What was your biggest loss and life lesson?

[Jacob Guereca]

We’ve all made mistakes on the journey to building generational wealth. Some make bad decisions, some fall victim to fraud and in my case, it was both.

A few years ago, I invested every dollar I had into the stock market - $30,000. I worked my *** off to save that money, stripping copper with a razor blade, working 14-hour days. There were times I didn’t sleep at all.

I grew up in a rough environment. I could’ve easily become a product of it, but I broke the cycle. I refused to go down the same road many of my peers did. Once I got a taste of what it felt like to earn money with my own two hands, I couldn’t stop. I was determined to build a solid foundation for my future family. PUN INTENDED 😉

That $30K investment eventually grew to $70K. But I held on too long. I believed in the company—AMC, a brand I loved dearly since childhood. Sadly, it became clear that corruption was involved, and I lost everything. I should’ve taken profits when I had the chance, but I had too much faith in a failing system.

I learned the hard way that corporate America is not on the consumer’s side. I trusted the system and lost it all right before my son was born.

I was close to giving up. But instead, I took the loss as a lesson. I wasn’t going to let it break me nor distract me from the main goal, which is making a positive impact on society. 

Moral of the story:

The best investment you can make is in yourself.

And I’m doing that day by day.

[Daniel Murphy]

While not really a loss, one of my biggest Ah Ha's in 18+ years of managing money professionally is that Financial Questions do not always need Financial Answers... 

Most are familiar with personality types etc.  All people process things differently.  

I've learned with time, to try to run a financial question through a, 

Financial lens, Behavioral lens and Emotional lens.  

IE - sometimes you want a financial answer. Like calculating ROI on an investment to see if it's worth it.

Sometimes you want a Behavioral answer - Will making this decision instill new/better behaviors... 

Sometimes you want an Emotional answer - Will paying off your house, increasing your savings etc. bring you more peace... 

More and more, I make less than optimal financial decisions in exchange for ones that are decent financial decisions, but great happiness decisions.  

Buying a 23 year old, high mileage convertable Porsche 911 is a bad financial decision. I'm totally underwater financially.  But... I could care less when I'm giggling like a school girl, or tossing the keys to someone else so they can take it for a spin. :)