3. Smartest money decision, getting divorced after 30 years with a spendthrift partner. Second smartest money decision, buying a house in 2006.
4. Dumbest money decision, pooling my finances with said partner and watching money continually disappear without doing anything to stop it. Second dumbest money decision, deciding I had no agency when I could have done something at any point.
Thanks for posting about money--it hit me hard. I had two takeaways from a long marriage--things go better if a) money styles match and b) energy levels are similar. Who knew?! :D
My savings plan? Always have enough pairs of glasses so that, after the apocalypse kills everybody else, I'll still be able to read if I break a few pairs.
I can picture all of this dialogue in my head. You are a fabulous storyteller. Money and I have had a bumpy journey.
in the late 90s I worked for a credit card company in the 'financial management " area - managing people who financially managed money. Meanwhile my credit score was so bad you could feel it scrape the bottom of the barrel every swipe .
F'dTo today ..it's better I still get prickly as a topic.
I’m thinking the cat lady refers to you as Curly— when she talks to her cat and plants. She probably knew the original Curly in her day. And you’re funny too— tho not in a cartoon way.
Dummest money decision. Selling our house in LA in 1999. If we had rented it out all these years we could have sold it and retired.
My money plan was to take any money I had left from the previous paycheck and put it into a difficult to withdraw savings account. Then when that savings account got big enough, put it into a retirement account. When the retirement account got up a few more thousand, think about retiring. And yet, here I am at 71 still working a bit.
My worst money moves were real estate. Bought in Houston for $72k, sold for $47k. Another house in Texas for $120k sold for 110k. I’m good at buying at the peak!
Best was reading the San Jose Mercury during the mid 1990s. Started investing $2k in various companies they pitched. Sold half when it doubled. One of them doubled like 15 times. By 2000, it had gone from $1.50 to $150 to $0.15.
3. Smartest money decision, getting divorced after 30 years with a spendthrift partner. Second smartest money decision, buying a house in 2006.
4. Dumbest money decision, pooling my finances with said partner and watching money continually disappear without doing anything to stop it. Second dumbest money decision, deciding I had no agency when I could have done something at any point.
There's a lot of wisdom here. I don't think we talk enough about the financial implications of marriage. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for posting about money--it hit me hard. I had two takeaways from a long marriage--things go better if a) money styles match and b) energy levels are similar. Who knew?! :D
She knows you as "That Writer Guy"
I'm retired. No more saving plan. Now it's a spending plan!
Best money decision: Buying my house.
Worse money decision: Selling Apple stock for part of downpayment.
It was going to be called Monkey Cash but it got misprinted to Money.
Writer Guy or some variation on that seems to be the consensus.
I’ll answer #2…
Hedda Hopper… you’re asking questions
1. Stan had a savings plan. What’s your savings plan? Divorce well.
2. I don’t think The Cat Lady knows my name either. What’s her nickname for me? That guy who likes to yap.
3. What’s the smartest money decision you’ve ever made? Have rich parents who leave you all their money.
4. What’s the dumbest money decision you’ve ever made? Haven’t made one yet, but it would be getting married again.
5. Why do they call it money? Mo money, mo problems.
Money often costs too much. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
These are some solid gold money insights.
LOL! 😂 most of my money 💰 comes from luck—both bad and good.
Since the early seventies, I have always made sure to keep a pound of brown rice in the kitchen cabinet, so no matter what, I’d never go hungry.
Good plan. I’ve been doing the same for about 15 years
My savings plan? Always have enough pairs of glasses so that, after the apocalypse kills everybody else, I'll still be able to read if I break a few pairs.
Smart. And wise. You are a visionary
1. Win a lottery
2. Normie Overlord
3. I’ll let you know when I make one.
4. Buying high and selling low in the housing market.
5. I’ve never had any long enough to ask where its name came from.
If you don’t play you can’t win.
Great tip! I’ll have to start playing.
Maybe she calls you Question Man, “Hey Question Man, riddle me this…”
All my money decisions are … questionable ones.
Question man it is.
I can picture all of this dialogue in my head. You are a fabulous storyteller. Money and I have had a bumpy journey.
in the late 90s I worked for a credit card company in the 'financial management " area - managing people who financially managed money. Meanwhile my credit score was so bad you could feel it scrape the bottom of the barrel every swipe .
F'dTo today ..it's better I still get prickly as a topic.
Thank you, LJ! May your money journey smooth out with a series of bank and credit card errors in your favor.
I’m thinking the cat lady refers to you as Curly— when she talks to her cat and plants. She probably knew the original Curly in her day. And you’re funny too— tho not in a cartoon way.
Dummest money decision. Selling our house in LA in 1999. If we had rented it out all these years we could have sold it and retired.
More of a Marx Bros fan than a Stooges guy, but I’d take Curly with honor. Now, about that house … ugh you guys would’ve made a fortune
Jessica has it… “the hairy writer guy”
My money plan was to take any money I had left from the previous paycheck and put it into a difficult to withdraw savings account. Then when that savings account got big enough, put it into a retirement account. When the retirement account got up a few more thousand, think about retiring. And yet, here I am at 71 still working a bit.
There’s an irony here. You’ve been thinking long term about the money but day-to-day on the work thing.
My worst money moves were real estate. Bought in Houston for $72k, sold for $47k. Another house in Texas for $120k sold for 110k. I’m good at buying at the peak!
Best was reading the San Jose Mercury during the mid 1990s. Started investing $2k in various companies they pitched. Sold half when it doubled. One of them doubled like 15 times. By 2000, it had gone from $1.50 to $150 to $0.15.
Based on your investing history please let us know when you’re buying real estate or stock.
I think she calls you “the writer guy.”
Or given that she’s 90, the writer gentleman.
Keep in mind someone who’s 90 in 2026 came of age in the 1950s, watching James Dean and listening to Elvis.
My dad is 92. He remembers everything from the 40s on.