Another spinoff: Who else started off with "zero"

[Pea-n-Me]

Re financial planning thread, where there was some disagreement. (Naturally!)

Reading it made me wonder what people started off with (if they want to share).

DH and I started off with zero. There were no inheritances or chunks of money, homes left to us, trusts, that sort of thing.

I wonder how much of a difference it makes to one's "wealth factor" when they have that extra something that they can play around with, or invest, etc.

Edit: Typo

 

[Moliphino]

I started off with about $70,000 in student loan debt, so less than zero. I have been able to live rent free with my parents for 10 years, though, which helped a lot, especially when I was underemployed.

 

[fly girl]

Zero. Although I was lucky enough to graduate without student loans. (poor college student credit card debt was my only negative, and that was very small.)

 

[mnrose]

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My family was very poor...as in I did not have "new" clothes until I earned enough babysitting to buy them. Tons of hand me downs and my mother sewed some things for us. Did not get one dime from family for college. Had loans, grants and scholarships, all of which we paid back.

 

[lifesavacation]

Zero. Started married life with about 40k in student loans. My parents paid not a single dollar toward my college costs.

ETA: I’m really glad I started out with absolutely nothing. My husband and I have done well for ourselves financially and that’s all on us. We were given nothing and I have no trouble saying no when my family asks for financial help.

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

Another zero here, poor family background. Same as hubby, doing ok between us now.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In terms of what you're talking about zero.

I don't know anyone personally who has started off with inheritances or the like. Any money has come late in life.

Even now the in-law's have things written into trusts but that won't be "starting off" money as the youngest is nearly 23 at this point and no one is expecting the in-laws to pass away any time soon.

Another example is the leftover money from my grandmother's passing split 4 ways is coming to my family late into their lives so not starting off either.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I guess, $5,000? DH had savings bonds that we cashed in for a down payment on our home. We paid for our wedding OOP. I have about $20,000 left in student loans. My husband's family is secure. My family is not, nor have they really ever been. We are somewhere in between the two. Me staying at home to care for the kids definitely makes things harder, but in about 5 years when my 2 year old is in first grade, I'll be going back to work. Hopefully by then we will be able to grow our security. DH contributes 5% of his income in a Roth IRA, his employer contributes 3%, so while money is tight every pay, we are trying to put ourselves in a position of comfort.

 

[tvguy]

Well, like I noted in the other threads, my dad passed away when I was 9.
Because of his passing I received Social Security Survivors Benefits until I graduated from College at age 21 (the cap it at age 18 now I believe) and Veterans Administration Survivors benefits until I was 18..
My mom elected to put invest all that money for my college , and not spend it. We lived on her income. So while money was tight growing up, we survived. And I had money for my college.....and because I elected not to go to law school, I had a nice chunk of change left over. Mom was a very good investor. Which is probably why I have ruffled so many feathers on the other threads. I literally grew up from age 9 living close to the belt. and learning to invest money.

 

[LSUmiss]

Nothing but student loan debt & was unable to live anywhere rent free as an adult either. Worked through college also.

 

[snappy]

My husband and I started out living in an upstairs apartment built in the 1940’s. Pretty much no renovations since. The upside was that I could walk to class and we got by with 1 car. And it was $165 a month rent.

I graduated a year later, got a great first job in my field, and we were able to move a couple years later. Still just a duplex but we were able to buy our first house about 2 years later. I think picking the right major was crucial for both of us. He worked in same profession from 1976 to 2018. I worked for about 27 years in mine. We were fortunate and have been relatively frugal all our lives. That and putting the max into our retirements throughout our working years.

 

[soccerdad72]

I had a few thousand dollars in savings bonds and other savings when I graduated college. I had some student loan debt, but nothing too bad (like $15K).

 

[DLgal]

I started out negative, less than zero. Graduated college with $15k in loans (not too bad, honestly, but I worked almost full time throughout college to help pay for living expenses). I did have enough money to pay for my first year in full from the paltry "college savings" my grandfather had gifted to me as a child that my parents put into a regular savings account for all those years.

When we got married, we had nothing but our debts. Literally no savings, just a steady job for DH (military). We paid for our wedding, our honeymoon, all the furniture and household stuff for our first apartment, etc. Didn't get any help at all.

My parents did co sign on a car lease for me in college, it was a $0 down deal and I made every single car payment. I paid for my own insurance as well.

My husband also had about $15k in student loans as he had needed it for freshman year. He got an ROTC scholarship for the remaining years. His parents were literally poor at that point. They had nothing to give him.

Were doing okay now, almost 20 years later. We have been a single income family for 15 years and have a couple hundred thousand dollars in invested assets. No home ownership, nor do we plan to be one unless we win the lotto. We have benefited greatly from the stock market gains over the last 15 years or so. We invest about 10% of DHs salary and are currently able to save 1/3 of our monthly take home pay.

 

[smiths02]

I started off with zero. My grandmother died while I was in high school, so I did have a new laptop and some dorm room supplies to get to college. I worked usually 30 hours per week during college. I ended up getting some student loans as I have two graduate degrees, and I think the high total was somewhere near $70K Still working on those. I've been paying all my own bills since I moved out at 18.

