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Looking back in the archives, I came across Jonathan’s No Regrets article. In it, he wrote “I’ve known enough bad times to have perspective”. I think there are both good and bad perspectives to be gleaned from such times. The important thing is to grab the good ones in order to move forward. For example, many HumbleDollar contributors write that they came from poor families, and from that experience, came the desire and drive to get more out of life. I also know people who came from abusive families, and choose to break the cycle. Still, for many people, for a variety of reasons, the cycle of poverty and abuse remains unbroken.
Jonathan also wrote, “While I worried a lot about money in my 20s and 30s, I haven’t worried much since”. I found this interesting because, although it took me longer, I don’t worry about money either. I’m here at the HumbleDollar for a few other reasons. One is my interest in managing our finances; lots of actionable advice here. The other is just hanging out with interesting people; some of you are real characters, you know who you are.🙃
As I read your article I realized two things. First, you worried about money in your twenties and thirties, I kind of wish I had but I’m also thankful I didn’t. The pension from staying with one company (Hostess Cake) for over thirty years and multiple pensions along with S.S. take care of us very well. Secondly, your last line ” some of you are real characters , you know who you are” … If you don’t think you hang out with”real characters” you might be the”real character” 😉
Right, LH, they say one out of every four people are crazy. If the three you are with seem normal…..
Dan, I think Jonathan understood that difficult times can give us perspective, but they don’t automatically make us wiser or stronger. As you say, the challenge is taking something useful from those experiences and moving forward.
I also smiled at your reason for being here. Jonathan created HumbleDollar to help people make better financial decisions, but I think he was equally proud of the community that grew around it. The actionable advice matters, but so do the conversations, friendships and, yes, the characters. I suspect Jonathan would be very pleased that people still come here for all three.
Extra points for the first verse of a Buffett song.