What’s the 1 financial home run you hit?

[gcgang]

Bakken oil partnership in 2001.

[googily]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne Ok I am jealous. I kept thinking Amazon, no they only sell books, Amazon, no they'll lose money with all that free shipping, Amazon, oops I missed the boat!

If it makes you feel better, we sold a lot of it at a very acceptable profit, but not the profit that we could have had by not selling then (still have a little though, bought at $36.36). But, the flip side of selling "too soon" is that it helped pay for a wonderful trip to Europe, which was a real high point of our time together--and of course we didn't know then that in less than a year DH would be diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Which might be a helpful little example to us all that sometimes making the decision to spend some of the nest egg even when "holding" would mean more in the bank later isn't necessarily wrong.

[NanoSour]

Married a woman who would rather shop at consignment and thrift stores than at the local Nordstroms. If I had a nickel for every time she bragged about how little she paid for her clothes, I'd be a ....

[ChicagoGal]

Well, I guess I was hit by a curveball, but it got me to first base. The best thing that got me started financially came out of the worst thing that ever happened to me.

My mom died when I was 15. She didn't have much (recently divorced, went back to get her college degree and had just started a teaching job), but what she did have went into a trust for my sisters and me. But the trust stipulated that we would receive our share when we each turned 24 (she wanted to make sure that we finished college and got a job first). And it must have been invested well. So 9 years later when I turned 24, it was enough for a downpayment on a condo that I never would have been able to save the money for, at least not from my first job. And 10 years later, I sold that condo for more than 2.5X what I paid for it. So all the money I would have had to pay for rent for the last 30 years I've been able to save.

And then the next couple of bases by having a good megacorp job for almost 25 years (complete with a dinosaur modest pension) and living within my means by: 1) saving as much as I can, 2) skimping where I don't care (14 year old car, rarely eating out) and 3) splurging where I get the most enjoyment (good food, travel). Mom set a good example that stuck with me, and Dad has been a great coach my whole life.

Haven't crossed home plate to retirement yet, but hopefully that's in the next inning or so.

[FIREmenow]

Not really a Home Run, more like a whole lot of singles - LBYM, and sticking to it.

[gcgang]

Another good one, QCOM +2,625% since 1996, may come to an end w possible Broadcom acquisition.

[CoolRich59]

As much as I despised my previous j@b with megacorp, I do have to concede that their stock options will enable me to retire much sooner than I would have been able to otherwise.

When I first got hired their stock was in the high $20s/low $30s and I just sat on the options. Fast forward several years when I had had enough and made the sudden decision to quit. I then realized that once I terminated my employment those options were gone.

So, late on the Friday before my last day, I sold them all when the stock was at about $75. I'm sure I would have done better if I would have planned it, but after taxes I tripled my retirement savings.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcgang Another good one, QCOM +2,625% since 1996, may come to an end w possible Broadcom acquisition.

Oh man. Back in the day, before Qualcomm was even on most people's radar, I had knowledge of what was going to happen to that then-little company.

I could not buy, but suggested to my sister (the only person I knew with any money) that it would not be a bad idea if she did.

She didn't and I have never let her forget it.

[dvalley]

The no 1 would be picking a good degree (because it was what I loved at the time) got lucky and made above avg salary from day one.

A close 2nd was buying my first house in the early 2000s, sold it for a $110k profit- that was my first $100k and I got it by doing nothing. Then used it to buy the current home after marriage. Then the divorce took it all away...and much more. Managed to buy the ex out of the house while eating Ramen Noodles for a while. Today the equity is $300k, so still a good investment for something I use/live-in every day.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChicagoGal ....My mom died when I was 15. She didn't have much (recently divorced, went back to get her college degree and had just started a teaching job), but what she did have went into a trust for my sisters and me. But the trust stipulated that we would receive our share when we each turned 24 (she wanted to make sure that we finished college and got a job first). And it must have been invested well. So 9 years later when I turned 24, it was enough for a downpayment on a condo that I never would have been able to save the money for, at least not from my first job. ....

Your mom was a smart cookie to do that for you girls.... wise beyond her years.

[Doc0]

I bought some BTC in 2015 when it was $275

[USA]

My first car loan was my last.

[Montecfo]

I was well coached early. My mom said, "the only way to have anything in life is to save and invest". I think I was 6 or 7 years old.

I was able to go deep a number of times.

DW who shares my values.

10 bagger on Analog Devices AD I. Sold right before tech crash in 2000.

Largest single important financial move was not selling in 2008 when people were panicking. And making new equity investments in beaten down equities with new money in 2009. One example was Williams Companies (WMB), which I added to and eventually when they announced their merger here a few yrs ago (which never happened-good thing I cashed out).

Tried to not leave runners on base!

[gcgang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolRich59 Oh man. Back in the day, before Qualcomm was even on most people's radar, I had knowledge of what was going to happen to that then-little company.

I had a subscription to George Gilder's Technology Letter. He was very entertaining and informative in describing the emerging technologies. They had an online community where people described their "diversified " portfolios of hardware, software, chips, etc. one guy in particular I remember issuing "sage advice" on tech only portfolios from his boat in the Caribbean. Don't know where he is today.

In retrospect, I think I actually had a larger gain on QCOM in 1999 than I do today. Lol.

[FireBug]

Cubic zirconia (JK)

[Urchina]

Graduated from college (undergraduate and graduate degrees) without debt. Funded with scholarships, some help from Mom & Dad, and good old-fashioned work. My graduate degree years were also pretty minimalistic in the lifestyle department. Can't believe the house I rented a tiny room in wasn't condemned.

Midway through my grad program randomly picked up a copy of Amy Dacyczyn's The Complete Tightwad Gazette. From there found Robin & Dominguez's Your Money or Your Life.

Straight down the FIRE road since then. Not there yet, totally OK with that.

[audreyh1]

The small tech company I went to work for. Overshadows everything else. Of course I took advantage of the opportunity and used the windfall wisely.

[garyt]

I bought Netflix at $34. Sold it at somewhere over $200. It went on a roller coaster ride and got up to $700, but I never would've held on when it went from over $300 down to $50 or something

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns Surprised with the responses and lack of power, I see lots of dinks and dunks, singles and doubles but not many base clearing hits. I thought I’d see some early Apple or Facebook holders or some business owner who blew up their business or some similar stories

You are thinking like most of the general population. They think they can't save money and win the game while blowing money every week. It's that money that many on this forum saved and invested to win the game.
"Base clearing hits" are few and far between.

[brucethebroker]

Few home runs (HR), but:

Married the right person. (HR)
Learned investment real estate by reading up on it.
Learned as much as I could about IRS taxes and how to reduce them.
Self employed for 30 years.
Income tax free cash out from primary residence. (Have used it 4 times). (HR)
4 years on a company 401-k. DW 4.5 years.
Downsizing our home (three times).
Selling our second car (4 years ago).
Buying two properties in 2013, just as the market was coming off the bottom. (HR)
Qualifying for ACA subsidy in semi-retirement.

And, finally learning to LBYM.