Part 3: Ride the Wave

So where were we? Well, as a recap, I am a mom who dug herself out of a crappy financial situation. I don’t have any formal training in finances, and am still to this day learning (sometimes the hard way). I share this story in hopes that others who relate may feel inspired, or at least entertained. OK? Ok, moving on…

With a hungry kid in tow and dog with the absolute worst breath trailing behind, we were heading somewhere.

I had dragged myself out of Survival Mode, then Leveled the Playing Field by organizing and preparing for my biggest expenses. I had ridden the learning curve of my new job, and earned a spot in a less precarious ranking by gaining seniority and making myself indispensable.

It had already been a long road, but that is the reality of the circumstances. Some processes can’t be rushed, and patience became a mantra to me as I moved forward, slowly but surely.

This wouldn’t be described as an uncomfortable phase- but I still wasn’t too comfortable. There was more I could do to prepare for my family’s future and set us up for even better opportunities.

Finally, with space in my brain and a few extra bucks to deploy somewhere, I was able to dig even deeper into my financial standings. 

Years ago, I had opened up a supplemental retirement account. A nice man had come to the house, kindly explained how volatile the market was, and set me up with some kind of an account. I have little flashes of the conversation we had, and he was so trustworthy with his sweater and nice fancy pens. I hadn’t asked the questions I should have, since I assumed that they wanted the best for me. I signed some papers, checked off “retirement worries” from my mind, and hadn’t thought about it much since then. Fast forward to today, I dug my records out of files, checked my online account, and decided that the nice man with the nice sweater was full of crap.

What the hell? I had signed myself up for an annuity, which tops out growing at 2%. I had contributed for a few years, then paused during the divorce because I needed to have more funds available for my day to day needs. Between the slow growth and the fees I was being charged, this money could just as well have been sitting in a bank account.  Even that would have been better, since I could access it when I would have wanted to. No way would I start contributing to that account anymore. I could find a better way to invest my money.

Have you ever typed something like “retirement” or some combination of “parent retire savings how to” into google? Yes? So you probably know that there is an endless amount of tips (good, bad, useless, and harmful) available at your disposal.

Navigating google on a topic such as this is like walking through a tourist bazaar on vacation; flashes of promises, tag lines of bullshit, stuff you don’t need being pushed in your face, and absolutely nothing of value around.

I didn’t need a sales pitch; I needed information so I could make the best decision for myself.

I was still a few years away from stumbling across the FIRE movement, but at this particular phase, I was able to benefit from learning about retirement accounts, basics in investing, and how my pension would come into play (after teaching for 586 more years, that is). I finally settled on an investment plan that made sense for my goals at the time. Later down the line, I found even better opportunities for investments that were available to me because of my field in particular- but more on that later. 

Fully immersed in optimization mode, I also looked a little closer at a few small debts I had; school loans and a car loan. Both of these had interest rates just high enough that it made sense to knock them out. Thankfully, because of the population I work with in education, I had financial incentives that would help chip away at my gigantic student loans. I made just a little more than the minimum monthly payments on the school loans, since I was getting assistance and didn't want to offset the free money I would receive. I focused on the car loan, paying an extra payment at the end of each month, when I knew I had the extra to spare after all expenses for the month had been paid for.  Bit by bit, month by month, I was lowering my debts, as I continued to add to my little saving buckets for backup costs.

One benefit of stepping up into the Ride the Wave phase is that flashes of little fantasies, such as planning a trip, buying a much needed item, or taking an opportunity, become realities. It is a whole new perspective when one has the lens of freedom to view life with.

Even more beneficial than this, however, is the peace of mind from being further and further from Survival Mode. The grind of the last few years was continually benefitting me.

Currently, cash was ready for unexpected costs. New funds were available as my income continued to increase, especially because my debts from school and car loans were paid off. The little wave of money I had for each month was getting bigger and bigger. 

My toddler was now a kid, in constant “run” mode (I don’t think they know how to walk, they just go from sleeping to running). Thankfully, I was prepared enough to be able to afford the increase in food. One of my favorite games was to text my family a list of what my youngin’ ate for dinner and ask, “Is this a grocery list, or what YoungFUnd ate for dinner?”. 

Think of where you are in your financial standing. What is the reality of where you are in this process?

What do you need to do in order to optimize your savings so you can benefit “future you”?

Maybe you’re already there, and just need to get organized and prioritize what you want to save towards. Personally, I had prepared for big potential future expenses enough that I was able to shut down the biggest sirens in my mind related to being a single parent. I had also learned I had versatile skills that could be generalized to other settings, so even if I woke up without a job, I had the ability to get back on my feet in no time. With those concerns tamped down, this freed up energy and focus on other future ideas that were not intended to offset anxiety, but to improve quality of life and create a less tense standing as a single parent.

I started feeling like I was able to be at rest, and focus on the now instead of the what if.

Money buckets were full, little trips were planned, most feet had shoes. I looked around at my growing little family, and thought, for the first time in my entire life;

What should I do with this extra money?