Your Dumbest Financial Move

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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RenoJay
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Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by RenoJay »

I'm sure this topic has been done before, but I thought it would be fun to start a thread.

What's the dumbest financial decision you've made in your life?

For me, I bought a business and ignored several red flags during due diligence. Also, I ignored my accountant's review of the financials when he suggested I don't buy the business. I ended up taking a huge loss (about $100k) when I flipped the business just nine months after purchase. The lessons learned are to be very wary when entering new financial territory and be willing to walk away when you get that feeling in your bones that things just aren't adding up. I was very anxious to buy an income stream, and I paid the price.
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mhc
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by mhc »

I had some stock options that were worth $99k+. I was waiting for them to hit $100k before I sold. The company tanked, and I think I ended up with about $10k.

Just one of many bad decisions in my financial life. Easy come, easy go.
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bengal22
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by bengal22 »

loaned my brother money
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gator15
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by gator15 »

This move isn't dumb for most people, but was dumb for me for a variety of reasons. My dumbest move was buying an Audi RS4. The car was beautiful, fast and in pristine condition. It was my dream car. The problem is I was scared to drive it and as a result I never drove it. It was a trophy. I drove it occasionally. My fear was the possibility that the car may get a few dings or scratches. My worst fear actually happened. I drove it one day to a grocery store and came out to find someone had rear ended the car while I was inside. It was a hit and run. The bill was $1,000. After the accident that only increased my fears. After having it for a few months I decided to sell. I never felt comfortable owning the car. I love cars. I think I enjoy looking at them more than owning them. I will stick to window shopping going forward. I spent $47k for the car and sold at a $2k lost. I guess this isn't bad. The reality is I shouldn't have owed the car anyway.
maroon
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by maroon »

Hi RenoJay, I greatly enjoy your posts!

I know this topic has been discussed before, because I remember contributing! My dumbest financial move was buying investment property (land) back in 2006-2007. It's now worth maybe 1/3 of what I paid back then, sigh.
Last edited by maroon on Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
stoptothink
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by stoptothink »

Made a very significant amount of money(mid 6 figures) in RE development during the boom and being I was in my early-mid 20's I put absolutely none of it away. Continued to roll everything into new projects. Ended up losing every single penny, and then some, when it crashed.
Last edited by stoptothink on Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ed 2
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Ed 2 »

I bought smartphone and signed contract for two years with Verizon. Though to look smarter, ended up been total fool. One year left thank God.
"The fund industry doesn't have a lot of heroes, but he (Bogle) is one of them," Russ Kinnel
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aja8888
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by aja8888 »

Lent money to my stepdaughter when she was (still is a year later) going through a divorce..... :oops:
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Jerilynn
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Jerilynn »

Dumbest financial move was buying whole life insurance. Fortunately, it was many years ago so it was a pretty cheap way to learn a valuable lesson.
Cordially, Jeri . . . 100% all natural asset allocation. (no supernatural methods used)
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Toons
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Toons »

Hmm let me see,real estate and cable limited partnerships,dogs of the dow unit trusts,us surgical stock,latin american sector funds right after they soared in the early nineties,reit unit trusts, :happy
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itypefast
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by itypefast »

Buying a house in mid 2005 with fatal flaws because we could spend $$$ fixing them all and since nobody ever loses money on a house we thought we'd be OK.

Lost about $150,000 but at least we made a lot more than that with previous houses.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by cheese_breath »

My ex-wife and her boyfriend were going to get married soon after we divorced. I got the kids and the house in the divorce so I generously and stupidly agreed to pay her alimony until she remarried. After more of two years of them shacking up and not getting married I had to hire a lawyer to work out a new settlement to buy me out of the alimony agreement. They got married right after I paid her off.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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aja8888
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by aja8888 »

cheese_breath wrote:My ex-wife and her boyfriend were going to get married soon after we divorced. I got the kids and the house in the divorce so I generously and stupidly agreed to pay her alimony until she remarried. After more of two years of them shacking up and not getting married I had to hire a lawyer to work out a new settlement to buy me out of the alimony agreement. They got married right after I paid her off.
After two similar divorce experiences, I think I have it down pat now.... :moneybag
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NightOwl
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by NightOwl »

