or credit, they are a scam.
