Do you credit anyone or anything else besides yourself for your financial success?

[ncbill]

The people I've met...both good (in-laws, friends) and bad (my immediate family) examples...if possible I prefer to learn from other people's mistakes.

The low-maintenance spouse whom I married when we were both just a year out of college.

Our low-maintenance kids.

 

[jazz4cash]

Bob Brinker

 

[COcheesehead]

My parents. Savings always came first - they were products of the Great Depression. Save for rainy days because they always happen.

 

[Dash man]

My ex wife led to my despising debt.
Dave Ramsey inspired me to get out of debt.
My loving wife encouraged frugal living, and earned a very good paycheck.
I learned how to invest our funds.
God has taught me charity and humility.

 

[OldShooter]

This type of thread always makes me smile. There are always lots of incredibly lucky people who are oblivious to the fact.

Dumb luck and my generally conservative nature.

This. I'm not sure how one measures this, but I'd say my life is something like 90% luck.

I was born in the US. 5% chance.
I was born white. 60-70% chance given US birth
I was born male 50%
I was born into an upper middle class family with college educated parents, Dad a doctor. 10%?
So ... before I ever pooped in a diaper I had won the lottery. Buffet calls this "The Ovarian Lottery."

In eighth grade, my uncle gave me an old short wave radio he had run across at a rummage sale. Consequence: This launched a techie career.

In college, the schedule was 4-1-4, two semesters of 4 classes and a concentrated January "interim" of one class. Luckily for me, one of the interim classes was Investing and I was smart enough to select it. Consequence: Both DW and I saved the 401k max from day zero of our post-college careers, beginning a joint strategy of aggressively saving and investing.

In graduate school I had a Taiwanese friend named Sing. Sing and I used to sit in the back row of classes and play gomoku. Sing had an electronics tech job at megacorp, they were looking for another tech, and was I interested? Consequence: This launched a very successful career in computer architecture and eventually high tech management.

... and so on. I have been surrounded by good luck my whole life. I'll take credit for exploiting it from time to time but probably I have missed more opportunities than I have recognized.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

I would say thanks to Bob Brinker and his Money Talk radio show we learned about Index funds and money stuff way back before our first computer. Unfortunately we were still young and we're not applying everything we were hearing. Still in the spending spree, 1st home fix it up like HGTV mode. It was fun but we would be way better off of we have saved more at a younger age. Who wouldn't be?

When we got our first computer with the blazen 56k modem we discovered The Montley Fools web site back when it was all about Indexing Funds being the Foolish way to invest and beat the active mutual funds. I still have a ton of info I printed out from their website in a binder. Remember back then...printing everything you found online.... LOL? Unfortunately they have changed their tune and now seem to push the we can beat the market too BS...
Then discovered Dave Ramsey on the radio around 2007 or so while eating lunch in my car at work. His debt is dumb, cash is king and the paid off home mortgage is taking the place of the BMW in the driveway as the status symbol of America caught my attention. Those debt free screams callers sharing there stories were very inspiring. Dave Ramsey convinced us to final get out of all debt and act our wage. Don't care for his investment advice or how rude and angry he has gotten over the years unfortunately.
Have learned a lot here too..

And then there are my parents who were good role models. They lived a modest life and never ran up huge debts trying to keep up with the Jones. They set a pretty good example of live within your means.

 

[pacergal]

My parents: Dad for sharing his financial wisdom, Mom for sharing her giving nature, and living well but frugally.
They instilled the basic advice for any income: Give to God/or charity of choice, Give to yourself (save something every paycheck), Live on the rest (LBYM as best you can).

We had many years we barely squeaked by, and had debt to pay off. Sometimes I thought to cut back on automated savings, but we didn't. And learned to live on less to get things paid off.
I also credit watching Suze Orman show and Gayle VazOxlades "til Debt Do you Part" show for really giving me the incentive to start looking at what/how we were saving and spending at the time, with two kids and their costs.

And finding this Forum--I lurked for a while before joining! I continually learn from all of you.
Thanks.