By a far sight my dumbest financial move was borrowing way too much money in student loans for the degree(s) that I was pursuing. I got lucky and with the help of a close friend got a great job (in a different field) that will allow me to pay off those loans. Admittedly, the graduate degrees were necessary credentials for my current job -- so in retrospect, it worked out -- but the expected value of borrowing the money at the time that I borrowed it was very much negative. I'm not going to confuse a good outcome with good strategy; I hit the inside straight. When I look back at my decisions, I shudder to think about how easily I could have been buried in debt for many, many years. A sobering experience.

I was also fortunate to make this mistake years ago when I was able to consolidate my Stafford loans at ~3%. Nowadays I believe that the lowest student loan interest rate is 6.8%, and god help you if you take out private loans.

Oh, another big mistake / retrospectively useful move was to invest through an FA who charged 1% per year and put me in a portfolio with several front-loaded and/or 2+% ER (I kid you not) funds -- investigating his investment decisions led me to Bogleheads within about 3 months of sending money to him, so that was a small amount of money incredibly well spent. I am grateful that I made a mistake that prompted me to type some things into Google, grateful for my good fortune in finding Bogleheads, and grateful that though I am often an idiot horse, when led to water I can sometimes be made to drink.

NightOwl
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Ed 2
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Ed 2 »

cheese_breath wrote:My ex-wife and her boyfriend were going to get married soon after we divorced. I got the kids and the house in the divorce so I generously and stupidly agreed to pay her alimony until she remarried. After more of two years of them shacking up and not getting married I had to hire a lawyer to work out a new settlement to buy me out of the alimony agreement. They got married right after I paid her off.

Karma will get her,trust me. 8-) I've been in the almost same situation and ended up happily married and she[my ex] ended up divorce the third time.I paid my dues and moved on become a Boglehead with financial stability and happiness.
"The fund industry doesn't have a lot of heroes, but he (Bogle) is one of them," Russ Kinnel
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jidina80
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by jidina80 »

Not investing in stocks when I was in my twenties. I thought they were too risky.

Second dumbest financial move: Buying stock in the company I worked for. My career already depended on the success of the company, so it was pretty stupid of me to add more risk from this company. I even thought I had an 'inside' view that would make it a good investment. Went from $22 per share to $4. Lost about $30K.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by cheese_breath »

Ed 2 wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:My ex-wife and her boyfriend were going to get married soon after we divorced. I got the kids and the house in the divorce so I generously and stupidly agreed to pay her alimony until she remarried. After more of two years of them shacking up and not getting married I had to hire a lawyer to work out a new settlement to buy me out of the alimony agreement. They got married right after I paid her off.

Karma will get her,trust me. 8-) I've been in the almost same situation and ended up happily married and she[my ex] ended up divorce the third time.I paid my dues and moved on become a Boglehead with financial stability and happiness.
Karma did get her. She and boyfriend divorced a few years later. She was on hubby 3 when she died of cancer at age 59. Too bad actually because hubby 3 might have been the right one for her.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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ClevrChico
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by ClevrChico »

Bought a house in 2007. Almost everything the agent I hired told me turned out to be wrong. Lesson learned.

When I do sell in 5 - 10 years, I hope to break even. We'll see.
MattE
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by MattE »

Can't say. I haven't done anything that was back-breaking, gratuitously stupid, or over an extended period of time because I didn't have the luxury of doing so and never had much money to make mistakes with till recently, anyway (moved out and became estranged from my family right after I graduated high school with nary a penny to my name). I'm only 23 though, so I suppose there's plenty of time to slip up somewhere down the line.
boglestan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by boglestan »

I had an appendectomy 6 years ago when I was working a crappy temp job with no insurance. Hospital bill was ~8500. Apparently, at the time (I don't remember this at all), I submitted an application for financial assistance, and should have been approved for 100% discount, but they needed income documentation and for some reason I never submitted it.

