Financial Decisions: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

October 10, 2007 · Filed Under · 8 Comments 

Million Dollar BillA $60,000 golf membership, a huge student loan for a degree that was never completed, and expensive brand new cars made the list of bad financial decisions from the M-Network. This is a group of 11 great personal finance blogs, and recently they have been talking about their worst and best financial decisions. Some very interesting reading. It made me ponder my own good and bad money moves over the course of my adulthood. So I decided to put fingers to keys and join in the discussion.

First Off: The Good

Now this one is easy for me. Back in 2002 my business had a great year and when it came tax time my accountant gave my wife and I the advice of opening a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA. The advantages of the SEP was that I could contribute more than I could to a Roth IRA and there were no administrative costs since I was self employed and had no employees. As a matter of fact, I could contribute either $42,000 or 25% of my income before tax, whichever is less. Since I was in a pretty high tax bracket, essentially the government was funding a BIG chunk of my retirement account. It really was a great move, but I remember how hard it was at the time to lock up such a large amount of money in our retirement account. Although I am really glad I did because it has grown by over 25% over the past few years.

Now The Bad & The Ugly

Eeek…this part makes my shutter. Here are the top 5 bad and ugly financial decisions I have made.

  1. I used credit cards like they were going out of style. One purchase really sticks out in my mind, I was a junior in college and bought a Sony CD Discman for $300 on my credit card. I could have had a very nice model for $75. I paid off that stupid Discman for what seemed like forever.
  2. Similar to #1, I was a senior in high school and bought a pair of Z. Cavarrici Jeans for $100 because I thought they would make me look cool!
  3. And for the ugly…I bought a new Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 2500 four years ago when a used 1500 model with 20-30k miles on it would have saved me at least $12,000. I will finally pay it off next year. The new car smell was nice, but not $12,000 nice.

Check Out M-Network’s Posts on This Topic:

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Comments

8 Responses to “Financial Decisions: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”

  1. Pinyo on October 10th, 2007 4:00 am

    Great post. Credit card can really get you, especially when you are younger and more vulnerable. I did the same new car mistakes…twice — actually my policy is new Japanese or used American.

    Good move on the SEP.

  2. glblguy on October 10th, 2007 4:09 am

    Great post. Thanks for the links our posts, and for sharing yours.

    A Chevy? That was a mistake in and of itself ;-)

  3. plonkee on October 10th, 2007 4:26 am

    The question is, did the jeans make you look cool?

  4. Mrs. Micah on October 10th, 2007 4:27 am

    Congrats on being about to pay it off!

  5. Kyle on October 10th, 2007 11:21 am

    @ Pinyo – Agree, I wish I had not gotten my first credit card until I was 30. Would have saved so much stress and MONEY! Good point on car situation, Toyotas and Hondas really hold their value. My gas guzzler…..not so much.

    @ glblguy – I would rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford! ;-)

    @ Plonkee – Not sure if the jeans made me look cool or not, but I do know that they were WAY to tight and probably damaged my sperm count!

    @ MM, thanks, it will be nice when we send in that last payment, the good news is that my wife (my credit was too bad) was able to qualify for 0% financing.

  6. Kyle on October 10th, 2007 11:27 am

    Oh, and I forgot to mention, the reason I have the pic of the million dollar bill was in tribute to the dude in Cleveland who recently tried to cash it at a grocery store. Now that qualifies as a BAD financial move!!

  7. mom2fur on October 10th, 2007 1:19 pm

    First, thanks for visiting my blog. I do remember to do the ’selection’ thing when printing, but I have to admit I don’t always remember to choose ‘quick print,’ LOL!

  8. Lynnae @ Being Frugal on October 10th, 2007 6:46 pm

    Your first move was a good one. I wish my husband and I would have known the importance of starting a retirement plan sooner.

    And credit cards…..I think there should be a law that nobody under 30 can own one, and you should have to get licensed first! They’re evil, I tell you. Especially in the hands of an uninformed college student! :)

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