Unknown financial hero

[Helena]

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When I was in elementary school, our teacher took us on a field trip to the local bank and we opened a savings account. Then about once a month, we could give money to the teacher and she would deposit it into our accounts. I remember having $89 in that account when I graduated high school.

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[traineeinvestor]

For me it was the anti-heroes that made the biggest impact.

I started my legal career a couple of years after the 1987 sharemarket crash which precipitated the worst economic conditions my home country had seen in decades. As a young lawyer, I was put to work on corporate insolvencies and mortgagee sales - seeing first hand people loosing their businesses, their investments and their homes was a lesson I will never forget. More than two decades later, I can still recall some of the names and faces of those who lost everything because they were unable to service their debt. I sometimes wonder whether any of them managed to pick themselves up again.

While I have often used leverage when buying real estate (and am comfortable still carrying mortgage debt into retirement), I have always given myself a big margin of safety. I could have been richer and/or retired a few years earlier if I had been a more aggressive investor, but I have never lost sleep because of the size of my debts.

 

[RetireAge50]

Bruce Williams, used to listen to him all the time when I was a teenager.

 

[Cassius King]

Growing up I was always good with money. Growing up poor will do that. I lost my way in college. Had grandeur ideas of a large income when I graduated and justified my spending.
Got that straightened out. Got a job, home, family and was steady sailing. 401k, some savings, roth, etc.

Got a new boss that I can't stand, but really liked my job. Didn't see eye to eye with him, had a rough year at work and he wrote me up to HR and "put me on watch".

Told myself I wasn't going to let this a$$hole dictate my finances and control what happens to my family. From the moment I signed that HR paper, I paid off every cent of debt I had. Only carry a small, cheap, mortgage now. No other debt. Upped my 401k, and my Roth. Increased my LBYM lifestyle and created a rainy day FU account with his name on it. All within a couple of years, changed my entire outlook and possibilities. I have much more freedom and choice now. I continue to increase my savings and investments on a regular basis. I'm much happier now being in control.

One day, about a year ago, I told him of my FU account. And that I could walk away from Corporate America and go to work at a golf course and leave my investments on autopilot and be fine. Every since that day he has treated me with respect and has been much better. It's seems like he knows almost all of the people that report to him live paycheck to paycheck and need the job, so he can treat them however he pleases.

So unlike others, I didn't have much of a mentor, rather had an irritant.

 

[Cassius King]

I don't like being the last person to post in a thread. Feel like a thread killer, lol.

This is a great topic to read about, please post more.

 

[2017ish]

I don't like being the last person to post in a thread. Feel like a thread killer, lol.

This is a great topic to read about, please post more.

Nah, not a thread killer--actually a pretty good story of another way to get motivated!

For me, no unknown financial hero; was able to go to college, met DW, saw that her people lived/thought differently than my people.... Then after law school devouring the local library's finance section and realizing what could (and eventually did) happen when a couple has good income and regularly saves/invests.

 

[Cooked]

In the early 80s my megacorp came out with a TDSP (Tax Deferred Saving Plan). I later learned that it was a 401k. We were presented this opportunity to save as an additional supplement to the traditional pension.

After the meeting, I had the good fortune to chat with an older employee. He said something like, "Well they are offering this plan for a reason. And the reason is that they want to exit the pension business."

Fast forward to May 1999. This same megacorp announced the end of traditional pensions. There was some grandfathering. The grandfathering was tiered.

I had the opportunity to be grandfathered into the old plan, but because of that fortunate conversation in the early 80s it was not necessary.

I remember this wise man clearly and had tried to provide equal insight to the youngsters behind me. Fortunately for me, he was a better teacher than I was.

Full disclosure. Like the OP, I heard the advice but it took me a while to fully comprehend its meaning.

 

[mystang52]

I might be that financial hero. At 2 different employers, I convinced 2 different employees to start contributing to 401K. Each was not a high wage earner. In both cases, a time came later that they came into my office to thank me. Stories were virtually identical: they never had any savings, and were thrilled to see they had finally accumulated - and didn't miss - some savings.

 

[brett]

My grandfather used to tell me that if I took care of the dimes the dollars would take care of themselves. When I got my first paper route he made me an offer. Every Christmas I would show him my bank book. He would give me a bonus of 25 percent for every dollar that I had saved during the year.

When I got my first sales position in IT there were lots of high rollers in the commission sales team. My bosses boss, our VP, advised me to ignore their spending habits with the advice that it is not about how much you make but rather how much you keep.

I heeded both of those counsels.