 

[travelover]

I credit it to my skill in picking grandparents. White, middle class Americans who valued education. I did screw up in the baldness gene, but on the whole, I was pretty good considering my early age at the time.

 

[calmloki]

Two intelligent parents: Mom was the dreamer who fantasized and hunted for big western ranches - Dad was the hard working man that generated enough money to buy little chunks of land with inconsequential houses and the skills to do what they needed - like drilling wells. Through my time with them they went from homesteading in Alaska to a 137 acre ranch in Oregon stocked with Herefords - and Dad kept working throughout.

Tom Vu commercials pissed me off - buying distressed property I understood, but the bevy of bikini babes on the fantail of a yacht or draped over a Bentley as success indicators just seemed crass and far from elegant.

I ended up a dreamer who fantasized about really big project properties that would take millions to restore and who partnered up with a girl who just will not quit when she gets her teeth into a project. We bought the beat up near demolition distressed dream properties we could afford, and her drive shamed me into actually gaining some skills and persisting - much to be said for continuing to do long after others would quit.

 

[Trailwalker]

Another ovarian lottery winner and then lots more dumb luck surviving some of the poor choices that I made in my youth. I don't gamble or play the lottery because I figure that I've used up most of my luck already.

 

[RockyMtn]

"Do you credit anyone or anything else besides yourself for your financial success?"

Besides a career with good pay, a LBYM philosophy to get savings to invest, and some good runs on the market?

I guess just general good luck.

+1

 

[Letj]

Mine is mostly attributed to luck - frugal parents, frugal genes and the innate ability to delay gratification, growing up poor and knowing how to conserve resources, good career with the same company for 23 years, imitating friends who were investing in real estate (my inner competitive spirit) and most importantly working around accountants and other finance people who were always investing and talking about the stock market (this led me to change my MBA from a concentration in Economics to Finance and Accounting).

 

[harllee]

When I was a teenage girl in the 60s it appeared that the only real career options for me was to be a teacher or a nurse. I never thought of becoming a doctor, lawyer, engineer or something like that. Then I had a high school teacher who saw potential in me and encouraged me to think broader. As consequence after I got my undergraduate degree I had the confidence to continue my education and enter a profession where I excelled and made a substantial amount of money. If it had not been for my high school teacher I would never have considered the profession I went into and most likely could not have retired early, etc. I frequently think of my teacher and am very thankful to him.

 

[Sojourner]

Sure, I worked my ass off, making good money, living below my means and planning for the future. But without certain amount of dumb luck I wouldn’t be where I am.

IMHO, that "certain amount of dumb luck" you've had is 100%. IOW, luck is the entire reason why you are as financially successful as you are, and it's why anyone is as financially successful as they are. If you really think about it, every single thing about "you" came from places, people, or events entirely not of your doing. You were born to parents who gave you their DNA and raised you in a certain manner and environment, none of which you chose or controlled. Various people came into your life—friends, teachers, relatives, etc.—and influenced you in ways that shaped you as a person. Various random, unpredictable events happened that profoundly affected your life (e.g., you came across a book or TV show or magazine article that resonated with you). Not one single thing about your financial success, or about any aspect of your life or anyone else's, is due to anything other than pure luck. Very difficult for most people to accept this, but IMHO it's clearly true.

Some people will push back on this and say "Sure, I didn't choose my genes or the way I was raised, but I did control my good decision making. It was ME who decided to take that class in personal finance and investing and who decided to study hard and graduate with honors so I could get a high-paying job, etc., etc." But the obvious fallacy in this line of thinking is that your decision making comes from your brain, and your brain at any moment is just a combination of your genetics (not of your doing), your upbringing (not of your doing), and all the things that have happened to you throughout life (not of your doing). Luck really is everything.

 

[street]

Two intelligent parents: Mom was the dreamer who fantasized and hunted for big western ranches - Dad was the hard working man that generated enough money to buy little chunks of land with inconsequential houses and the skills to do what they needed - like drilling wells. Through my time with them they went from homesteading in Alaska to a 137 acre ranch in Oregon stocked with Herefords - and Dad kept working throughout.

