My Financial History

For what it is worth and for anyone who might be interested, here are the highlights and lowlights of my financial history.

I graduated from high school in the early 1980's with no set future plans. I ended up joining the military for a short 6 month stint. Once I got out of the military I started working for a certain pizza delivery operation that advertised "30 minute delivery or it is free".

I ended up managing two different stores and making about $24,000 a year. I left that job and decided to go back to school and get some type of college education.

I chose to get an AS degree in a healthcare field that in 1990 paid me about $20,000 per year. I earned merit raises of about 5% each year and had the opportunity to earn additional income at a second job. The most I ever grossed was about $36,000. I managed to put away about $25,000 in my retirement funds during the 7.5 years I worked in healthcare. During this time I was also going to school part-time so I could get a "real" job. I did not pay much attention to paying off debt or establishing an emergency fund.

I then quit my full-time job and went to school full-time for the last 18 months of my education. I earned very little and lived off of what little savings I had, credit cards, and student loans. The kicker was that most of my student loans were unsubsidized, meaning that they accrued interest while I was in school, due to the fact that I had worked full-time prior to quitting my job.

Graduation came and I had a $18,000 in student loans, several thousand in credit card debt, and a job offer for $41,000 a year. The most money I had ever made. I doubt that anyone in my immediate family had ever made more than that. Shortly after I started working I moved my 401k into an IRA. This was the height of the tech bubble and I saw half of my $25,000 savings evaporate in 9 months.

I have been with that same employer for the past 8 years and now earn $105,000. In the time that I have worked my "real" job I have never had one month that I did not have some type of credit card debt and most of that time I have had a car loan.

Today I am close to paying off my credit cards, I owe less that $10,000 on my car, about $10,000 on my student loans, I have a little money in the bank, and my retirement assets are worth about $82,000. I still have miles to go before I am financially comfortable but looking back I can see I have come a long way.