Fast forward to a year and a half ago, and I start paying $150/mo on it. (It was a state hospital, so the debt went to the state, and they charge no interest, so I intended to pay it rather slowly. They never garnished my wages, but I was concerned they would eventually.) I do that for a while, then something inspires me to look up their financial assistance policy. I talk to them, and figure out I could get a 100% discount. I even discover that I submitted the application 6 years ago, but never followed up on it! I finally submit documentation and am approved. No more payments! No more debt! However, the ~$2500 I already paid on it? Gone. No getting that back. Should've completed the application before I started making those payments... felt like such an idiot. :oops:

But I honestly wonder about that application I filled out 6 years ago. Did I procrastinate about submitting my documentation, and just eventually forgot altogether? Or maybe I filled out the paperwork in the heat of being in the emergency room, or in my post-op haze, and was never aware that they needed more information? Or maybe I didn't realize how massive the discount would be? I honestly have no idea, but it feels a bit fishy to me. I was in a much more chaotic financial situation back then, but I just can't imagine myself knowingly passing up a 100% discount on $8500.
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market timer
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by market timer »

It's really just been bad move after another. At least once you know you're an idiot, you can plan better for the future. The idiot without self awareness is a danger to himself.
Last edited by market timer on Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Wizard
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by The Wizard »

Ed 2 wrote:I bought smartphone and signed contract for two years with Verizon. Though to look smarter, ended up been total fool. One year left thank God.
Similar situation here, but for me, quite a good move...
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harrychan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by harrychan »

Joined one of those MLM schemes after being guaranteed by my friend that they would place their mother, who is a big time business woman in China, under us. Well their mother never joined and our garage is full of the crap we were required to buy as part of joining membership.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
harrychan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by harrychan »

At another instance. Did some side business that brought in $30k back in 2001. My friend, who was also a real estate agent, told me to buy a house. I was young and thought I couldn't afford the mortgage, didn't do any research. Hindsight, I was probably paying more rent than what mortgage was back then. The homes I would've been interested are all 3 x the value even after the price adjustments.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
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bertilak
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by bertilak »

harrychan wrote:Joined one of those MLM schemes after being guaranteed by my friend that they would place their mother, who is a big time business woman in China, under us. Well their mother never joined and our garage is full of the crap we were required to buy as part of joining membership.
Similar experience (MLM, but no mother in China). It was dumb, but not really devastating. We had soap products that lasted us 20 years! Some of the stuff was pretty good. Lots of nice handy squirt bottles.
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carolinaman
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by carolinaman »

I was executive in a small fast growing technology company that wanted to eventually issue an IPO. I had stock options and never exercised them because I knew their fragile financial situation. My division was making money but others were sustaining major losses. After i left the company they acquired a couple of other companies and went public. I could have sold my investment with 2000% to 3000% profit had I exercised the stock options.
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steelerfan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by steelerfan »

For me, the dumbest financial move was waiting so long to start. I lived pay check to pay check until about 3 1/2 years ago when I discovered Dave Ramsey and the Bogleheads (I know, it sounds like a musical group).
"As your wealth grows do not set your heart on it." steelerfan
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Tom_from_MI
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Tom_from_MI »

I bought 10 shares of Microsoft in the mid-80s. Sold it a couple of months later for some unknown reason. I calculated the "what if" amount in 2002 and with the stock splits, it would of had a value of over $68,000. Enough to have paid for two of my three kids' college education.
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Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Passed on a $14 dollar lottery ticket that has morphed into a value of roughly $1250 in the past 7 years - want to guess? Apple.
I could have had enough to pay off my mortgage, take a vacation and pay my kids college education - who knew?

In my 20's took several tips from those in the "know" - turns out they knew nothing and I had lost about $3K - thankfully, I limited my losses and just chalked it up to "nobody knows nothing", and that applies to the above as well. That lottery ticket could have easily been worth zero, things were that bad for Apple.