Tom Vu commercials pissed me off - buying distressed property I understood, but the bevy of bikini babes on the fantail of a yacht or draped over a Bentley as success indicators just seemed crass and far from elegant.

I ended up a dreamer who fantasized about really big project properties that would take millions to restore and who partnered up with a girl who just will not quit when she gets her teeth into a project. We bought the beat up near demolition distressed dream properties we could afford, and her drive shamed me into actually gaining some skills and persisting - much to be said for continuing to do long after others would quit.

I love your history and trail you left in life! I would buy your book if you ever wrote one. A motivating journey that would make many get up and get started. Thanks

 

[aja8888]

"Do you credit anyone or anything else besides yourself for your financial success?"

No, after a California divorce at age 50, which resulted in the early sale of both California houses at "fire sale" prices, followed by a job loss, FEAR and HARD WORK got me through the next decade and a half with enough $$$ to make retirement a reality. Plus, I put two children through college with no loans and paid off two Texas houses while that was going on. I'm still not sure how I pulled this off.

 

[athena53]

Luck really is everything.

There's still some free will. Most of us know families where the kids were brought up with the same values and examples but one sibling made good decisions and the other didn't. I guess that you could say that having some of the personality characteristics that lead to financial success- ability to delay gratification, solid work ethic, etc. are also part of how you're wired and thus due to luck but I'm not sure. I look back at places where I could have made bad decisions- a fancy new car every year, squandering the proceeds from the sale of the marital home on Stuff ("because I deserve it") using the house as an ATM via home equity loans- and I never did.

 

[razztazz]

There's still some free will. Most of us know families where the kids were brought up with the same values and examples but one sibling made good decisions and the other didn't. I guess that you could say that having some of the personality characteristics that lead to financial success- ability to delay gratification, solid work ethic, etc. are also part of how you're wired and thus due to luck but I'm not sure. I look back at places where I could have made bad decisions- a fancy new car every year, squandering the proceeds from the sale of the marital home on Stuff ("because I deserve it") using the house as an ATM via home equity loans- and I never did.

All your "good" decisions (and mine and everybody's) are only good after they've worked out. That is determined by all the other things that happened or didn't happen in confluence and sequence to define your prior decisions/actions as good or bad. Might call it the invisible hand of of the marketplace on a higher level. If it were possible to simply make good decisions we'd all simply make them. It also sounds like guaranteeing outcomes. I did "this" therefore "that." Don't think we've come that far.

 

[Helen]

My parents for encouraging and paying for my college, for talking to me about saving for retirement and for living frugally, and for the inheritance.

My brother for teaching me (by example) why not to run up a credit card debt.

My wife for being frugal.

intercst (John Greaney) of the Motley Fool for the Retire Early board.

This forum for all the wisdom, information and wise members.

It's been a great journey.

 

[rkser]

1) Studying & training for many many years for a better paying career of being a doctor & working hard at it.
2) The collective wisdom of this Forum & also Bogleheads.org at keeping my saving & investing straight & narrow, being lucky with a historic bull market.
3) Living below our means, a frugal wife & a reasonable lifestyle

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, born here, male & white. Pops was an electrical engineer, stay at home Mom, got the parental funded degree in electrical engineering and worked in a recession proof ever expanding field, industrial automation.

Then all I needed to know about finance was taught by Pops;

All I needed to know about finance I learned from Pops. He was a man of few words.

1) You can make a million a year but if you spend a million a year you aren't going to have anything, so save some. These savings while small but growing will enable you to buy furniture and appliances without credit.

2) When you've saved enough for a down payment, buy a house. The difference between rent and mortgage is small and the government helps you with interest and you keep building equity. The mortgage should be your only debt.

3) When your savings have recovered from the down payment and the move in expenses, start buying stocks. That's where you'll make the most.

 

[Letj]

IMHO, that "certain amount of dumb luck" you've had is 100%. IOW, luck is the entire reason why you are as financially successful as you are, and it's why anyone is as financially successful as they are. If you really think about it, every single thing about "you" came from places, people, or events entirely not of your doing. You were born to parents who gave you their DNA and raised you in a certain manner and environment, none of which you chose or controlled. Various people came into your life—friends, teachers, relatives, etc.—and influenced you in ways that shaped you as a person. Various random, unpredictable events happened that profoundly affected your life (e.g., you came across a book or TV show or magazine article that resonated with you). Not one single thing about your financial success, or about any aspect of your life or anyone else's, is due to anything other than pure luck. Very difficult for most people to accept this, but IMHO it's clearly true.



