It’s been 15 years since the launch of this podcast, and 25 years since my wife and I started doing life together.
A lot has changed in 25 years. In this episode, I’ll share:
- How compounding has made my wife & I millionaires despite crashes
- How we qualified for a big honkin’ mortgage on only my self-employed income and WITHOUT a traditional credit score or manual underwriting
- And the 1 thing I should have done better
WE DID IT! How we got a mortgage without a traditional credit score
- Plan ahead. Budget. Save. Be intentional
- Pay bills (and debts) on time
- Review credit REPORTS regularly for errors
- Make $1,000 your new $0!
View of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from my home office. #nofilter
Investment growth (and declines) over the past 25 years
We have no control over what the market does. But we do make the decisions on whether to invest or not.
My three “secrets” to investing the easy way:
- Make contributions automatic
- Don’t look at quarterly statements or daily market reports
- Stay invested, even when things look bleak!
The graph shows the average monthly gain or loss between listed time periods.
*Contributions are factored into the results
How our net worth was impacted over time.
Notice the historical events that impacted markets. They may have effected our balances, but only for a short period of time.
While things like hard assets (house, vehicles, other belongings) don’t change in value very quickly, the value of our retirement investments continue to grow…so long as we remain invested!
There is no doubt in my mind that the market will turn and our investible assets will drop. A lot. So what else is new?
I hope you enjoyed this little recap of the past 25 years of our financial journey.
Resources mentioned:
- eCredable – Where I created my alternative score
- Interview with Steve Ely from eCredable
- Experian Boost
- Reasons I don’t use a Credit Card
- The Stacking Benjamins Show
- Afford Anything Podcast by Paula Pant
- Financially Free Era by SLP Wealth
- Let’s talk podcasting🎤 Schedule a call with Steve!
- “10 Things That Keep Us Broke” remix