What risk did you take that paid off?

[QuarterMillionMan]

For me it was relocating from Hawaii to Los Angeles in 2002. Hawaii is beautiful but Hawaii is so small the opportunities are very limited. Los Angeles has so much more opportunities that I'm glad I took the risk.

[rennigade]

Marrying my wife. She makes almost 3x as much as I do.

[Singuy]

Marrying my wife. She makes almost 3x as much as I do.

Lol was she unstable? How is she a risk to begin with? Or were you saying marriage as a whole is a risk?

[disneysteve]

I changed jobs. After 22 years in private family practice, I started working at Urgent Care, eventually going full time and leaving my practice for good in September 2017. It is the best professional decision I've ever made. I'm now making more than double what I made in private practice, have far better working conditions, better benefits, etc. But it was a risk to leave something I had been doing for over 2 decades and was comfortable with.

[cypher1]

Dropping out of college after 1.5yrs around 20 to work full time, which led to my current field I still enjoy. My dad was pretty disappointed in my decision, and reminded me for another 6yrs. So far that was probably the biggest risk I took for choices in my life, but I truly believed it was the right thing to do. I just couldn't justify going to school and being in debt for something I wasn't sure about. The about half of my friends are still paying for their student loans at 15+ years later.

[ua_guy]

In 2013 we bought a short sale with our last nickel down. It was a place we had intended to stay, maybe forever. Just 6 years in, the value had almost doubled, and that's when my husband received a relocation offer that was going to pay him 50% more. We cashed out.

[kork13]

Lol was she unstable? How is she a risk to begin with? Or were you saying marriage as a whole is a risk?

Not even being cynical, I'd argue that marriage is ALWAYS a risk. You're legally tying yourself in an unlimited partnership, notionally (hopefully) for the rest of your life. All things, money, time, attention, goals, dreams, and drama becomes jointly owned. I love my wife, the family we've built, the life that we have together. But getting married to someone you meet by chance, after knowing them for just 6 months or a couple years, and tying your entire future to another person? Big, life-changing risk in my book. Often turns out being a very good risk with wonderful results... But still risky.

[QuarterMillionMan]

When I left Hawaii in 2002 I had $10,000 to the good. Today $600,000, with no debt.

[Snicks]

I had an opportunity to work for myself rather than be an employee. So, I set up an S Corp with 2 partners. We didn't have a clue what we were doing. The first year we each made $15K, lol. And, we all had to work other jobs to get thru. And, then after that things clicked and 20 yrs later here I am.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I had an opportunity to work for myself rather than be an employee. So, I set up an S Corp with 2 partners. We didn't have a clue what we were doing. The first year we each made $15K, lol. And, we all had to work other jobs to get thru. And, then after that things clicked and 20 yrs later here I am.

Snicks You left out the best part, if you don’t mind me asking from $15k the first year to how much today?

[riverwed070707]

Probably becoming a landlord. It was accidental at first - we owned a home and wanted to move closer to family where we grew up after our DD was born. It was 08, market in the dumps and the house wouldn't sell. On top of that we had taken advantage of that first time homebuyer credit that had to be paid back if you didn't own the home for 5 years or something along those lines. Ended up selling it on contract. After 3 years, the tenants couldn't come up with their own financing/balloon so we took possession of the home back. Simultaneously, we were tired of family and wanted to get back to the area the home was in. Moved back in but I'd had a taste of the income rentals can bring so the home we'd purchased near family became a rental. After that I bought a 4 plex and fixed it up and 5 years later it just appraised for 250% more than I paid for it and its a cash cow. Escalated from there and I'm in the market for more. I anticipate being able to retire in 8 years at 42 with my rentals covering all of my living expenses. But it all started with that first move - don't think I would be where I am today without being pressured to make that decision.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Moving cross country without a job. Moving cross country for a job and getting laid off 2 months later. Changing career fields = way more income. Exponentially more. Constantly investing no matter what. Now we are about to embark on a journey of new job and we'll see if it pays off.

[disneysteve]

Constantly investing no matter what.

I love this one. It's so true. Investing, even a small amount, from the earliest point you possibly can can make a huge difference over time. Even in you're not making much. Even if you have a bunch of debt. Put something away. It's so simple today with commission-free trades.

[scfr]

Yes-yes-yes to: Marriage, starting a business, long-distance move.

Also: Discussing finances regularly with DH from the very early days of our marriage and being engaged & opinionated. Disagreement is uncomfortable for me, but I can't imagine where we'd be right now if we hadn't managed to hash things out and stay on more-or-less the same page all these years.

[Fishindude77]

Two big things. Buying my own business and being self employed has allowed us to live a really great lifestyle, debt free, cash & carry, do pretty much whatever we want and retire early.
Buying a farm when quite young was way smarter than it seemed at the time. We've earned enough income from the farm to repay the original purchase price many times over and now have an asset that is worth close to 10X more than we bought it for.
Took both of these risks when in my 20's.