DH's parents paid for his college. He did start to pay for all his own other expenses starting around age 20 (when he started living with me). They have also helped with vehicles along the way. We've only had to purchase 3 vehicles (out of the 7 that we've had) ourselves between the 2 of us in the last 24 years (DH having a work supplied vehicle also helps with this, although he can only use it to get to and from work).

I should add, we didn't have a wedding and opted to elope (mostly for monetary reasons, also for speed due to DH's military service). DH's parents gave us $1000 and we had a small honeymoon, and they did a church reception (punch and cake in the church fellowship hall, nothing expensive).

 

[hopemax]

Starting at birth, my Grandma bought me savings bonds for birthdays, and life events (first communion, graduation, etc). When we had to fill out FAFSA, they were worth several thousand dollars. My parents set up a savings account for me when I was about 8, and would encourage me to put money into it, so when I went to college I had a few thousand dollars. My parents paid for my college education, so no student loans, and I was able to spend the money from my college job on something other than tuition, and I was able to not have to cash in those savings bonds to pay for college. We did eventually cash them in as they neared maturity, getting almost the maximum value out of them. I think I have 3-4 left, which I should check the maturity dates on, because they should ve close. While it never felt like that much money, we never had to worry about where that recommended beginner $1000 in savings was going to come from.

 

[lovin'fl]

We came from middle class families and started with zero. Zero money in bank BUT zero debt too since our college was basically paid for by family. But we both worked all through HS and college to pay for some things (our parents basically paid college tuition and we were on hook for other stuff). Met in college, graduated and got jobs. Married shortly after college at age 23. Started with nothing. Coming up on our 25th anniversary. Doing okay. DH has a good career but took hard work on both our parts (his at building his career and mine on maintaining most domestic things to allow him to put in so much time with work).

We both still have living parents so no inheritances. Though my grandfather had a lot of money. Enough for my aunt to get her name on all his properties and accounts so as to avoid paying the inheritance tax. My dad had predeceased my grandpa and he left none of it to my mom or my brother or me. Or at least my Aunt connived it all for herself as her name was on it all and she kept it. My grandpa's sister had no kids and my aunt did same for her estate as well (got her name on everything). I'd love to know how much it was.

 

[SC Minnie]

Started with zero. My parents did pay for my college so I didn't have student loans though. My first 'real' job out of college in 1990 I was making $18,000/yr. It was hard to start putting money away and live too but I did little by little. That job gave me the experience to get my next job making more money. I'm still at that company today.

 

[smiths02]

I was going to add, that I see a big difference in starting off with ZERO and a paid for college education (and maybe a used car) and starting off with ZERO and no car or college education.
Also see a big difference in starting off with zero and having no one to turn to when something major comes up versus starting off without a large inheritance but knowing that mom/dad would loan you $500 to fix your car if it broke down.

 

[mrodgers]

No help. I was getting married and we were moving into the home we just bought and my mother was on the phone screaming at me because I owed her $175 for rent. Was about an hour after buying the place. And yes, she was screaming. That's how she is.

I went to community college and paid for it myself. $671 I think it was for the semester. My daughter is in 2nd semester at the same community college, it's $2770 now. She's paying it all herself. She qualified for nothing and I heard for 15 years that no one paid for my wife's college, she's not paying for our kids. Then during divorce, of course it was expected that I pay for all college expenses.

Paid the entire way through the wedding. My mother bought us a couch as a wedding gift and she did pay for the DJ. Her parents didn't have the money to do that and they didn't.

3 years later when we were buying our first house, her parents gave us $3000 to help out. We were expecting our first child. My mother could tell because she said to my wife, her daughter-in-law, "You can tell you're pregnant, your face is getting fat.

3 years after that when I told my mother she was going to be a grandmother again, I didn't get any congratulations. Instead I got, "Well, I work so don't expect me to help out."

Is it any wonder why I nor my then wife ever got along with my mother?

Never did we get so much as a babysitter ever. So it was the $3000 that her parents gave us for closing costs on the house. That's all we got and $3000 more than we expected because I never expect anyone to pay my way through life. It was a battle accepting the $3k.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I came out of school owing $21,500 in student loans in 1988 dollars and $3,000 on a car loan. I had $500 in my bank account, 0 inheritance and 0 trust (which my Appalachian ancestors would have a good laugh over). My parents were what we would now call working poor and had little to nothing they could give me, other than love and a sense that I could accomplish what I wanted if I applied myself.

When DD was 12 we had a talk with her about college. We told her that if she wanted her choice of colleges she was going to have to work hard and earn scholarships. Otherwise, we'd send her where we could afford to send her. We reminded her of this more than a few times during high school--apparently she remained unconvinced because she didn't especially apply herself. When she graduated and we gave her the news she had earned a seat at the local community college, she said, "Well, where's my trust fund? Where's my college fund?" DW and I worked hard to avoid laughing at the notion. Actually, I didn't work very hard at all and laughed out loud.