What was your best investment of all time?

[bennkar]

The easy answer would be higher education, but I am going to say buying my house in '98 for $131k (in a HCOL area) and it now comps for $400k. I was able to pay it off in 2011 and have been able to take that freed up money (rent equivalent would be $2500/mo.) and boost my investments during the run-up in the market the past 7 years by maybe $25,000/year (Maybe worth $300k today?).

Runner ups would be:

• Divorcing my wife (seriously)
• The time I have spent learning about investing.
• The time I spend every night online with my GF.

[Gailete]

Divorcing my wife (seriously)

While I wouldn't consider it my best investment, maybe it could classed as my worst investment, was getting divorced from Mr. Big Bucks. I went from having money in savings, etc. with a new double wide that I had bought about 2 years before and would have been paid off in 8 more year, but he insisted we buy a bigger house (the downpayment caame from my worker's comp payout), a bigger car (double the payments), and on top of that took credit card debt from zero to $42K with no hopes of paying it off if I stayed married to him. When the divorce was final and the credit cards (with my name on) were all paid off with the 'profits' from selling the house, I had $1K and not much else, which was much better than the $1100/month minimum credit card payments.

Sometimes it is the only way to rescue yourself financially is to get divorced. I spent close to 4 years trying to get him to understand that we couldn't afford all the crap he bought and spent money on.

[prosper]

Purchasing a home appliance warranty. It covers everything from plumbing to HVAC.

[Captain Save]

Purchasing a home appliance warranty. It covers everything from plumbing to HVAC.

how much did that cost.. and how long? do they have an inventory of what's in your house?

mine is definitely TBD.. we'll see in about 2 years.

[disneysteve]

Purchasing a home appliance warranty. It covers everything from plumbing to HVAC.

They don't sell those warranties because they are a good deal for the customer. They sell them because they make a boatload of money for the insurance company.

That's not to say that some customers don't benefit but the vast majority do not.

[prosper]

They don't sell those warranties because they are a good deal for the customer. They sell them because they make a boatload of money for the insurance company.

That's not to say that some customers don't benefit but the vast majority do not.

All insurance companies make a boat load of money by selling "peace of mind." Right? The customers that don't benefit foot the bill for the customers that do and the rest goes into the insurance company's pocket.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

buying a condo in southern california that we couldn't afford and having it double in 3 years. That basically has paid our way to buy houses we couldn't have saved the DP for including our current purchase. Without it we'd never have gotten where we are today.

[TexasHusker]

buying a condo in southern california that we couldn't afford and having it double in 3 years. That basically has paid our way to buy houses we couldn't have saved the DP for including our current purchase. Without it we'd never have gotten where we are today.

Ahhh the magic of real estate. Good for you!

I just had breakfast with a friend who bought some sort of house near the ocean in northern CA for a little over $300K and it's now worth over $1 million. So at some point they will cash out and walk away with a tidy profit and live somewhere else on the cheap with lots of money left over.

Of course that sort of thing can work against you, too, i.e. the housing crash of 2008. But a doubling of your money in 3 years is a huge windfall for sure.

I am patiently waiting for a parabolic real estate spike in the resort area that I own vacation homes in. It will happen one day, but for now the income is tremendous and I don't have any reason to do anything else.

[TexasHusker]

They don't sell those warranties because they are a good deal for the customer. They sell them because they make a boatload of money for the insurance company.

That's not to say that some customers don't benefit but the vast majority do not.

That's true any time you pay someone to assume your financial risk, whether it's for your car, home, or dishwasher.

Thank goodness insurance companies are good at what they do and make a profit. If not, we wouldn't have the option of transferring our risk to someone else.

[FrugalFish]

I couldn't think of a good one until I got to the home warranty post. I'd have to say the extended warranty on our first flat screen TV. We NEVER buy those warranties, but for some unknown reason DH agreed to pay $150 for the warranty and they threw in a $70 mount at no charge. Does that make the warranty $80?

