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When people hear that I paid off $300,000 of debt in three years and built my first $1 million of net worth in my 30s, here are some of the reactions I get:
I could never do that.
It’s too late for me.
I’m in debt and have no savings. Becoming a millionaire is just a dream.
As I delved into these conversations, a pattern emerged. It turns out most people assumed I was able to dramatically improve my finances because I’m smart, educated, and always good with money.
And that’s partially true! I do believe I’m smart and educated. My husband, AJ, and I have learned to be resourceful, vowing that we wouldn’t make the mistakes our immigrant Filipino parents made with money when they moved to the US.
But that doesn’t mean we didn’t make plenty of our own mistakes along the way. In fact, we’ve made some of the biggest: like losing tens of thousands of dollars on a house, making bad investments that turned to $0, and incurring fees and penalties by pulling money out of our 401(k).
Here’s the secret: you don’t have to be perfect to be wealthy. You just have to keep trying. In this new series of columns, which I’m calling Mess to Million, I’ll share the lessons I learned from a lifetime of money fails — and how I recovered to build the financial life of my dreams. Hopefully you can avoid some of these mistakes yourself. But even if you don’t, rest assured: your mess can still lead to millions.
Pro Tip
This is the first of a 5-part column from Bernadette Joy. In “Mess to Million,” she’ll show that you don’t have to be perfect to get rich. Follow @nextadvisor on Instagram for updates and live Q&As with Bernadette.
Mistake No. 1: We Bought a Home That Turned Out To Be a Money Pit
AJ bought his first home in 2009 in upstate New York, before we met. Both of us, in our 20s, thought he had done great buying a house so young. Being a homeowner means you’re a responsible adult, right? And owning a home is wiser than renting, right?
Not in our case. When we got married in 2011, we were …….
Source: https://time.com/nextadvisor/financial-independence/money-mistakes-to-avoid/