On insurance, got talked into buying a variable life insurance policy, I bailed out near the end of the 10 year declining back-end sales load, after figuring out that a 1.25% annual er on stock index funds, plus those monthly nickel and dime charges for
"administrative charges" and other assorted taxes was just too costly, I bailed and figured my net loss was about $2k. During this time, the company went from a mutual company to a stock ownership model, the shares I received as a result of holding the policy was enough to make my net loss become zero - I broke even on this deal. For the last 7 years, I've bought term and invested the rest.
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beareconomy
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by beareconomy »

Going to medical school
mptfan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by mptfan »

The most common dumb financial moves are:

1. Living above your means.
2. Buying more house than you should.
3. Marrying someone with different financial values.
4. Carrying credit card debt.
bigred77
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by bigred77 »

"GM will never ACTUALLY go bankrupt. they're about to hit $2 a share. I'll catch them there and sell on the bounce when it jumps to $3 a share. Easy Money!!"

Bought at $1.96
Sold at $0.88

Apperently GM CAN actually file for bankruptcy protection.

Luckily it only cost me about 2k and I made the whole hearted shift to bogleheadism.
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BigFoot48
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by BigFoot48 »

Bought 20 acres outside a small, rural (30 miles one way to Safeway) retirement community and built a custom home for our early retirement. Realized after 3 years that rural living was not for us, and that demand for homes in some rural areas is very low, and sold to the first offer for a $40,000 loss. Went back a few months ago after 10 years and not much had changed as far as development and services, confirming we at least made the right decision to move.

Much lower on the list was buying tech stocks during the tech bubble and thinking it would be different this time and the boom would never end.
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bungalow10
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by bungalow10 »

Purchased a 4-unit apartment building in 2007. Paid $308,000.

Had our first kid nine months later (after a lot of trying)... we we had a rental that needed babysitting and a baby we'd rather be spending our time with.

Fast forward to now, we have two kids and a rental that worth about 30k less than we bought it for. At least it cashflows, but it took a lot of effort to get it to that point. I'd love to sell it.

I also bought a house in 2003 at the tender age of 24 that needed quite a bit of work. We've sunk about 85k into a 160k house. It's now worth about 200k, but we love it and don't plan to move. It's a great place to raise our kids... so I guess it could be worse.
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Muchtolearn
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Muchtolearn »

Easy for me to say. Second marriage. Women had lifetime alimony from prior husband so we agreed to that in prenup beforehand. Marriage lasted 1 1/2 years. Then they challenged prenup and my lawyer said good because they'll get nothing. I wanted to follow it because of unknown fears of a female judge who I was worried about (not sure why)? They realized in discovery the prenup was good for them and it held. I started paying 2000 a month and she hassled me about life insurance and she didn't liek the policy i got to guarantee the alimony should i die.. I told my lawyer to buy her out. 350K. NO more wives.
mptfan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by mptfan »

Muchtolearn wrote:Easy for me to say. Second marriage. Women had lifetime alimony from prior husband so we agreed to that in prenup beforehand. Marriage lasted 1 1/2 years. Then they challenged prenup and my lawyer said good because they'll get nothing. I wanted to follow it because of unknown fears of a female judge who I was worried about (not sure why)? They realized in discovery the prenup was good for them and it held. I started paying 2000 a month and she hassled me about life insurance and she didn't liek the policy i got to guarantee the alimony should i die.. I told my lawyer to buy her out. 350K. NO more wives.
You had to pay alimony for a 1.5 year marriage? What did the prenup say?
Renaissance Man
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Renaissance Man »

Mine is minor by most standards but I am only 22. Bought two shares of Apple stock about 4 years ago, and then sold way way too soon. No 100% return or dividends for me :(
leod
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by leod »

Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit
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RenoJay
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by RenoJay »

leod wrote:Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit
Do you regret it, or was it just bad financially, but overall a worthy endeavor?
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

leod wrote:Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit
Sorry you feel that way. I have the opposite feeling, the value has been priceless.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
leod
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by leod »

RenoJay wrote:
leod wrote:Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit
Do you regret it, or was it just bad financially, but overall a worthy endeavor?
I was just replying to the question but I love my family :D
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SSSS
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by SSSS »

