Financial Freedumb and Brownie

Question from charles on post about my net worth:  Being as young as you are, how is it that you have so much cash on hand? Was it through cashing out investments or via money savings only? I am 35 and am really looking to increase my struggling savings account. Thanks.

Charles,

Most of my net worth was gained through savings.  I started working as soon as I could get a worker’s permit, age 14.  I was lucky there because my dad knew a small business owner who took me in and hired me to help where ever I could.  It was a great job because it dealt with computers, and I could go in after school and had no required hours.

From that point on, I never stopped working.  And I didn’t stop saving.

Then in college, I was given a scholarship that gave me another boost financially.  I also worked.  At one point, I was working two jobs, one on the weekends and one during the week.  Yes, I still managed to have a life, too.  Barely, but I did.  My exchange was sort of my “vacation” from all the work.

Finally, I got my current job in 2000–right at the end of the dotcom boom.  I definitely had gotten in at the right time.  A few years later, my salary might have been lower.  A few years earlier, my salary might have been nicer, but then I might have been more heavily invested in stocks.  If you read this post, I talk about my starting salary, which was $61.5k.  I also was given a package that included moving fees, rental subsidy, and a few other perks.

I never disclosed this information previously, but when I was deciding whether or not to take my current job, I actually had two choices on the table.  Both with the same company, but different departments.  It was an interesting decision because I know for a fact that had I gone with the other department, I would not be where I am today.  They couldn’t match my starting offer to begin with anyway.

As far as the investments go, I’ve never been really successful in investing.  In fact, I’m still down from money that I placed into my Roth IRA in 1997.  In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever recover that.  The good thing about it is that it was when I didn’t have much cash to invest in the first place, so the impact was minimal.  I can only imagine what I would have felt like if my portfolio was knocked in half today.  That might be the reason I’m so conservative now.

Good luck with your savings.  If you have any other questions, let me know.

Regards,
Freedumb