Some people will push back on this and say "Sure, I didn't choose my genes or the way I was raised, but I did control my good decision making. It was ME who decided to take that class in personal finance and investing and who decided to study hard and graduate with honors so I could get a high-paying job, etc., etc." But the obvious fallacy in this line of thinking is that your decision making comes from your brain, and your brain at any moment is just a combination of your genetics (not of your doing), your upbringing (not of your doing), and all the things that have happened to you throughout life (not of your doing). Luck really is everything.

Absolutely this! There will be no shortage of people who will smugly argue that their hard work and ingenuity got them there. Anyone who says that just needs to look at how socio-economic factors within a family often influence life outcome. Is a child born with certain advantages lucky?

 

[jollystomper]

I credit everything besides myself for my "success" . Everything that I have done, anyone else could have done and achieve the same, or likely even greater, level of "success".

Some say it all luck, some say it is all environment, some say it is your decisions... in truth it is a combination of them.

I am male, but not white, a dark-skinned minority from an immigrant family. One would assume that would be a barrier for success ("think how easier things would have been for you if you were born white!"). Perhaps in a general sense... but I still wonder if I would have had the same drive and pursuit to "prove" myself and do as best as possible, instead of taking things from granted. It is an interesting point to think about.

My parents knew the reality of coming to a place at a time when they were sure to face a lot of racial issues, and where English was not my father's native language. until I just before my teen years we lived in one of the worst ghettos in the U.S. But the luck to me was, while they accepted this as a reality, they still encouraged us to for further, emphasizing education and behavior.

I was fortunate to make good decisions, but in many cases "fear" was the driving factor. I tend to have a "it could happen to me" outlook when it came to things that could mess up your life:
- Seeing bad things happen to people when I was young (dead overdose victims, friends murdered, lives radically changed - both male and female - by pregnancies in their teens, etc.) put a fear of going down those paths in me, and I tried to behave to avoid those things.
- I saw education as the great "equalizer" that in school would help me transcend any racial "stereotypes" other might apply to me. I feared not being seem as "equal" in others eyes, and sought not only to be "equal", but "better".
- Getting into an Ivy League was not a time to rest on any laurels, but introduced the fear of "this is an opportunity many others do not get. Do not blow it".
- My career and personal financial life had the element of "this is privilege, do not take it for granted, there is not safety net" fear. I saved very well, invested okay, and always sought to personally "prove myself to myself" during my working career.

While this "fear" might have seemed stressful, it was not. I found as long as I felt I did my best, I was at peace, regardless of the outcome. Because part of my "luck" was, even at times of failure, others will notice your efforts, so all is not lost .

I differ with those who attribute everything to luck, as they tend to assume that the "luck" that benefits someone is always "good luck". But there were many instances where I experienced "bad Luck" than in the long run turned out to bring me to a more successful path than the "good luck" would have.

 

[OldShooter]

... Some say it all luck, some say it is all environment, some say it is your decisions... in truth it is a combination of them. ...

Excellent post and several good points. I too disagree with @sojourner to the extent that I believe what you do with luck is a factor in what life you end up with. I think several of your points support this notion, but I think you would agree that things would have been better if your winnings in the ovarian lottery had been better. Not to diss your parents at all, but just to observe that the cards you were dealt ref life circumstances were a tougher hand to play than my cards were.

 

[npage]

John Greaney, was in college in early stages of internet access (mid 90's) and for some reason on a slow dial up stumbled into his page, I think it was geocities.

To this day I do not know why or how I ended up there. I suspect he put the idea in my head then, or maybe I had it already and I searched. Not really sure. Regardless there was no FIRE crowd or anything. I read his page over and over and put the wheels in motion. Shortly after him discovered Paul Terhorst's book.