GRT2BOUTDOORS wrote:
leod wrote:Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit
Sorry you feel that way. I have the opposite feeling, the value has been priceless.
If it's "priceless" then it's not a good financial move, is it?
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aja8888
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by aja8888 »

mptfan wrote:
Muchtolearn wrote:Easy for me to say. Second marriage. Women had lifetime alimony from prior husband so we agreed to that in prenup beforehand. Marriage lasted 1 1/2 years. Then they challenged prenup and my lawyer said good because they'll get nothing. I wanted to follow it because of unknown fears of a female judge who I was worried about (not sure why)? They realized in discovery the prenup was good for them and it held. I started paying 2000 a month and she hassled me about life insurance and she didn't liek the policy i got to guarantee the alimony should i die.. I told my lawyer to buy her out. 350K. NO more wives.
You had to pay alimony for a 1.5 year marriage? What did the prenup say?
This sounds like a California type divorce with a bad lawyer.
Muchtolearn
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Muchtolearn »

mptfan wrote:
Muchtolearn wrote:Easy for me to say. Second marriage. Women had lifetime alimony from prior husband so we agreed to that in prenup beforehand. Marriage lasted 1 1/2 years. Then they challenged prenup and my lawyer said good because they'll get nothing. I wanted to follow it because of unknown fears of a female judge who I was worried about (not sure why)? They realized in discovery the prenup was good for them and it held. I started paying 2000 a month and she hassled me about life insurance and she didn't liek the policy i got to guarantee the alimony should i die.. I told my lawyer to buy her out. 350K. NO more wives.
You had to pay alimony for a 1.5 year marriage? What did the prenup say?
The wonderful woman had lifetime alimony from prior husband (he of course died a year later so that would have been over). Our prenup said I'd pay lifetime alimony to replace it. My lawyer said if I didn't want to stick to the prenup she might have gotten 6 months at best. I also was operating a little scared. I always believed that some males in her family were mob related. She told me once about how her father visited her first husband when there was a problem and the problem went away. So I wanted out without any complications. I could afford the lump sum as it was literally 4% of my net worth so I figured I'd make it back in a year (didn't know interest rates would be so low). So I probably just chickened out of the whole thing. She also got me to feel bad for her that she was now a two time loser and would never get another man.
fishndoc
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by fishndoc »

Well, almost too many to choose from, but in terms of amount of wasted money compared to my net worth at the time, it has to be buying a British sports car (TR7) back in the late 70's.
:oops:
" Successful investing involves doing just a few things right, and avoiding serious mistakes." - J. Bogle
mptfan
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by mptfan »

Muchtolearn wrote:The wonderful woman had lifetime alimony from prior husband (he of course died a year later so that would have been over). Our prenup said I'd pay lifetime alimony to replace it.
:shock:

The good news is it is behind you. :beer
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Jay69
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by Jay69 »

leod wrote:Getting married and having kids, it's a money pit

True

Could not be happier though, 9 more days = 20 years of bliss!
"Out of clutter, find simplicity” Albert Einstein
The Dark Knight
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by The Dark Knight »

My God, where do I begin?

Purely spending, especially in my college years.

I realized that I have been fortunate in the sense that I never had an income issue. I've always made a decent amount of money even going back to part time jobs I worked when I was a student.

But spending was killer. Sometimes I read about the responsible kids that come out of college actually up $20-30,000 in IRAs and savings because they were diligent about saving, and I am very jealous.

And by spending I mean the generic stuff - electronics, trips, cars, etc.

I did some simple mental accounting the other day and I think if I had not chosen to spend money on some of the things I did starting around age 20, and instead invested that money and/or applied it towards grad school (instead of taking out the loans and the interest that accrued), my net worth would be at least $50,000 higher right now about 10 years later. And this was just the simple stuff I actually remember spending money on.
TheGreyingDuke
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by TheGreyingDuke »

Years ago I bought Fidelity Magellan through my 457 plan, this was just as Peter Lynch was heading for the door. Pity I didn't follow him. Good part is I had little money so lost very little and then turned to a more Bogleish approach.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." H.G. Wells
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tludwig23
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Re: Your Dumbest Financial Move

Post by tludwig23 »

Buying a 1968 White (Csepel) 250cc motorcycle as a "project". With the time a spent finding parts in the pre internet era, I could have had a second job, or earned another degree.
That's what I do: I drink, and I know things. --Tyrion Lannister
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