Anyhow, the TV had problems 3 years out. The company that was tasked to repair the TV made a lot of mistakes (one of them being to take our TV and not know where it was 8 weeks later). The warranty company would normally replace the TV, but because of its disappearance, they opted to repair it at a cost of several thousand dollars. The TV mysteriously reappeared (was the same TV too, we had all identifying info), and then failed again 4 months later. At that point, the warranty company paid a nice, hefty chunk to us to replace it. They ended up paying far more than the TV was worth and we were only out that additional $80.

[disneysteve]

That's true any time you pay someone to assume your financial risk, whether it's for your car, home, or dishwasher.

Thank goodness insurance companies are good at what they do and make a profit. If not, we wouldn't have the option of transferring our risk to someone else.

True, but you also have to look at the cost vs. benefit. My favorite story is the time I was buying a printing calculator. I think it was $29.99. At the register, the clerk tried to sell me an extended warranty for the product. I laughed at him. Why would I possibly spend a few dollars to insure a $30 purchase.

You can get $1 million life insurance policy for less than people are spending to insure a few home appliances that all together might cost $20,000 to replace if that. The policies are legit but are they worth it?

[TexasHusker]

True, but you also have to look at the cost vs. benefit. My favorite story is the time I was buying a printing calculator. I think it was $29.99. At the register, the clerk tried to sell me an extended warranty for the product. I laughed at him. Why would I possibly spend a few dollars to insure a $30 purchase.

You can get $1 million life insurance policy for less than people are spending to insure a few home appliances that all together might cost $20,000 to replace if that. The policies are legit but are they worth it?

Cost versus benefit is subjective. An insurance policy of $1 million for a $ hundred a month is likely very profitable for the insurer. Most folks don't die within the policy period or the insurance company wouldn't write the policies.

If that printing calculator quit working 6 months after you bought it, that insurance policy turned out to be a wise purchase.

Regardless of what risk you are paying someone to assume, the insurer has carefully analyzed the risk and assigned a premium they can live with in return for assuming that risk.

Risk assumption is a fascinating business. Much/most risk is ultimately still reinsured within the walls of Lloyds of London. It might say "State Farm", but if State Farm has a catastrophic event, they have bought their own insurance from say Nationwide, who has then bought their own insurance from say SwissRe, who has then bought their own insurance from Lloyds.

[Gailete]

We rarely have ever bought one of those insurance policies for things like printers, but when we bought out laser printer, for some reason we got that extra insurance. About 8-9 months later it was DOA. We took it back and we had the receipt. They ended up giving us a newer, better printer and because prices had dropped that much, we got a gift card with the extra value of the printer on it. I think it was around $80!

My whole like changed because I insisted on getting a replacement hair dryer that had a year warrantee on it and it died sooner than that. They wanted to give me my money back, I said I wanted it replaced since I had bought it on sale and I knew I wouldn't be able to find another dryer for $8 bucks. I got my new dryer eventually, but that very act was the very thing that changed the direction of my life completely!

[TexasHusker]

We rarely have ever bought one of those insurance policies for things like printers, but when we bought out laser printer, for some reason we got that extra insurance. About 8-9 months later it was DOA. We took it back and we had the receipt. They ended up giving us a newer, better printer and because prices had dropped that much, we got a gift card with the extra value of the printer on it. I think it was around $80!

My whole like changed because I insisted on getting a replacement hair dryer that had a year warrantee on it and it died sooner than that. They wanted to give me my money back, I said I wanted it replaced since I had bought it on sale and I knew I wouldn't be able to find another dryer for $8 bucks. I got my new dryer eventually, but that very act was the very thing that changed the direction of my life completely!

I am so frightfully glad that your life’s direction was changed by a new hair dryer. May that hair dryer continue to blow the air of good karma on you as you journey down the road of this thing called life.

[Gailete]

I am so frightfully glad that your life’s direction was changed by a new hair dryer. May that hair dryer continue to blow the air of good karma on you as you journey down the road of this thing called life.

Why thank you. Although this happened in 1977 right after graduating college, which is why looking back I can see the major influence that it had on my life. I couldn't have told you that 6 months later. 40 years later, yep it changed my life. To explain it all would take a novel!

It is funny how you can make one decision that may be so simple at the time, can change the course of your personal history. For example if Adolph Hitler would have fallen off his paint ladder and given himself a subdural hematoma and died from the fall, what a difference our whole worlds history would have been?